We want to get to know you more to help improve our service. Please take 2 minutes to fill out our survey here. Thank you! test2

This film is part of Rentals

This film is certified

Contains infrequent moderate violence and injury detail

I confirm I am over 12

Title of error

See Help

The Founding of a Republic

Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen appear together for the first time in the epic, star-studded story of the birth of modern China.

Historical drama 2009 140 mins

Director: Han Sanping, Huang Jianxin, Chen Kaige, Peter Chan Ho-sun, Feng Xiaogang and Du Jun

Rent for £3.50

Overview

Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen appear together for the first time in the epic, star-studded story of the birth of modern China, recounting the rise and victory of Mao Zedong’s Communist Party over Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist forces in the Chinese civil war. Officially sanctioned it may be, but Huang Jianxin and Han Sanping’s film is much more than mere propaganda; a rousing yet sophisticated spectacle that reaffirms China’s complex relationship with its own 20th-century history.

Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, the film’s staggering cast – a veritable who’s who of every major figure in Chinese cinema - even stretches to include onscreen appearances by directors Chen Kaige, Feng Xiaogang, Jiang Wen and John Woo.

Director

Han Sanping , Huang Jianxin , Chen Kaige , Peter Chan Ho-sun , Feng Xiaogang and Du Jun

Featuring

Tang Guoqiang , Zhang Guoli , Shi Xin and Zhang Ziyi

Genres

Historical drama

Certificate

Contains infrequent moderate violence and injury detail

Country

People's Republic of China

Language

English

Rent for £4.50

Dark Waters Dark Waters

Biopic 2019 126 mins Director: Todd Haynes

Mark Ruffalo plays an attorney trying to uncover the corporate scandal of a chemical company poisoning a local community, in this searching ecological drama from Todd Haynes (Safe, Carol).

Rent for £3.50

The King's Speech The King's Speech

Historical drama 2011 113 mins Director: Tom Hooper

Oscar-winning tale of the relationship between King George VI (Colin Firth) and the Australian speech therapist who treated his stammer.

Rent for £3.50

Mr. Turner Mr. Turner

Biopic 2014 150 mins Director: Mike Leigh

Mike Leigh’s Cannes-winning account of the later years of J. M. W. Turner, brilliantly played by Timothy Spall.

Rent for £3.50

12 Years a Slave 12 Years a Slave

Biopic 2014 134 mins Director: Steve McQueen

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender star in Steve McQueen’s fearless, Oscar-winning story of a free man who’s sold into slavery.

Rent for £3.50

The Death of Stalin The Death of Stalin

Comedy 2017 107 mins Director: Armando Iannucci

Chaos and comedy ignite in Armando Iannucci’s acerbic satire, as Soviet officials frantically react to the passing of their glorious leader.

Rent for £4.50

Kidnapped Kidnapped

Historical drama 2023 134 mins Director: Marco Bellocchio

This enthralling Italian historical drama depicts the kidnapping of a young Jewish boy, who is then sent to the Vatican to be converted to Christianity.

Rent for £2.50

The Banquet The Banquet

2006 125 mins Director: Feng Xiaogang

Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) stars is this lavish wuxia based on elements from Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Ibsen’s Ghosts.

Rent for £2.50

Assembly Assembly

War 2007 119 mins Director: Feng Xiaogang

Following a brutal battle, a Chinese army captain wakes from a coma to discover his discredited regiment has been airbrushed from history, and sets out to restore his soldiers’ honour.

Currently unavailable

A Touch of Sin A Touch of Sin

Crime 2013 125 mins Director: Jia Zhangke

Jia Zhangke’s state-of-the-nation report on contemporary China is comprised of four stories about shocking acts of violence.

Rent for £2.50

Aftershock Aftershock

Drama 2010 130 mins Director: Feng Xiaogang

China’s blockbuster director Feng Xiaogang scored his biggest box office hit with this staggering disaster film about a massive earthquake and its aftermath.

Rent for £3.50

Speechless Speechless

Drama 2012 93 mins Director: Simon Chung

A mysterious, exotic and riveting drama about a nameless man discovered naked on a riverbank, who forms a bond with the hospital assistant who can communicate with him.