A documentary titled Mao, the Last Emperor will air on France 5 on Sunday, September 13, at 9:05 p.m., and is already available on france.tv. Directed by Serge de Sampigny, this two-part series explores the life and legacy of Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic of China. The film delves into Mao's rise as a communist leader and his use of reforms, propaganda, purges, and even mass violence to consolidate his power. It portrays Mao as a complex figure—both a strategic leader and a figure responsible for a regime described by historians as totalitarian. The documentary highlights how Mao's image has remained prominent in China, with his portrait displayed at the Forbidden City and on Tiananmen Square for over seventy years. While Mao is still revered by some in China, the film presents a critical view, describing his rule as one that led to the deaths of tens of millions during the Cultural Revolution, a period of political and social upheaval in the 1960s and 1970s. The film also traces the origins of the Chinese Communist Party, founded in 1921 with the support of the Russian Bolsheviks. At that time, Mao Zedong was a local leader in a remote province, but he gradually built a powerful force known as "the Reds." During the 1930s, Mao and his followers retreated to the mountainous region of Yan'an, where they lived in caves. This period was crucial for Mao's political development, as he introduced policies aimed at redistributing land from wealthy landowners to poor peasants. This helped secure support from a large portion of the rural population, which made up over 80% of China's people at the time. The documentary notes that Mao's methods were often brutal, including the assassination of wealthy landowners to achieve this redistribution. The film also examines Mao's decisions during Japan's invasion of China in 1937. Rather than directly opposing the Japanese, Mao formed an uneasy alliance with Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the rival Kuomintang party. According to historian Endo Homare, this was a strategic move to weaken Chiang's forces rather than fight the Japanese directly. After Japan's surrender in 1945, Mao gained international attention, particularly from the United States, but his alliance with Chiang was short-lived, as the civil war resumed. With the help of the Soviet Union, which provided weapons from occupied Manchuria, Mao's forces eventually gained the upper hand. The documentary details the extreme measures taken during the siege of Changchun in 1948, where hundreds of thousands of civilians died due to starvation and deprivation. This brutal campaign marked a turning point that ultimately led to Mao's rise to power in 1949 and the establishment of the People's Republic of China.