Lovely and Evil

Rating: 3/10 (26 September 2004)

Visually this is a beautiful movie, however at it's heart it feels like propaganda meant to explain why it is okay that the Chinese government massacred the students at Tiananmen Square, why it's okay if they may attack Taiwan to unify the country and why Tibet must be occupied: it's for the greater good. So when you see the scene where the defenseless calligraphy students are killed by the King of Qin, remember he didn't want to do it, he just doing it for the good of China 'Our Nation' (a phrase coined by Mao Tse Tung and force down the throats of his subjects). The suffering or death of individuals doesn't matter as long as the greater good of the masses is served. It carefully promotes the "One China" myth invented by the government to explain China's expansion and absorption of places like Tibet.
It's really part of China see? Just like so much of Europe was *really* part of Germany...
Speaking of Germany: This movie is on par with the worst propaganda the Nazi's created. I can only hope that people who are drawn in by the great cast, or beautiful cinematography are not so fooled that they let the evil propaganda at the end of the movie to sneak into their brains. I can see now how Joseph Goebbels (Nazi Propaganda Minister) was able to fool so many educated people. You just shroud your evil argument with beautiful images so that the victims swallow it whole. I don't discourage you from seeing the movie, just don't be afraid to talk about what it really is about.