War over army epic

The cast of The Founding of an Army attends the premiere of the movie in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, on July 19. The movie has raked in 270 million yuan ($40 million). [Photo/Xinhua]

Directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Andrew Lau, the movie tells four major chapters: Chiang Kai-shek's purging of Communist Party members on April 12, 1927; the Nanchang Uprising that marks the founding of the People's Liberation Army in the same year; the Sanheba Battle led by Zhu De in 1927; and the joining of forces on Jinggang Mountain in 1928.

"The Nanchang Uprising is a major chapter in the history of the Party and its armed forces. To give a serious revolutionary tale to a director in the entertainment genre, who knows little about China's revolutionary history, is a disrespect to that history," Ye Daying wrote.

Lau, who's best known for the Infernal Affairs franchise, is the man behind a series of popular gangster thrillers.

For this film, he says he read many books and consulted historians to ensure that history is properly shown.

"I saw the two previous Founding films and watched a number of similar movies. I had to know how such movies were shot on the mainland in the past and what kind of freshness I could bring to the new movie," Lau said during a promotional event in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, on Saturday.

Ye Daying's words have led to a heated discussion online, with netizens divided.

While some support his views, others regard the fast-paced tale and its star-studded cast as helpful in drawing the audience to the film and ultimately getting more people to know about the history of the Communist Party's harsh struggles to found its own army.

The movie had raked in 270 million yuan ($40 million) by Wednesday, trailing Wolf Warrior 2, an action flick based on the special forces, to take the second-highest seat at the box office since both were released on July 27.