Road to Dawn (2007)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Road to Dawn:

The Story of Sun Yat Sen in Penang

 

This historical drama premiered in 2007. The topic is the life of the Chinese revolutionary activist Sun Yat Sen and his campaign to replace the old imperial Qing dynasty with a modern republic.

 

This drama does not cover his whole life from the beginning in 1866 to the end in 1925. It focuses on a brief but significant moment of his life: his visit to the island of Penang, from July to December 1910.

 

Here is some basic information about this drama:

 

** Director: Derek Chiu

** Writer: Mei Zi

** Languages: mostly Chinese, occasionally English

** Subtitles: English

** Released on DVD in 2016

** Run time: 120 minutes

 

The cast includes the following:

 

**Winston Chao as Sun Yat Sen (1866-1925) – a revolutionary activist

** Wu Yue as Chen Cuifen (1874-1962) – Sun Yat Sen’s companion

 

** Lee Sin Chet (Angelica Lee) as Xu Dan Rong – daughter of Xu Boheng and his wife Madam Xu

** Zhao Zheng as Luo Zhaoling – a school teacher

 

**Wang Jian Cheng as Xu Boheng – a rich businessman – father of Xu Dan Rong – husband of Madam Xu

** Vicky Liu as Madam Xu – wife of Xu Boheng and mother of Xu Dan Rong

 

** Paul Woods as Mr. Grant – a rich English businessman

** Liu Yan as Dai Xin Ran – a minor character

 

While this historical drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events.

 

Some details may have been altered, added or excluded for dramatic reasons or practical purposes. But the basic story is true.

 

Since this historical drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. This is why I feel free to mention some of them in this review.

 

*****

 

In 1910, Sun Yat Sen was a revolutionary activist who had tried to overthrow the Qing dynasty nine times, but every attempt had failed. He could no longer live in China. He had to live in exile, because the Chinese imperial police wanted to arrest him and send him to prison. Perhaps they wanted to execute him.

 

While he was living in exile, moving from place to place, secret agents of the Chinese imperial police were still watching him in order to find out what he was going to do next.

 

Sun Yat Sen was living in exile in order to be a free man. During his exile, he was constantly trying to find political and financial support for his cause.

 

In 1910, his destination was the island of Penang, which was a part of British Malaya. He stayed in George Town, which was - and still is - the capital of Penang.

 

[British Malaya achieved independence from the UK in 1957. The current name Malaysia was adopted in 1963 when the federation of Malaya merged with Singapore, North Borneo, and Sarawak to form a larger federation. When Singapore left the federation in 1965 to become an independent country, the name of the larger federation was not changed.]

 

Why did Sun Yat Sen choose this location? Because there was a Chinese community on this island. He stayed on the island for six months, from July to December 1910.

 

This was not his first visit to Penang. He had visited this island no less than five times before while he was moving from place to place.

 

The first scene and the last scene of this drama are both filmed on a boat. Sun Yat Sen and Luo Zhaoling are passengers on a ship.

 

In the first scene, the ship is sailing towards Penang. In the last scene, the ship is leaving Penang.

 

As the ship is leaving the harbour, Sun Yat Sen looks towards the east and he says “Look! The dawn is almost here.” Hence the title of the drama.

 

The dawn is the new day. For Sun Yat Sen, the dawn is the future. For him, the future is the revolution.

 

In this drama, we follow the revolutionary activist during his time on the island of Penang. He meets some people he has met before. He meets some new people. We see him with rich people. We see him with poor people.

 

He talks about what is right and what is wrong. He talks about the revolts which have failed every time. He hopes the next one will be successful.

 

But in order to carry on, he needs political and financial support. Members of the overseas Chinese population play an important role in his campaign for a republic.

 

When we watch this drama, we can understand his role in the history of modern China. We can understand why he is regarded as “the father of modern China.”

