Confucius lived in a very chaotic
time over two thousand years ago. His wisdom and cunning brought him many
enemies, but his teachings survive today. CONUCIUS
chronicles the last 20 years of this teacher and legend. His military cunning
leads to politicians being jealous of him and his new enemies want to find ways to get rid of him. The leader of Lu believes in a civil government and Confucius believes one must lead a moral life. The neighboring state of Wei wants to invade Lu, but Confucius finds a way to
create an alliance through his cunning.
CONFUCIUS is a moving character epic. It has amazing production values and strong performances from Chow Yun-Fat (as Confucius)
and Zhou Yun (the royal consort of the ruler of Wei). The movie is able
to show the players who feel Confucius is a threat while also showing what type of person Confucius may have been. His disciples believed in him and even followed him on his travels.
The cinematography sometimes paint some beautiful visuals that match up with a very moving score. If you wanted to know a little more about Chinese history, CONFUCIUS would be a good primer before
diving into the books about Chinese history at the time.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
There are eight making-of featurettes that
run over fifty minutes in total in addition to the theatrical trailer and previews for other Funimation releases.
FROM CHOW YUN-FAT TO CONFUCIUS- the director and others talk about Chow-Yun Fat playing Confucius
A WOMAN, A BOSOM FRIEND- the director, Chow-Yun-Fat, and Zhou Yun talk about the character of the Royal Consort as played by Zhou
Yun
CHAOTIC PERIOD OF SPRING AND AUTUMN- a look at the detail and production design of CONFUCIUS
FROM CHOW YUN-FAT TO CONFUCIUS SPECIAL
EDITION- part 2 of the look at Chow Yun-Fat playing Confucius as the production team first worried that Chow Yun-Fat could
play him. Soon they found out Chow Yun-Fat was
a quick study as he dived in deep to play Confucius and how fun it was to be on the set with him.
THE POLITICIANS- this featurette focuses on the politicians with focus on one of the central politician characters
ANIMAL STARS- directing and filming the animals in the film. The production
team found it challenging working with animals.
PROGRESSING IN THE SNOW- behind-the-scenes of filming the scene on an ice covered lake which they used a combination of location
and studio filming and green screen/ CGI to get the final result
THE WARFARE- the detail and safety concerns that went into filming the battle scenes.
Also included in the combo pack is a DVD
of the movie.
FINAL ANALYSIS: CONFUCIUS is a moving character epic that is beautifully photographed with a great performance
from Chow Yun-Fat.
this review is (c)4-1-2012 David
Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com
