The Emperor and the Assassin (1998)
"Jing Ke ci Qin Wang" (original title)

In pre-unified China, the King of Qin sends his concubine to a rival kingdom to produce an assassin for a political plot, but as the king's cruelty mounts she finds her loyalty faltering.

Director:

Kaige Chen

Writers:

Kaige Chen, Peigong Wang

Stars:

Li Gong, Fengyi Zhang, Zhou Sun

3 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Li Gong	...	Lady Zhao
Fengyi Zhang	...	Jing Ke
Zhou Sun	...	Dan, Prince of Yan
Xiaohe Lü	...	General Fan Yuqi
Zhiwen Wang	...	Marquis Changxin
Kaige Chen	...	Lu Buwei
Yongfei Gu	...	Queen Mother
Benshan Zhao	...	Gao Jianli
Haifeng Ding	...	Qin Wuyang
Changjiang Pan	...	Prison Official
Xun Zhou	...	Blind Girl
Xuejian Li	...	Ying Zheng

Storyline

In the 3rd Century BC, Ying Zheng, heir to the Kingdom of Qin, seeks to dominate the remaining six Chinese kingdoms. Ying's strategy is to seem invincible. Ying sends his concubine Zhao to the Han Kingdom as a spy, to enlist an assassin he can conquer. Zhao persuades Jing Ke, but falls in love.

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Plot Keywords:

concubine | king | court | warrior | robe | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence

Details

Official Sites:

Sony - synopsis, cast and credits etc Sony Classics Release Info

Country:

China Japan France

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

14 November 1998 (Japan)

Also Known As:

The Emperor and the Assassin

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$47,295 (USA) (17 December 1999)

Gross:

$1,328,435 (USA) (7 July 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shin Corporation, Canal+, New Wave Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

162 min

Sound Mix:

DTS DTS-Stereo Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Xianyang palace was reconstructed in its entirety in the city of Dongyang in Zhenjiang province. Much of the film, including the final scene, was shot there. It is now being preserved as a theme park drawing large numbers of tourists. In addition, the capital cities of the other kingdoms featured in the film, Yan Zhao and Han, were constructed as several sights across China. All have been meticulously built to scale with special attention paid to their historical accuracy.

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Connections

References Throne of Blood (1957)

User Reviews

Chinese history with a Shakespearean twist

This is an epic film about the unification of the ancient kingdoms of China in the third century BC. What makes it interesting is the tragic downfall of the king and all the palace intrigue going on around him. It reminded me a bit of "King Lear" and some of the other Shakespeare plays.

The king starts out with noble ambitions, to unify the kingdoms under one ruler and to stop all the quarrelling so that the people can prosper and lead better lives. He and his childhood sweetheart, played beautifully by Li Gong, concoct a scheme whereby she pretends to go into exile in a rival kingdom in order to recruit an assassin to kill the king, thus giving him a pretext to go to war. But while she's away, the king becomes sadistic in his lust for power and goes on a killing spree.

There are numerous side plots that keep the action going. There is the Marquis, who pretends to be stupid and foppish but who's really very clever and wants to become king himself. He fathers two children with the king's mother and manages to keep it secret for years. Then there is the Prime Minister, a political rival to the king, who turns out to really be his father.

The assassin is a complex character himself. An adept swordsman and killer, he is undergoing a reformation when the king's lover comes to recruit him. He wants nothing more with killing, but is eventually won over by Li Gong (who wouldn't be?) when he sees how cruel and vicious the king has become.

Some spectacular cinematography, especially the battle scenes that are carried out on a grand scale - like they used to say, a cast of thousands, literally. The acting is OK, nothing special. It's the story that's interesting, though at over two and a half hours, it pushes the limit.

Definitely worth viewing.