 

I am not going to offer a detailed description of what happens to Sun Yat Sen and the people around him during his time in Penang. I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. But I have to reveal a few details when I consider the question of historical truth.

 

*****

 

Since this historical drama is based on a true story, it is relevant to ask how accurate and how true the story presented in this drama is.

 

Did Sun Yat Sen visit Penang in 1910?

Yes, he did.

 

Did he arrange some meetings while he was trying to find political and financial support for his cause?

Yes, he did.

 

Is the character Chen Cuifen a real historical person?

Yes, she is. Se was Sun Yat Sen’s companion for twenty years (1892-1912).

 

What about the other characters in the drama? Are they real historical persons? No, the other characters are fictional. They were created for this drama.

 

*****

 

Where was this historical drama filmed? It is filmed on location: on the island of Penang.

 

** Some of the early scenes are filmed inside Pinang Peranakan Mansion, a famous historical building which has been turned into a museum

** In one scene, a car drives along the Blue Mansion, another famous historical building which has been preserved as a museum

** There is a glimpse of the old Town Hall in George Town

** The building where Sun Yat Sen lived during most of the time during his visit in 1910 has been turned into a museum dedicated to him. This location is also used in the drama.

 

When we ask about filming locations, we have to say the level of historical truth is high, because the drama is filmed in the location where the story takes place.

 

*****

 

As stated above, some details may have been altered, added or excluded for dramatic reasons or practical purposes.

 

What has been altered?

** Sun Yat Sen’s mother died in Hong Kong in July 1910. When he was informed about her death, he was in Singapore. He was on his way to Penang.

 

In this drama, the timeline has been adjusted, so the sad information about his mother’s death reaches him shortly after his arrival in Penang. This is a case of poetic license.

 

** The fictional character Luo Zhaoling is inspired by a real historical person named Luo Zhonghuo (1881-1911). The fictional character is a secret spy for the Qing dynasty who has been ordered to kill Sun Yat Sen.

 

But the real person, who inspired the fictional character, was always loyal to Sun Yat Sen.

 

What has been added?

** In this drama, an assassin who works for the Qing dynasty is trying to kill Sun Yat Sen. But there is no historical evidence to support this detail.

 

There was no attempt to kill Sun Yat Sen during his visit to Penang in 1910. This detail was added in order to increase the tension and to make the story more dramatic than it was.

 

What has been excluded?

** While Sun Yat Sen was in George Town in 1910, he was joined by his Chinese wife Lu Muzhen and their two daughters Sun Yan and Sun Wan. But the wife and his children have been excluded from the story. In the drama he is only joined by his companion Chen Cuifen.

 

Perhaps the director and the writer did not want to have his wife and his companion in the same story?

 

*****

 

What do reviewers say about this historical drama?

Here are two answers:

 

** 57 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)

** 61 percent = IMDb

 

In my opinion, these ratings are too low. On the other hand, I cannot go all the way to the top, because there are some flaws. I think this historical drama deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).

 

If you are interested in the history of modern China – in particular the history of Sun Yat Sen and his revolutionary movement – this drama is definitely something for you.

 

*****

 

I was in George Town (Penang) in January 2026. While I was there, I visited Pinang Peranakan Mansion and the Blue Mansion. I walked along the City Hall and the Town Hall and paid a visit to the museum dedicated to Sun Yat Sen.

 

*****

Pinang Peranakan Mansion

George Town, Penang

 

*****

Pinang Peranakan Mansion

George Town, Penang

The main hall

 

*****

The Blue Mansion

George Town, Penang

 

*****

The Town Hall

George Town, Penang

 

*****

The Sun Yat Sen Museum

George Town, Penang

 

*****

 

 

The Last Sentence (2012)

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Last Sentence is the English title of a Swedish movie from 2012 – A historical and biographical drama about Torgny Segerstedt, the editor of a provincial newspaper, who is best known and remembered for his strong and consistent criticism of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany (1933-1945).

