L'empereur et l'assassin

Chen Kiage (Farewell My Concubine) and Zhang Yimou (Red Sorghum, To Live) have been always considered two of the greatest director of modern China cinema history. This time Chen took three years after his previous film and came back with a movie about the first Chinese emperor Qin and his legendary story with a woman he loves, his adversary and an assassin in very ancient China of 221 BC. Assassin Jingke stab emperor Qin is a well know story that nearly every Chinese know it so well. Assassin Jingke was considered a biggest hero in the history for his great sacrifice spirit and the brave suicide assassination, although his action was failed. Zhang Fengyi is one of my favorite actor (I like his performance in Farewell my concubine), his assassin Jinke is silent and full of passion in the heart, that is convincing. Li Xuejian is honorable actor but just miscast here, His King Qin is always with tears in his eyes and feels miserable. I can not understand why Chen decides to make this most tyranny emperor in the Chinese history always crying. The most attractive role in the movie is Marquis Changxin, he married Qin's mother and most time he looks like idiot but actually he has his own ambitious plan. Marquis Changxin is convincingly played by Wang Zhiwen, I like him so much.

The movie do have some memorable moments, one is Jingke took a assignment to kill the whole family of ironsmith, but when he facing the angelic blind daughter of ironsmith, he cannot do his job. Late, the daughter killed herself. That event had a biggest influence for the rest of Jingke's life, also a big impact for the audience.

The movie has some most popular Chinese comedian (Pan Changjiang for prison officer and Zhao Benshan for Gao Jianli) for the friendly cameo, when they appears in the screen, audience shout and smiled. This would not happened when this movie is showed in country outside China.

I don't know if it is the biggest budget film in China, but it is surely one of them. They built Qin's palace especially for this movie and now becomes a tourist sight. It is near my city. I didn't go there but my father did. He said it is great building.

Overall, this is the excellent movie for the people like ancient Chinese costume and culture. The photography is very beautiful. Compared to the greatest "Farewell My Concubine", Chen does not make it reach that level. I give it *** for the rate from * to ****.

This is an excellent film. No, it's not Mel Gibson in "Braveheart," but then, it's not trying to be. Actually, "The Emperor and the Assassin" probably has (thankfully) more in common with a Shakespearean production than a Hollywood blockbuster.

In the third century BC, the King of Qin is attempting to unite (in other words "conquer") the seven kingdoms of China. He has already overthrown the Kingdom of Han. Now he needs an excuse to invade the Kingdom of Yan.

This is where the Lady Zhao comes in. She and the King have been friends since childhood. They are obviously very much in love, but cannot marry for political reasons. Together they devise a plot. She will pretend to have fallen into disfavor with the King and escape to Yan. Once there she will convince the Prince of Yan to send an assassin back to kill the King. When the assassination fails, the King will have his excuse to invade Yan.

Once in Yan, however, Lady Zhao begins to reconsider. Hearing and seeing more and more examples of her old childhood friend's ruthlessness, she begins to wonder if the King may need to be assassinated for real.

One sure sign that you're not watching a Hollywood production is the final encounter between the King and the assassin. Unlike a Hollywood movie where the hero and villain are clearly defined and the final outcome already predetermined, this is a fight that could truly go either way.

This is a well crafted and well acted story of a tumultuous time in Chinese history. There is a mixture of both incredible beauty and incredible ugliness. Most beautiful of all, however, is Gong Li as the Lady Zhao. I grow more and more convinced every time I see her that Gong Li is the most beautiful woman in the world.

I must say, however, that she does have one unintentionally funny line in this film. Early on Gong Li asks one of her servants "Do I have a beautiful face?"

Duh!!!

Based on the actual event , this epic, is set in the year 221 B.C and tells the true story of the unification of China. Action packed and filled with intrigue, passion, betrayals and unforgettable battle sequences, it held my attention throughout in spite of its 160 minute length.

The king, Ying Zeng, played by Li Xuejian is obsessed with unifying the seven kingdoms of China and becoming its first Emperor. His lover, Lady Zhao, played by the beautiful actress Gong Li, devises a plot whereby she will travel to the neighboring kingdom of Yan to set a fake assassination plot in motion which will give the king an excuse to invade Yan. However, she falls in love with the assassin as the king becomes more and more ruthless.

There are subplots, and tragedy and constant high drama. There are scenes of great beauty and of abject cruelty. There is great cinematography and brilliant use of physical space.

The deep characterization made me think of Shakespeare. And tragic events that call to mind Greek drama. And yet it is totally Chinese as it deals with age-old questions of whether the ends justify the means. And raises the questions dealing with life and death and good and evil and all the blurred edges in between.

It is the story of individuals against the backdrop of history, a history that has shaped China for the past two thousand years. I was swept up in the story as well as the moral questions raised. There are no easy answers and this was one of the strengths of the movie.

Recommended. But be prepared for the violence and gore.

I will admit my ignorance of this film's existence, until I saw it advertised on a cable outlet. I was very impressed with the novelistic structure of the film. The film, which is in a language I do not understand, shone with intelligence and nuance for me. I think this speaks to the film's quality. It was visually stunning. The acting was visually entrancing. The Chinese theater traditions of movement, used to enhance the delivery of dialogue, is so compelling after watching Western film, where actors traditionally focus more heavily on the dialogue. The action in this film comes right at you, without a lot of explosions to get your attention. It is human action that is so affective here. The added advantage that the film taught me history about one of the world's greatest tourist attractions, the funereal clay army of China's First Qin Emporer, was very impressive. It seemed to give the film an international relevance beyond the film's great ethical themes. This is a film I can comfortably recommend to a wide variety of friends and acquaintances.

This three-hour Chinese epic, set in 220 B.C., may ultimately amount to a familiar theme of an Emperor's idealistic dream of peace through unification mutating into corrupted isolation, and there's nothing inherently challenging about the film, but it's a compelling narrative, crammed with intrigue and passion and betrayal and epic events told in vivid strokes. Even for those not drawn to such historical spectacles for their own sake, it's an astonishing feast for the eyes: the scene depicting the coup attempt of the Marquis is one of the most staggering evocations of physical space and grandeur in memory, and the battle scenes are memorable both in their scope and their immediacy. The title sums up the film's use of compelling contrasts - huge plainland vistas set against intimate horrors; the noblest of motives set against the most degraded; hope turning to dust. If you've never seen a three-hour Chinese epic, this wouldn't be a bad place to start.