Tonkô (1988)

In 1026, students in western China are shanghaied into the forces of crown prince Li Yuanhao of Xi Xia, who wants to control the length of the Silk Road. One student is Zhao Xingde, who ... See full summary »

Director:

Jun'ya Satô

Writers:

Yasushi Inoue (story), Jun'ya Satô,

Stars:

Toshiyuki Nishida, Kôichi Satô, Anna Nakagawa

13 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Toshiyuki Nishida	...	Zhu Wangli
Kôichi Satô	...	Zhao Xingde
Anna Nakagawa	...	Tsurpia
Tsunehiko Watase	...	Li Yuanhao
Takahiro Tamura	...	Tsao Yanhui
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Akira Emoto
Daijiro Harada	...	Weichi Kuang
Yoshiko Mita	...	Woman of Xixia
Yukio Ninagawa
Eisaku Shindô
Mizuho Suzuki
Katsuhiko Watabiki

Storyline

In 1026, students in western China are shanghaied into the forces of crown prince Li Yuanhao of Xi Xia, who wants to control the length of the Silk Road. One student is Zhao Xingde, who becomes the favorite of his commander, Zhu Wangli. While sacking a fortress, Xingde discovers Tsurpia, princess of the Uighur. He hides her; they fall in love. When he's sent away to study Xixian, he leaves Tsurpia in Zhu's care, but returns to find her engaged to Li. Tragedy follows, and he and Zhu enter a pact to take revenge when Li arrives at Dun-Huang, the region's seat of learning and culture. Against overwhelming odds, they find a surprising way to leave a monument to their life and love.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

Japan China

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

31 January 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Silk Road

Box Office

Gross:

$123,959 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

August 1st Film Studio, China Film Co-Production Corporation, Chinese National Liberation Army

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

User Reviews

I´ve seen better.

Dun Huang or Ton ko? Which title is it?

Anyway... I do not have a so much illustrative comment on this movie. But, what I should say is that at least I found it enjoyable.

Yes... I know. It has a terrible edition (the concept of time is completely unknown to the editor, writer and of course, director), making days look like minutes and minutes look like days (kind of what happens to Pearl Harbor, 2000).

The acting is cardboard-like, and the dubbing, unfortunately makes it even worse.

Some of the cinematography shots are worth (look at the title sequence... and thats about it).

In fact, not even the battle scenes are much to look up to. I´ve seen a lot better.

Final line: the story is o.k., but the dialogues are dull. Watch it to know a little bit of overseas movie examples (even though this ain´t the best, though).