ABSTRACT
In this chapter, current government-influenced structures of film production and distribution in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are examined and new methods of persuasive communication in historical films identified, as they have been adapted to cater to a modern audience within a developing socio-political environment. One of the pertinent questions discussed is whether and how, by adjusting the ‘external packaging’ of zhu xuanlü, or main-melody, film, ideological meaning has also been modified and to what extent.
I use The Founding of a Republic (2009) and prior filmic versions featuring the same period of time to re-evaluate notions of propaganda and the specific function of historical film within the context of ideological persuasion. It is evident that films about Chinese revolutionary history continue to be used as a means to establish a collective national and political identity based on a malleable view of history. These films can be regarded as “hyperreal” as defined by Baudrillard, as “visions of a world that appears more legitimate, more believable and more valuable than the real.” More recent historical films, like American Dreams in China (2013), follow similar methods of persuasive communication, revealing a persistent trend in Chinese cinema that is defined by contemporary cultural politics, ideology, and soft power development.
