Kong Zi

I just wonder if this movie is another piece of propaganda of Chinese Communist Party as in the case of "Heros", or just a pure marketing stupidity..

Confucius is, above all, a philosopher and a educator. In the Analect, He had to meet with the Wie King "Nam Tu" as he was serving under his reign. Because of this, his disciple was angry with him, and Confucius looked in the sky and swore that he did not do anything wrong and if he did the Heaven would punish him.. as a matter of fact Confucius only met this woman once and for all..

If the Chinese Commie think that by depicting Confucius as a Kon-Fu hero /War hero to attract young modern movie-goers, then it is a pure stupidity..

If the Chinese Commi want to make a propaganda to justify its "unique and indispensable" role in China Modern Society, then this movie is an insult to many young but educated modern Chinese..

It's really sad that such a great historic figure has been portrayed badly just to serve short term political interest.

Well, that 's logical anyway.. The Chinese Commie are so desperate to control their mind-opening-population..especially the young generation.. As Confucius said if you try to govern people by force and deceit, you will fail.

The Totalarian Commie system will fail in 50 years despite economic improvement.

The most controversial and dramatic thing about this movie happened off-screen in mid-January. Many Internet users and related groups called for a boycott of the film when it was reported that China had ordered 2D versions of "Avatar" to be pulled out so that more people would watch "Confucius". However, due to low attendance for "Confucius", and the high demand for "Avatar", the Chinese government reversed their decision and allowed "Avatar" to remain on some 2-D screens in China. The movie was to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China and Confucius' 2,560th birthday.

Yes, this is after Mao Zedong's Red Guards condemned the ancient scholar and destroyed his family cemetery and temple in his hometown of Qufu. Ironically, one of Confucius sayings is that "an oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger".

The first half of the movie traces the rise and popularity of Confucius (played by Chow Yun Fat) in the state of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period where he is known for his fair and just ideas about running the affairs of the state. He is promoted from town mayor to minister. However, his ideas and practices break with tradition and anger the ruling families. An example is when he saves a burial slave from being entombed alive. He incurs the wrath of the rulers of the surrounding kingdoms by tricking them into giving back seized territory without any violence.

The second half, circa 497 BC, shows Confucius and his disciples in exile, wandering about for years and getting chased away by the locals.

As you can see from the paragraphs above, the first half of this two-hour film is more eventful and interesting than the second. There is a gripping war sequence about the storming of a fort that recalls the action in "Red Cliff." And that's about it for the action fans.

Chow rises to the occasion as the calm and collected Kong Qiu, the revered teacher whose philosophy and views helped to revolutionize some states in China. When political jealousy and fears about his influence send him into exile, the scenes get repetitious and languid. This is punctuated with a subplot about Nan Zi (Zhou Xun), consort to the Wei king who respects the wisdom of Confucius. However, her magnetic appearances are brief and almost cameo-like, leaving most of the second half as prolonged and protracted scenes of Kon Qiu's wanderings and sufferings.

Technically, this US$23-million production looks rich and even stunning at times. Cinematographer Peter Pau (of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" fame) captures the period and locations in all their glory and helps to put us in the right mood and atmosphere of the times.

"Confucius" is not a lost cause. It just looks long-drawn messy, like too many cooks having a hand at the broth. - LIM CHANG MOH (limchangmoh.blogspot.com)

There has been some commotion around this movie concerning whether it did or did not force Avatar from the 2D screens in China. So many IMDb-voters thought it necessary to vote a '1' for this movie without even seeing it.

It's a shame because it is a really good movie. I wasn't sure myself if a story around Confucius would be able to entertain me for 2 hours but it surely did! It's a fascinating and emotional story about the later years of Confucius, played by Hong Kong-actor Chow Yun Fat. It's shows the man behind the myth.

I was very impressed with Chow's acting. I knew he was a great actor but this role is another milestone in his career. His Confucius is warm and gentle and you really feel his emotions. For his performance alone this film is worth watching.

Beware: it might not be for the usual popcorn crowd, wanting to be entertained with lots of action and superficial story lines. It's an inspirational journey! Go see it!

I love the Asian films and the epic sagas and so when I got ahold of this I watched it right away. I am disappointed in some aspects like story telling. For me instead of focusing on his entire life with much of it wandering they should of focused more on his dealings within LU. Much like IP MAN focused not on the entire story but on the war and IP MANs role during that time. THis film is beautiful to watch and some of the characters are fun but over all an un-inspiring tale of one of the most influential scholars of all time. The problem is the script, not the directing, performances or the photography. So if you plan on seeing this film be prepared to watch a rather long film with great photography, wonderful performances but fails in its lack of storytelling.

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I had my expectations set on Confucius the film being a tale of the man himself, one of the greatest and earliest philosophers and thinkers that had vast influence over a number of ideologies today, including the system of ethical governance. The trailer had suggested that besides being a learned man, he's quite the military strategist as well, like a precursor to Zhuge Liang, which of course is way off the mark as far as I'm concerned.

It seems like director Hu Mei had been influenced by a number of war films set in Ancient China from Battle of Wits to Red Cliff, and had been inspired to do her own, even if it had to involve Confucius. Good thing though she didn't put the philosopher, played by Chow Yun- Fat, into a suit of armour, but rather, starts off the narrative focused on his ascension to enviable political positions starting with the Law Ministry, before being Acting Interior Minister for the state of Lu.

A tale of two parts, the first half danced along the narrative tread of political intrigue, with court official envy and being the favourite adviser of the ruler, laying the groundwork for some serious rivalry and treachery to be dished out, especially when a talk of alliance with another state goes awry, if not for a Plan B up in the sleeves to bail them out of trouble. But hold on, was Confucius ever a politician to begin with? I do not know, but it didn't matter much, as there were glimpses of how his mind ticked, with discussions of ideals and ideas with his disciples being some of the highlights that one would have come to the movie for.

The second half though, was a let down. Unappreciated and driven away, Confucius starts his self-exile, and together with a small group of dedicated disciples whom we know very little of save for their names and titles appearing on screen, and most given extremely limited screen time, they wander around the film from city to city, and very much echoed the sentiments of the viewer - when will they settle down and get themselves into some serious classroom teaching? It's a pity that this section of the film decided to focus on how frail and aged Confucius had become with the passing of time, but little more. Pacing seems a little hurried as well, especially when dealing with subplots involving his disciples, with resolution being only a few minutes after.

Even Zhou Xun's cannot save the show, as she's given a combined screen time of not more than 15 minutes thereabout to turn on her charm as the consort of a kingdom that Confucius and his disciples pass through. In other words, a flower-vase role that completely underutilized the talents of this wonderful actress. Chow Yun-Fat cuts an imposing figure of Confucius and probably had what it takes in the first section, before the weak storyline in the later half muted his performance as a senior citizen with major issues to address for himself and his disciples, the first being the basic theories of Maslow in getting food and shelter for his followers.

I figured I would have enjoyed a film about Confucius more if it had taken a more in depth look into his character, his inspiration, his influences (that goes just beyond the churning of learned disciples to execute their like-minded philosophies) and of course, having all these done more through the narrative scenes, rather than through inter-titles which tell a lot more than the film itself. I think one is better off digging out Confucius epics of old, than to watch this spruced by version with very fake looking CGI.