Gage A. Rush July 16, 2015
Leadership in Movies:
Red Cliff
Red Cliff is a 2008 Chinese film that takes place during the three kingdoms period. The film is historically based, but whether some of the events actually happened as written is a matter of speculation amongst historians. The story starts during the aftermath of the Yellow Turban rebellion against the Han dynasty. The nobleman Cao Cao, having gained prominence after crushing the rebellion, now turns his sights towards crushing his former allies, and to cement his position so that he may one day usurp the throne. He has convinced the emperor that the lords Liu Bei and Sun Quan are planning to rebel. The emperor, being weak and unsure of his position, caves in to Cao Cao's demands and allows him to crush Liu Bei's forces. At the head of an army 800,000 strong, Cao Cao succeeds in dislodging Liu Bei from his former capitol, and is poised to crush all opposition. Liu Bei's tactician, Kongming (better known throughout history as Zhuge Liang) is convinced that guile can beat a militarily superior force. He advocates forging an alliance with Sun Quan, and helps hatch a plan that will allow both forces to destroy the majority of Cao Cao's forces at the site known as the Red Cliffs.
The story has a few elements of Joseph Campbell's monomyth theory (The hero is technically Liu Bei, but it can be said that Kongming is his mentor), and they do win a great victory by the end. However, much of the story has elements found in much of reality since the film is based on an actual historical event, and we can see much of the elements of ordinary fallible men. What the film does display is that there are many, many different leaders amongst the three factions, each with different approaches and personalities dictated by their circumstances. In the end, it was Kongming who was ultimately responsible for the victory at the Red Cliffs. Liu Bei is an honorable leader, not fully of noble birth, which has its strengths (He is the most well-loved amongst the faction leaders), and its weaknesses (His merciful attitude is regularly exploited by his enemies). Cao Cao is ruthless, brilliant, and capable of decisive action, but he regularly underestimates his opponents, and doesn't believe that men of lowly birth and "cowards" are capable of anything worthwhile. Sun Quan is vain and easily flattered, but can easily do what he knows is best for his people even if it's at the last moment. Sun Quan's own tactician, Zhou Yu, is a friendly soul and despite being Kongming's inferior, is quick to learn from those better than he is, and is appreciative of other people's talents. This is in contrast to one of Sun Quan's generals, Gan Xing, who was once a pirate, and is very inflexible and believes that fighting spirit trumps modernized warfare. Many of the elements in the movie are a nod to Sun Tzu's art of war, which breaks down leadership to basic truths that were prevalent during their time. Sun Tzu's methods hold nothing as eternally sacred, and make provisions for situations that go beyond what his rules cover. This is why Kongming was able to defeat Cao Cao. One of Sun Tzu's tenets (Perhaps one of his most vital and basic ones) was that to succeed in battle or any challenge, you must first know your adversary, but you must also know yourself. Cao Cao knew his own strength, but failed to consider the advantages his foes had. Kongming new that facing him directly would result in defeat, thus he used indirect methods to undermine Cao Cao's advantage (Through tactics such as causing Cao Cao to doubt the loyalty of his own officers and have them executed). By the time Cao Cao realized he had been led by the nose, it was too late. The film teaches one lesson: Above all, any leader must never underestimate what there are up against, and must not be afraid to admit their weaknesses in given areas of expertise or capability. Sun Tzu said it is no sign of a great leader if he or she wins with an overwhelming force or advantage. The greatest leaders win against great odds, and with such decisive outcomes that it almost seem unheroic to have done so. The best leaders are those that can win without having to fire a shot, or have placed themselves in such a position that victory is a foregone conclusion. True legends are not made by men of godlike means. They are made by men of humble means, who rise to the challenge, and triumph by understanding their situation better than others do.
The story has a few elements of Joseph Campbell's monomyth theory (The hero is technically Liu Bei, but it can be said that Kongming is his mentor), and they do win a great victory by the end. However, much of the story has elements found in much of reality since the film is based on an actual historical event, and we can see much of the elements of ordinary fallible men. What the film does display is that there are many, many different leaders amongst the three factions, each with different approaches and personalities dictated by their circumstances. In the end, it was Kongming who was ultimately responsible for the victory at the Red Cliffs. Liu Bei is an honorable leader, not fully of noble birth, which has its strengths (He is the most well-loved amongst the faction leaders), and its weaknesses (His merciful attitude is regularly exploited by his enemies). Cao Cao is ruthless, brilliant, and capable of decisive action, but he regularly underestimates his opponents, and doesn't believe that men of lowly birth and "cowards" are capable of anything worthwhile. Sun Quan is vain and easily flattered, but can easily do what he knows is best for his people even if it's at the last moment. Sun Quan's own tactician, Zhou Yu, is a friendly soul and despite being Kongming's inferior, is quick to learn from those better than he is, and is appreciative of other people's talents. This is in contrast to one of Sun Quan's generals, Gan Xing, who was once a pirate, and is very inflexible and believes that fighting spirit trumps modernized warfare. Many of the elements in the movie are a nod to Sun Tzu's art of war, which breaks down leadership to basic truths that were prevalent during their time. Sun Tzu's methods hold nothing as eternally sacred, and make provisions for situations that go beyond what his rules cover. This is why Kongming was able to defeat Cao Cao. One of Sun Tzu's tenets (Perhaps one of his most vital and basic ones) was that to succeed in battle or any challenge, you must first know your adversary, but you must also know yourself. Cao Cao knew his own strength, but failed to consider the advantages his foes had. Kongming new that facing him directly would result in defeat, thus he used indirect methods to undermine Cao Cao's advantage (Through tactics such as causing Cao Cao to doubt the loyalty of his own officers and have them executed). By the time Cao Cao realized he had been led by the nose, it was too late. The film teaches one lesson: Above all, any leader must never underestimate what there are up against, and must not be afraid to admit their weaknesses in given areas of expertise or capability. Sun Tzu said it is no sign of a great leader if he or she wins with an overwhelming force or advantage. The greatest leaders win against great odds, and with such decisive outcomes that it almost seem unheroic to have done so. The best leaders are those that can win without having to fire a shot, or have placed themselves in such a position that victory is a foregone conclusion. True legends are not made by men of godlike means. They are made by men of humble means, who rise to the challenge, and triumph by understanding their situation better than others do.
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