The Assassins (2012) Tong que tai (original title)

Director:

Linshan Zhao

Writer:

Bin Wang

Release Date:

26 September 2012 (China)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Set in the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history, the story focuses on Cao Cao in his old age, exploring the areas of military tactics, love, and the relationship between father and son. |

Cast

Yun-Fat Chow	...	Cao Cao
Yifei Liu	...	Gong Ling Ju
Hiroshi Tamaki	...	Mu Shun
Alec Su	...	Emperor Xian
Roy Cheung
Dahong Ni
Ni Yan
Lu Yao
Yuan Nie

Directed by
Linshan Zhao

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Bin Wang

Produced by
Lou Yi	....	producer

Cinematography by
Xiaoding Zhao

Art Direction by
Yohei Taneda

Costume Design by
Chung Man Yee

Production Management
Yan Lu	....	production supervisor

Sound Department
James Ashton	....	sound effects editor
Steve Burgess	....	sound re-recording mixer
Wei He	....	dialogue pre-mixer
Zheng 'Joe' Huang	....	foley pre-mixer
Zheng 'Joe' Huang	....	sound re-recording mixer
Hongrui Ji	....	sound effects editor
Xu Miao	....	foley artist
Qiuxia Sun	....	sound production manager
Qiuxia Sun	....	supervising dialogue editor
Jing Tao	....	supervising sound editor
Yinan Tu	....	sound effects editor
Baiyang Wang	....	adr recordist
Baiyang Wang	....	dialogue editor
Wei Wang	....	foley recordist
Qi Yang	....	sound production manager
Yanchao Yang	....	foley editor
Tian Yong	....	sound effects editor

Visual Effects by
Samir Ansari	....	lighting technical director: Technicolor, Beijing
Peng Ke	....	visual effects supervisor
Giuseppe Motta	....	cg supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Raymond Lam	....	camera & steadicam operator

Music Department
Shigeru Umebayashi	....	composer: theme music

Other crew
Lon Haber	....	publicity team

Production Companies

• Changchun Motion Picture Studio
• Enlight Pictures
• Le Vision Pictures

Distributors

• Well Go (2012) (USA) (all media)
• Shaw Organisation (2012) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Joyncontents Group (2013) (South Korea) (all media)

Other Companies

• Changchun Motion Picture Studio  funding
• Enlight Pictures  funding

Also Known As:

"Tong que tai" - China (original title)

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

China

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Hong Kong:IIB | South Korea:18 (director's cut)

Company:

Changchun Motion Picture Studio

Trivia:

Bronze Sparrow Terrace was built by Cao Cao as a banquet hall where musicians and dancers would entertain his guests.

Killed by the boredom in period drama

I'M a big proponent of non-violence in movies and am critical of movies such as The Expendables 2, Taken 2, The Raid and Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning.

However, after watching the painfully dry and laborious Chinese period piece The Assassins, I may have to reconsider my views. It's weighed down by its own importance and can't get out of a maze of drudgery.

Even the presence of Chow Yun Fat, the Gerard Depardieu of Chinese movies, isn't enough to save the movie.

Chow instils charm, charisma and integrity in his emperor-like roles, so he can play a ruthless leader who exudes compassion for his lover in his sleep.

Director Zhao Linshan's The Assassins is a drama about royal court intrigue, fighting for power and a woman torn between two lovers. Yet viewers won't be able to relate to most of the characters, and even the confusion experienced by the woman in question is inexplicable. It's as if she was forced into that position.

Cao Cao (right) tells the killer concubine that they can pin the blame on the many subplots in the film. Chow is chancellor Cao Cao, who rises to the No. 2 position in the Han Dynasty by virtue of his ruthlessness in wars. The numero uno is effeminate Emperor Xian (Alec Su), who sings songs of male lovers.

The emperor's sycophants see Cao Cao as a threat to them wanting to keep the former in power, so they devise many ways to assassinate the latter. One way is by snatching kids whose parents were killed in wars by Cao Cao.

As teens, Lingju (Liu Yifei) and Mu Shun (Tamaki Hiroshi) are forced to attend a camp that trains them to be assassins. Mu Shun is castrated so he can join the emperor's group of eunuchs, while his lover Lingju becomes Cao Cao's concubine to get close to him and to kill him.

Cao Cao, meanwhile, must contend with hordes of assassination attempts against him, including that of his concubine's, but he wins her over with the milk of his human kindness. He's not as bad as he's portrayed to be. You can see why taking on this role isn't a stretch for Chow.

Mu Shun realises that his lover is falling for Cao Cao, and tells her that Cao Cao can provide many things for her that he can't. A man needs a lot of balls to say that to a lover.

www.jeffleemovies.com