Review for Confucius

Introduction

So how much do you know about Confucius? If it is little more than, a wise Chinese bloke, then you're in the same boat as me, and probably a fair fraction of the Western world. I only know that much because of my seventies upbringing with lots of Monkey and Water Margin on the TV, and Bruce Lee in the cinema fuelling something of a fascination with Far Eastern cultures. Even then, my peers' appreciation of Confucius rarely went beyond putting on a silly accent, saying 'Confucius say', followed by something absolutely silly and possibly a little rude, but made to sound philosophical for added comic effect. That lack of education is practically a crime, especially when you consider that Confucius was the philosopher responsible for codifying a set of ethics, espousing a way of living, acting, and thinking that has shaped Far Eastern cultures for over two and half thousand years. Yes, he predates Christ! It may not be accurate to categorise Confucianism as a religion, but its impact and importance on the way people live is no less profound. Thankfully they have made a movie detailing his later life, and I can plug those embarrassing gaps in my general knowledge at last.


At the beginning of the 5th Century BC, Confucius was the mayor of Zhongdu in the Kingdom of Lu that came to the attention of the king. His enlightened policies were having a significant effect on the people of his town, prosperity was up, and lawlessness was down. The king wished that the whole of his kingdom was so peaceful, and when Confucius told him that it was through a return to older values of serving one's family, and one's country, while venerating the ancestors, the king decided to elevate Confucius to the royal court, where he would be able to enact his policies across the land. But there was trouble without and within. Troublesome neighbours surrounded the Kingdom of Lu, notably the Dukedom of Qi, whose rulers coveted the prosperous Lu. While in Lu, three families vied for power, and weren't at all gratified to see the son of a commoner having the king's ear, and slowly demolishing the power bases that they had meticulously built up.

The Disc

Confucius gets a rather lush 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. It's nice and native PAL on the DVD, which brings out to excellent effect the grand production design, the amazing locations, the effective CGI, all coupled with some deft cinematography. Flaws in the transfer aren't apparent to my eye, but should you wish even more definition to the image, the Blu-ray is released on the same day. In terms of audio, you have a choice between DD 5.1 and 2.0 Mandarin, with optional English subtitles. The music suits the film well, and the surround is effective, strident when it needs to be, subtle in the quieter scenes.

Extras

Confucius doesn't do too badly for extras either; with the usual Cine Asia animated menus presenting the film on the disc. The underline that highlights the selected option is obscured a bit by the menu design though. You'll find 12 trailers for other Cine Asia releases on the disc.

Cine Asia have procured the services of Bey Logan to provide the audio commentary, although they should give you a warning to buckle yourself in before pressing play on it. It is, as usual a fast ride through a wealth of pertinent information about the film, the background, the cast, and everything else that you can imagine. It makes a change to hear Bey Logan talking more about philosophy than kung fu, but naturally he is knowledgeable and erudite when it comes to whatever he discusses.


The Making of Gallery contains 7 featurettes, running to a total of 49 minutes, and as you would expect offering interviews with the cast and crew, as well as looks behind the scenes of the filming. You can learn more about the cast, and how they became their characters, bringing to life China as it was 2500 years ago, the menagerie of animals that appeared on screen, filming in difficult conditions like snow, and the battle sequences.

Finally the trailer for the film is here.

Conclusion

Confucius is pretty good. In fact, I found it to exceed my expectations by far, although that could be because I was expecting a pseudo-historical epic of the sort that typifies the usual biblical biopic. Given the period of the story, and the subject matter at hand, I was anticipating something akin to The Greatest Story Ever Told, or The Ten Commandments, an uplifting and emotive expression of established dogma, but slight on character, simple of narrative, and hardly requiring something as intricate as a plot. Confucius on the other hand is more reminiscent of Gandhi, in that it's a film biography of a human being, a philosopher who tried to change society through example and through an enlightened system of ethics. There are no acts of God here, no elements of the supernatural, just what feels like a documented history. Given the ancient period of the story, the accuracy of the history may be questionable, but the treatment of these historical figures as people rather than myths cannot be lauded highly enough.


That's the surprising thing about Confucius. I see a lot of the aforementioned veneration of ancestors when it comes to biopics made in China, with films like Ip Man presenting their subjects as infallible, perfect ciphers, lacking in any character flaw, and consequently devoid of character as well. Presenting a historical figure worthy of respect as human would be discourteous in the extreme, which usually makes for tedious viewing. That was what I expected from Confucius; such a bland, dry recitation of recorded history, editing out anything questionable, that I would be more entertained reading the relevant section in an encyclopaedia. Yet Chow Yun-Fat has the latitude here to present Confucius as human. This is a Confucius who is fallible, is capable of error, and is victim to pride. More importantly, his character is one that learns from the events that he lives through, and grows from a proud and well-meaning government official, to the experienced and learned sage that history depicts him as. We also see the many facets to the man, the public servant, the teacher, the warrior, the family man, and the exile.


A strong cast also helps the film, although it is numerous enough to require plenty of captions announcing who each new player is, most of which evaporate from the mind as quickly as they are read. The first half of the film and more follows the period in Confucius' life where he served the kingdom of Lu, first as minister of Law, and then minister of the Interior. This is the most intricate, and character driven part of the film, where machinations abound, and court politics drive everything. The king is a wily soul, who plays something of the cowardly idiot to remain on his throne, so as not to threaten any of the three powerful families who vie for position. There is also the former minister of the Interior Ji, whose adherence to tradition brings him into conflict with the ethics of Confucius, but who also supports Confucius when it serves his purposes. This part of the film is where we learn most about Confucius' system of ethics, how it threatened the powerful aristocracy, and the difficulty he had in making his voice heard, despite his astonishing success serving the kingdom.


But his fall from grace is just as dramatic as his climb to power, and the final portion of the film follows him in his exile from Lu, as he wanders the nations as something of a philosopher hermit, bringing his teachings to all, in the midst of terrible warfare and strife. If there is a weak point to the film, it's here, which compresses the better part of two decades into under an hour. It's basically the hardships that Confucius and his disciples face as they travel from nation to nation, usually having to steer clear of the local authorities. Compared to the far more enlightening first half of the film, this period of reflective wandering is hastily told, ephemeral, and unfulfilling as a narrative. But history is never so convenient as to supply narrative fulfilment on demand. This is the way it happened, and so this is the way it needs to be told.


The problem here is that there is only so much you can tell within a limited runtime, and what we have here is the story of the latter third of Confucius' life, beginning when he had already formulated his system of ethics and begun teaching it to his disciples. It follows his life as he applies those ethics to the real world, and faces challenges that require him to further refine his ideas, and come to terms with his place in the grand scheme of things. It's the tale of one man's search for humility. The thing is that this film tells the story of Confucius, but his legacy is fundamentally far more important than his life. If, like me you are only fleetingly aware of that legacy, and how it has shaped nations, then you're probably not going to appreciate this film as much as someone who is. I certainly found it to be an entertaining biopic, but it left me with many more questions than answers at the end. Confucius is a worthy film, but I feel it is preaching to the converted.