Chen Kun has been singled out in praise for his acting in the film Jian Guo Da Ye, commemorating the PRC’s 60th anniversary (today in China time), not an easy feat when the entire film consists of  stars. He was chosen to act in the film as Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek’s son, Chiang Ching-kuo, future president of Taiwan, because he  had a youthful air about him, as well a brooding pensive quality. He ended up playing it so well, that he was given more screentime while others were cut.

Here he sings red song Yin Shan Hong at the premiere ceremony a few weeks ago. He’s no Huang Ying, but I think he did a good job anyway.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7yWtSuJbYI]

I normally hate to talk  politics in general, but since I am posting about this movie, I’d like to clear up a few things about the political aspect.

Most people have a knee-jerk reaction to this movie, because it’s “propaganda”. Perhaps, but not like you think. Due to closer cross-straight relations, and a celebratory nature of the movie in general, this  will probably show the Nationalist side of the civil war as very sympathetic, which will in turn cause many Chinese youth to wonder what exactly the communists were fighting for in 1949 . And as much as the Mao-led government sucked afterward, the status quo before the civil war gave  every reason for revolution. Frankly, this movie will definitely be much more balanced  and less one-sided than The Patriot was to the British. (more…)