Jiang Jie (2002)

Jiang Jie is a celebrated figure in China, often called the "Chinese Joan of Arc." She was a communist heroine executed by the Kuomintang in 1949, just before the revolution. Director Zhang Yuan's film is a heartfelt tribute to the 1964 "revolutionary opera" about her life, closely following the original story. This dramatic work, similar to 19th-century operas by Verdi, takes on a new meaning today. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), this type of "revolutionary opera"—a revised form of traditional Beijing opera—became the standard for Maoist propaganda art. In recent years, scholars in China and the West have revisited this propaganda, discovering artistry and even unexpected beauty beneath its often kitschy and politically charged surface.