Chow Yun-Fat on the Set of 孔子 (Confucius)

The Fifth Generation's "tough broad" Hu Mei is known mostly for two things: one is combining critical acclaim with mainstream acceptance on TV, an increasingly rare feat when it comes to historical dramas - she broke countless records with her 1997 masterpiece 雍正王朝 (The Yongzheng Dynasty), and then arguably topped it with 2005's 汉武大帝 (Han Wu the Great), which give or take a few exceptions is pretty much the best Chinese historical drama of the last decade, and I'm including films in the list. The other is that of having a rather stubborn artistic integrity, enough to quit the multi-million dollar remake 红楼梦 (Dreams of the Red Chamber) mid-flight, because of conflicts with the producers over casting. Those two reasons alone should be enough to make her return to the big screen after 2002's 芬妮的微笑 (On the Other Side of the Bridge), the long-awaited 孔子 (Confucius), a surefire bet. But as stills and behind the scenes videos continue to pile up, this keeps looking better.

What we have today is a making of mini-docu a little short of 7 minutes, mostly focusing on Chow Yun-Fat and his performance as the titular great sage. Not much in the way of money shots, but it gives a pretty decent idea of the style and scope we're dealing with. Hu's works have a rather Shakespearean quality to them, but she always balances the theatrics with a very solid historical background (something sorely lacking in most epic Chinese historical blockbusters as of late), and the kind of humanism that is often ignored at the altar of glorification (particularly considering the kind of historical figures she's been dealing with). And this looks just as classy as her past works, finally giving Chow a chance to add meatier projects to his post-Hollywood career. The film started shooting in March, alternating between the Hengdian World Studios in Zheijian and Hebei province, and also stars Zhou Xun and Chen Jianbin. Confucius debuts on January 20.