There are not many films made about philosophers, particularly eastern ones (with the very big exception of Jesus). I imagine the reason for this is that philosophers on the whole live inside their heads, & the head is a very difficult to place fit a camera. But why not make more films about philosophers? We could have a tragic one about Nietzsche, a minimalist one on Boethis, a tumultuous one about Kierkegaard &, why not?, a farce about Foucault. Perhaps a maxim that serves producers well is ‘the little we know, the better’ because nothing hampers dreams of cinema as much as factual information. A film about a historical figure will generally have little historical information because story-wise it’s better to ‘print the legend’.
What makes Confucius’ life more film worthy can also be put down to his role in public life. In this light he is much more akin to the wise King Solomon resolving local problems than to TV appearing & debating Žižek (who actually does have a film about him simply entitled Žižek!) because he discerns good laws of judgment rather than intellectually dismantling other systems of thought.
However I sometimes thought that this film was confusing Confucius with Sun Tzu, the writer of The Art of War, since it focuses quite a bit on the battle & strategy of the fiefdoms than on an education based on harmony & civility. It’s the battle of spirit & mind that should be the film’s real concern. This conflict is quickly demonstrated & dealt with in a scene where an agonized Confucius is told “Who will be left to care about ethics if we’re defeated in battle? Only victory & defeat are what matter. Not ethics!” before entering into a conversation with his dead master about his purpose in the world. Then the action carries on as before.
It uses typical shots of a thousand arrows being shot & thrown into the air that used to look breath halting when Hero first used it but now cliché in films set in Chinese history. Also the sensory experience of lush bold colors seems persistent in recent Chinese films but I will be slow before become irritated with this feature.
It is a pleasing film if a questionable representation of the venerable teacher. If you take anything from this film then I think Confucius would hope that it is to “put your country ahead of your life” or “obstacles will be many, so maintain your strength of spirit!” but I learnt to “accomplish everything by doing nothing”. Sound advice.
Although having said about the lack of films about philosophers there is supposed to be one in development entitled ‘The Young Karl Marx’, but would the writer of Das Kapital approve? A question politic student should ask their seminar tutors about.
"You've got to make your ponts clearer and clearer but they can't change"
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