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Revolving around a family of bankers, Christina Yao's earnest historical drama Empire of Silver may not immediately invite sympathy for its protagonists. It is, however, a beautifully-shot feature debut, an ambitious production with a story that examines the mechanics of banking a century ago, as well as the consequences of unrequited love. Directed and co-written by Yao, an established playwright and stage director in Taiwan and the U.S., Empire of Silver begins by introducing Lord Kang (Tielin Zhang), the family head, who runs a bank with multiple branches and is a leading voice in a guild of bankers known as "the Wall Street of China." His four sons, identified solely by their birth order, run the gamut: First (Shi Da Sheng) is a charitable-minded,...

Director Christina Yao discusses her directorial debut Empire of Silver, finding these historical locations, working with the cast, and much more

Christina Yao makes her feature directorial debut with the incredibly ambitious (and gorgeous) movie Empire of Silver, although she is no stranger to directing. She has directed over 30 plays for theater companies in America and Taiwan. However, when she heard about the story behind Empire of Silver, a seldom-told true story about a powerful Chinese banking family in 1899, she took action, writing the screenplay and securing financing for her directorial debut. The story follows the tumultuous war-torn events in China, which causes the slacker son of this banking dynasty (Aaron Kwok), who wants nothing to do with the family business, to step up and lead the business, although he disagrees with some of his father's moral values. This sweeping tale also includes an intriguing sub-plot where the son still...

Title: Empire of Silver Writer-director: Christina Yao Starring: Aaron Kwok, Tielin Zhang, Jennifer Tilly, Hao Lei There’s a special type of moviegoing misery to be found in self-important period pieces, and that’s just the sort of screaming boredom that Empire of Silver, the nearly impenetrable, emotionally arrested feature film debut of essayist and playwright Christina Yao, delivers. A drama focused on a powerful banking family in the late imperial/early Republican era of China, the movie rather gorgeously establishes its setting, but never locates a single compelling character or imparts any sense or sort of reality of what its subjects’ lives must truly have been like. Adapted from a thick, three-volume romance, Cheng Yi’s...

Reviewed by Lydia Ianni

(May 2011)

Directed by: Christina Yao

Written by: Christina Yao and Cheng Yi

Starring: Aaron Kwok, Tielin Zhang and Hao Lei

Director Christina Yao’s debut feature “Empire of Silver,” based on the book by Cheng Yi, is set during China’s Boxer Rebellion. However, the uprising, in which Chinese nationalists fought against Western “spheres of influence” in China, is more of a backdrop for a story that hinges on family drama and romance.

The film’s narrative turns on the moral dilemma of the third-born son (Aaron Kwok) of a wealthy banking family in turn-of-the-century China. A series of mishaps finds him entrusted with the continued survival of the family line and wealth. However, he is torn between his duty to his family and his love of his father’s new wife (Hao Lei), a woman who had been previously engaged to him. Father and son have a tense relationship,...

Reviewed by Lydia Ianni

(May 2011)

Directed by: Christina Yao

Written by: Christina Yao and Cheng Yi

Starring: Aaron Kwok, Tielin Zhang and Hao Lei

Director Christina Yao’s debut feature “Empire of Silver,” based on the book by Cheng Yi, is set during China’s Boxer Rebellion. However, the uprising, in which Chinese nationalists fought against Western “spheres of influence” in China, is more of a backdrop for a story that hinges on family drama and romance.

The film’s narrative turns on the moral dilemma of the third-born son (Aaron Kwok) of a wealthy banking family in turn-of-the-century China. A series of mishaps finds him entrusted with the continued survival of the family line and wealth. However, he is torn between his duty to his family and his love of his father’s new wife (Hao Lei), a woman who had been previously engaged to him. Father and son have a tense relationship,...