The Founding of a Republic

“When an empire falls a nation is born.”

Mao Zedong (Tang Guoqiang) wants to build a new state, and in 1945 the war with Japan has just ended, leaving him to bargain with his rival Chiang Kai-shek (Zhang Guoli) over what comes next. Huang Jianxin and Han Sanping fill the screen with Zhou Enlai (Liu Jin), Zhu De (Wang Wufu), Liu Shaoqi (Liu Sha) and a long line of other familiar faces. Mao carries the weight of a leader asking a whole country to follow him.