Marking both the hundredth anniversary of the Xinghai Revolution, and the hundredth movie for its director and star, a trailer for Jackie Chan's historical epic 1911 has just arrived online over at Apple.
It's Chan's first film as director since 1998 (although he shared behind-the-camera duties with Zhang Li), and co-stars Chan's son Jaycee, Li Bingbing, Winston Chao and Joan Chen. Chan plays Huang Xing, the revolutionary leader and "eight fingered general", who, through a series of violent uprisings, was instrumental in overthrowing the Quing Dynasty and establishing China as a republic.
It's unusually serious stuff for the generally knockabout Chan, but on the evidence of the clip, all the better for it. Clearly a labour of love for the director, six months of punishing production finally wrapped in March this year.** 1911** will open the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 22, and gets a North American release (in its full form, unlike John Woo's superficially similar Red Cliff) on October 12. The UK awaits a date...