Wu Ze Tian (1963)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Han Hsiang Li

Writers:

Han Hsiang Li (writer)
Yueting Wang (writer)

Release Date:

14 June 1963 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Drama | History

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Diana Chang Chung Wen	...	Empress Wang
Paul Chang	...	Zhang Yizhi
Ying Choi Cheung	...	Zhang Changzong
Chuang Chiao	...	Crown Prince
Baoshu Gao
King Hu
Li Hua Li	...	Wu Zetian
Wei Lo
Grace Ting Ning	...	Shangguan Wan'er
Chun Yen	...	Xu You-gong
Lei Zhao	...	Emperor Gaozong
Mu Zhu	...	Outspoken man at restaurant

Also Known As:

Empress Wu (International: English title) (original subtitled version)
Empress Wu Tse-Tien (Hong Kong: English title)
Mo jak tin (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Fukui, Japan

Company:

Shaw Brothers

Interesting story, but executed in a mediocre fashion

Empress Wu tells the story of China's only female emperor. While this is a very interesting story in history, the film does only a marginal job of bringing it to the viewer. The director, Li Han-Hsiang, uses several short anecdotes from throughout the empress' life. While this could have been an effective storytelling method, they are all far too similar to grab the viewer's interest.

Almost every anecdote involves some threat to the throne, which the main characters then must act against. The main problem with this approach is that none of the plotters agianst the throne have fully developed characters, so it is hard to understand why they want to take over. The film would have been better if it it had just focused on one such plot, or had focused on one plot and other aspects of the empress' life.