 

Here is some basic information about it:

 

** Swedish title: Dom över död man

** Directed by Jan Troell (born 1931)

** Screenplay written by Jan Troell and Klaus Rifbjerg (1931-2015)

** Based on a biography by Kenne Fant (1923-2016) published in 2007

** Released on DVD in 2014

** Soundtrack: Swedish

** Subtitles: English

** Run time: 120 minutes

 

The cast includes the following:

 

The first group

** Jesper Christensen as Torgny Segerstedt (1876-1945) – editor of GHST 1917-1945 (aka “the Professor”)

** Ulla Skoog as Augusta Wilhelmina Segerstedt (1874-1934) (aka “Puste”) – Torgny’s wife (born in Norway)

** Yohanna Troell as Ingrid Segerstedt (1911-2010) – daughter of Torgny and “Puste”

** Birthe Heribortsson as Estrid Ancker (aka “Trixie”) – Torgny’s secretary

** Maria Heiskanen as Pirjo (born in Finland) – works as a maid for the Segerstedt family

 

The second group

** Björn Granath as Axel Forssman (1877-1942) – publisher of GHST (aka “the Lawyer”)

** Pernilla August as Dagmar Forssman (1881-1942) (aka “Maja”) - Axel’s wife (and Torgny’s mistress)

** Åsa-Lena Hjelm as Ida – works as a maid for the Forssman family

 

The third group

** Kenneth Milldoff as Per Albin Hansson (1885-1946) – Prime Minister of Sweden 1932-1946 (except for a brief interval in 1936)

** Peter Andersson as Christian Günther (1886-1966) – Foreign Minister of Sweden 1939-1945

** Jan Tiselius as Gustav V (1858-1950) – King of Sweden 1907-1950

** Lia Boysen as Anita Levisson – a former actress

** Bengt C.W. Carlsson as a veterinarian

** Per Gørvell as Dr Mannheimer

 

Kenne Fant (1923-2016) was a Swedish actor and the author of several books. His biography of Torgny Segerstedt was published in 2007. When it was published, he contacted Jan Troell, asking him to turn the book into a movie.

 

Troell said maybe and contacted his friend, the Danish author Klaus Rifbjerg. He asked him: are you prepared to help me write the screenplay? Rifbjerg said yes. This is how the movie came to be made. It was made by three old men!

 

Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. This is why I feel free to mention some of them in this review.

 

While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. 

 

Not everything happened exactly as shown here. But the basic story is true.

 

Torgny Segerstedt studied religion at the University of Lund. From 1913 to 1917 he was professor of comparative religion at the University of Stockholm. In 1917 he left the university in order to join the world of publishing.

 

He moved to Göteborg (Gothenburg) where he became the editor of a local newspaper: Göteborgs Handels och Sjöfarts Tidning (GHST). In English: Gothenburg’s Journal of Trade and Shipping. He held this post until his death in 1945.

 

Troell’s movie about Torgny Segersted does not cover his whole life from the beginning to the end. It covers only the last twelve years of his life: 1933-1945.

 

In this drama we see two sides of Segerstedt. We see the public side of his life where he is a fearless editor who writes strong editorials against Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. We also see the private side of his life, which is quite different from his public life.

 

He has a wife and a daughter, but he does seem to care much about them. His mistress Maja is married to his best friend Axel. Maja’s husband Axel is the publisher of GHST (he is the chairman of the board), and he knows what is going on, but he does not seem to mind. His wife “Puste” is very upset about it, but Torgny ignores her complaints.

 

“Troell makes Segerstedt easy to admire but very hard to like, which is of course part of the movie’s point,” as Glenn Kenny says in his review of the drama on the Roger Ebert website.

 

We have to admire Segerstedt when he writes his editorials against Nazi Germany, but it is hard to like him, because he is not a nice person.

 

In this drama, he cares more about his three huge dogs than he does about the people around him. And this portrayal of his personality seems to be close to the historical truth.

