New poster & stills from Jackie Chan's 1911

While it is no secret that our enthusiasm for Chinese Nationalist films is waning here at ScreenAnarchy, 1911 does, to its credit, take place during one of the more fascinating periods in the country's diverse and wayward history. After being run as an Empire for thousands of years, the 1911 uprisings ushered in a bold new era, in which the people were determined to govern themselves and wrestle the fortunes of the country away from the regal elite. The events portrayed onscreen in Jackie Chan's 100th film as an actor put this brave new plan into action - and while it would take until the Cultural Revolution of 1959 for things to really settle down, there is no denying that 1911 marked the dawn of something new and a date that would forever change the landscape of the country.

The events take place in 1911.  Huang Xin (Jackie Chan) and Sun Yat Sun (Winston Chao) are the leaders of the revolution, fighting for a better life for the people. They gathered together and formed an association (Tung Meng Hui) for the purpose of fighting against the deteriorated Qing Dynasty.  There were 2 uprisings to fight against the royal troops.  The first one was held in Quangzhou in April 1911.  The revolutionists attacked the Governor's Office but totally failed due to an inadequate supply of ammunition.  A huge number of revolutionaries were sacrified.  There are 72 corpses found and buried in the place of Huang Fa Gong. 

In October of the same year, another uprising in Wu Cheong took place.  The royal army rebelled, led by Zhang Zhen Wu (Jaycee Chan). They successfully occupied three towns in Hu Han, and seized control of Hu Bei province.  At that time, the Empress appointed Yuan Shi Kai and his soldiers to fight back. Huang then commanded the Defending troops, resisted for one month then followed with success. 14 Provinces declared independence. Sun was back and appointed as the temporary President who alleged to give away the position to the one who convinced the Qing Royalty to surrender.  Yuan has succeeded to do so and got the authority.

268 years of the Reign of the Qing Dynasty and 2000 years of monarchy had come to an end.  The Republic was then founded.