Only three, including Han and Chen Kaige, agreed because "Chen Kun exhibits aloof and enduring courage and fortitude that reminds us of Chiang Ching-kuo," Han said.

Chiang Ching-kuo, in his 30s, was an experienced solider having fought for the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1945. "Unlike his peers who had never experienced real storms, Chiang Ching-kuo at that moment was eager to save Kuomintang's regime from collapsing," Han noted.

"Chen has captured this mentality and worked all out to bring it out," Han added.

Ten years ago, while still a student in the Beijing Film Academy, Chen Kun was selected to play Nie Er, composer of the People's Republic's national anthem, in a tribute film. He said the experience of playing again in a tribute film benefited him greatly.

"Young actors are easily content with playing empty characters, but when I walked into a team dedicated to serious production, I began to realize how diffident I am," Chen Kun said.

But Chen Kun felt intimated and doubtful of his character rendition amid so many glamorous stars that radiated with their explosive performances.

"While I prepared myself to learn from these senior actors with due modesty," Chen Kun said, "I felt the inner urge to prove my existence in the movie, or you can call it the instinct of an actor."

It is undeniable that serious stars can conquer audiences with only a few lines and scenes. And directors Chen Kaige, Jiang Wen and Feng Xiaogang, to name a few, have all contributed several such impressive scenes.

Jiang Wen, an actor-turned director, for instance, was a guest actor who played a brutal murderer, Mao Renfeng. He went through all kinds of documents for clues as to how to interpret Mao's character.

In the movie, he arched his back when he saluted to "Chiang Kai-shek," because, according to his research, "Mao graduated from a Japanese officers' training school and saluted in the Japanese style," Jiang said.

Breakthroughs on the screen

Historical figures such as Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek have frequently appeared on the silver screen in the past three decades, each time making breakthroughs in ideological or artistic presentation and interpretation.

Despite these performances, the typical interpretation of Chiang Kai-shek in previous movies and TV series still followed the stereotype of a haughty military dictator.

But this time around, Zhang Guoli, who has also directed a number of TV series drawing high audience ratings, cherished his 38 scenes. In them, he sought to reproduce a multifaceted Chiang Kai-shek with a rich complexity far different from previous interpretations.

Mao Zedong's portrayer Tang Guoqiang, who played the same character in nearly 20 movies or TV series, emphasized new discovery and interpretation, too. Tang, who emerged as a household name in the 1970s, said that he was not a typecast actor.

"Any actor will hope to play as many different characters as he can, and the character Mao Zedong offered us ample room for interpretation. I hope I can still play him at 70," Tang said.

"We want to make breakthroughs allowing the camera to dig into the hearts of historical characters," director Huang Jianxin said.

The audience will be surprised at the fresh interpretations of these leaders—notably how the stereotypes have been changed.

Zhou Enlai, the gentle and benign former Chinese premier who was always in a calm mood, this time is portrayed angry and, at one point, roundly drunk at the news of a great triumph. Mao Zedong was depicted inebriated too. Mao Zedong is seen lying on his side, giggling like a child with the anticipation of the birth of the New China.

The scene, according to Huang, elicited tears from many cinema managers. "Such details can trigger empathy and move audiences, although it's hard for breakthroughs in the shooting of leaders," said Rao Shuguang, a researcher with China Film Art Research Center.

In addition, Huang emphasized that they wanted a modern movie—one with a modern sense and modern expressions.

"Usually such movies have about 700 shootings, but we have 1,500 for a quicker pace," Huang said. "We used movie languages including music and metaphor to replace straight narration to depict history. We wanted to make it grandiose and with smooth flow."

Huang, now Chairman of the Beijing Film Director Association, achieved fame by shooting Chinese movies with new perspectives. He has been a production supervisor for many a box office action blockbusters including The Warlords by Hong Kong director Peter Chan, Kill Bill and Mummy 3.

"I always love shooting the ordinary people," Huang said. The movie includes numerous perspectives, emotions and humor, while making a serious subject enjoyable for the young people born in the 1980s and 90s.

"Truth is the ultimate pursuit for our interpretations of historical characters and, at the same time, we hope to produce great movies with mainstream and ideological values for mass audiences," Han said. "The success of The Founding of a Republic has proven that we can achieve both in one movie."