 

Segerstedt’s editorials are published in a provincial paper in Sweden. But they are carefully read in Berlin. And the leaders of Nazi Germany are furious. They complain to the Swedish government. And members of the Swedish government complain to Segerstedt, telling him to stop or at least tone down his criticism of Germany.

 

Segerstedt ignores them. He says it is important to speak out. He says remaining silent about the Nazi tyranny is in effect the same as supporting it.

 

When World War Two begins in 1939, the Swedish government puts more pressure on Segerstedt. On eight occasions his newspaper is confiscated.

 

Segerstedt’s editorials made him very popular in Norway, which was occupied by Germany in 1940, but the Swedish government was afraid that his articles might provoke Germany to ignore Swedish neutrality and declare war on this country. As we know, this never happened.

 

Sadly, Segerstedt did not live to see the end of the war. He died on 31 March 1945, shortly before the war ended. He wanted to outlive Hitler, but this did not happen. He did, however, live long enough to know that Hitler and Nazi Germany would be defeated within a very short time.

 

What do reviewers say about this historical and biographical drama? Here are some answers:

 

** 60 per cent = Meta

** 62 per cent = IMDb

** 43 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)

** 74 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)

 

In my opinion, the first three ratings are too low. On the other hand, I cannot go all the way to the top, because there are some flaws. I think the final rating (Rotten Tomatoes – the critics) is quite appropriate.

 

The Last Sentence is an interesting drama about an interesting person. The topic is important – freedom of expression and freedom of the press – but the drama is not perfect. It is good, but not great. Why not? Because there are some flaws. Let me explain:

 

# 1. The movie is filmed in black-and-white. I do not know why. Perhaps Jan Troell believed that this would make his movie more authentic. If this was his belief, I have to say it does not work. Filming the movie in black-and-white was not a good idea.

 

# 2. From time to time there are ghosts in the movie: Segerstedt has visions of three persons who have passed away. The first ghost is his mother, who died in 1884, when he was eight. The second ghost is his wife, who died in 1934. The third ghost is his mistress, who died in 1942. He talks to them and they talk to him!

 

Having ghosts in a movie is a dramatic device which may be a good idea in a movie about a fictional person. But this drama is about a real historical person. And this dramatic device not work well here. The movie-makers made a poor decision when they decided to let the main character have visions of people who have passed away.

 

Where did this unfortunate idea come from? I suspect it came from the Danish author Klaus Rifbjerg, who was a novelist and not a historian. A novelist can do something like this. A historian would never do it.

 

I like this drama and I want to give it a good rating, but as you can see, it has some flaws. I have to remove one star because of these flaws. This is why I think it deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).

 

PS # 1. Segerstedt’s mother’s name is Frederika Sofia. Who plays this role? The name is not listed in the credit rolls, but I know the answer. This role is played by the Danish actress Sonja Richter.

 

PS # 2. The English title of the drama is ambiguous, because it has two meanings:

 

(1) The last words written by someone

(2) A judgment or a verdict

 

In this case we have to use the second meaning. The judgment of a dead man is the one that will last, the one that will be remembered, as opposed to judgments that were made while the person was still alive. They will soon be forgotten. The Swedish title Judgment of a Dead Man is borrowed from a line in the Old Norse poem Havamal.

 

PS # 3. I have a few additional remarks about the cast:

(a) Jesper Chrisensen, who plays Segerstedt, is a Danish actor. But to me, his Swedish sounds very convincing.

(b) Ulla Skoog is a Swedish actress, but her character “Puste” is from Norway.

(c) Maria Heiskanen, who plays Pirjo, is a Finnish actress. And her character is from Finland.

(d) Yohanna Troell, who plays Segerstedt’s daughter Ingrid, is the daughter of Jan Troell.

 

*****

The Swedish professor

Torgny Segerstedt

(1876-1945)

 

*****