People are voting emotionally.

A Major Disappointment

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

So how much do you know about the life of Confucius? Probably next to nothing, so any decent film on the topic will have lots to teach you. This one has excellent production values, lots of lavish sets, period costumes, battles, cgi eye-candy. Because it was made in China, with the Chinese government involved, we can be assume that no great liberties were taken with the historical record and that clothes, customs, furniture and such are accurate. This is enough to recommend seeing it.On the level of entertainment, it has several drawbacks. For viewers who do not know their ancient Chinese history, it sometimes becomes confusing trying to keep track of the various kingdoms at war or in alliance with each other, and of some of the ranks of civil servants in order to understand who is supposed to obey whom. When a face appeared on screen, I might have known that I had seen him before, but I was not always sure which kingdom he belonged to and what authority he held.While I would not have wanted some trumped-up romantic interest added to the film, I did miss seeing and hearing from the women of the time.I wonder if a mistake wasn't in trying to cover the entire life of Confucius? I suppose that's what a biopic is supposed to do, but I couldn't help thinking of how Shakespeare built his dramas around one major incident in the life of his protagonists. It keeps the story tighter and more intense, and easier to follow.I was quite surprised at how little we learned of the teachings of Confucius. That was what he lived for, that is why his name has come down through the centuries to us. Several comments are made about his wanting to see "civility" in public life, and one or two aphorism are given, but it would have been much more satisfying to have been given an overview of his essential teachings.

An interesting look at the life of someone everybody thinks they know, but , in fact, know very little about. In and around 500BC, in a small kingdom within China, lived a man whose teachings and philosophy have underpinned Chinese thoughts for millenia - well, that's what they say, but Mao must have forgotten to read it, or subverted the bits about dictators and oppressors! There is action in the first half, but the second half drags as the hero wanders around China in exile - presumably most Chinese would be aware of the stories and events depicted, but they do not grab the audience particularly. Chow Yun Fat acts tremendously well, but is hamstrung by the saintliness of the depiction. In fact, much of the film reminded me of a cross between 'El Cid' and 'King of Kings' as a man battles with his beliefs in a time of great strife and trouble. Certainly it portrays a lot of Christian teaching without the deification element in Western culture. But we do not learn really enough about why he became so influential, and why his teaching was so radical. Guess I'll have to look on Wikipedia!

Here in America Confucius is known mostly for all the sayings he was attributed for, and they mostly begin with " Confucius say..." I was really looking forward to seeing this movie and although I am now kind of shaking my head and wondering what actually happened in this movie I can't say that it was a total loss to have seen it. (Actually I own it) I could say that the best thing about this movie is the Faye Wong song at the end and the bonus video with her singing but that would not entirely be true.If I knew nothing about Confucius and had seen this movie I would never know that all his sayings that are attributed to him ever existed. Sure he has a truckload of writings by the time he died but did the movie ever go into what he actually had written? Sadly, no.It was a joy for me as an American to see the beautiful countryside, the scenery is magnificent.There is no love story in this movie except the love his disciples have for him (and vice versa) and the love he and his disciples have for their country. Xun Xhou is gorgeous and mysterious but she is only in this film for mere minutes and then she is gone.I don't even know how factual the events in this movie are. Do they follow a true history? I don't know, I was expecting to see more about his philosophy and all his writings and how they were so influential they still survive to this day.I will watch it again because I probably missed something. I always watch the movie with the original spoken language and English subtitles, so sometimes maybe I was watching too much the subtitles and missing some subtle interactions between the characters.I was not disappointed with the acting at all, I thought is was excellent.And yes for Faye Wong fans the ending song is just as beautiful as she is.

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.