This is Jackie Chan's 100th movie and marks a century since the Xinhai revolution in 1911 that forever changed the course of China's sovereign history and shaped it into what it is today as the People's Republic of China.
Produced and directed by Jackie Chan himself, I must admit I did not catch the movie because of the man himself. Instead, I was drawn by the historical events, including the downfall of the Manchurian Qing Dynasty, and felt I could have a piece of my ancestry through this short two hours movie charting the events that occurred back in 1911 and 1912.
Starring a stellar cast including Jackie Chan, Winston Chao, Joan Chen, Li Bingbing, Jackie's son Jaycee Chan, Hu Ge, the movie started with the execution of the legendary revolutionary heroine Qiu Jin, who sacrificed her life to help the suppressed and long suffering commoners stand up against the corrupted Qing empire and feudalistic society.
The revolution, led by the famous Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing etc staged numerous uprisings to put an end to a long reign of Emperors, who ruled over the land and lived a life of luxury behind forbidden palaces as the commoners tolled and sweated their life away in poverty. Empress Dowager Longyu was coerced by Yuan Shikai and the new government to sign the abdication of the throne of her son Puyi, the last Emperor of China, that reduced them to citizens of the new republic and ended the imperial rule.
This event was a critical milestone in the history of China and the republic would not be what it is today without the few revolutionary leaders who believed in dedicating their entire lives to fight for its people to overcome poverty, inequality etc.
I must admit that we are very fortunate not to have been born during that era where there were rampant wars, uprisings, revolutions etc that resulted in countless deaths of innocent lives. We must count our lucky stars that there is a lot more political stability all over the world and be grateful for what we have in this day and age. Not everyone, especially those from the past, can have a life as good as ours.
2012 is the next leap year that is coming up. And Mediacorp Raintree Pictures made this movie 'The Leap Years' which was released back in 2008. Starring our very own Wong Lilin, who have since migrated overseas, the Thai actor Ananda Everingham made famous by the horror movie 'Shutter', the Chinese American actress Joan Chen, Qi Yuwu, Vernetta Lopez, a cameo appearance by Allan Wu etc, I watched it on television months ago but procrastinated to post about it.
I cannot remember the whole story but it somehow revolved around the single and available character played by Joan Chen, who in her elder years recounted her story to her daughter, I think, of how she met a man she could never forget when she was younger.
Upon prompting by her happily attached friends, the younger Lilin chatted up a foreign tourist Ananda on Feb 29 in a leap year at a roadside cafe, and they made a pact to meet again four years later at the same cafe after the mutually attracted acquaintances spent a night together. Both were looking forward to the meet up in the leap year but had no way of contacting each other since they left without having any contact information about each other.
Somehow, due to a sudden twist of events, they never got to meet again and they were pining for each other. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember the ending because while the notion of the plot was refreshingly interesting, the acting and storyline wasn't with its forgettable and unrealistic plot. What a waste!
The leap year is coming up in less than 6 months time, so there is still time to plan that special moment with that special someone, if you entertain the romantic novelty of meeting up on this once in four years occasion.
