Credited cast: | |||
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Toshiyuki Nishida | ... | Zhu Wangli |
Kôichi Satô | ... | Zhao Xingde | |
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Anna Nakagawa | ... | Tsurpia |
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Tsunehiko Watase | ... | Li Yuanhao |
Takahiro Tamura | ... | Tsao Yanhui | |
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
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Akira Emoto | ||
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Daijirô Harada | ... | Weichi Kuang |
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Yoshiko Mita | ... | Woman of Xixia |
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Yukio Ninagawa | ||
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Eisaku Shindô | ||
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Mizuho Suzuki | ||
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Katsuhiko Watabiki |
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. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
This is a great movie, in my opinion, an epic.
The technical aspects (cinematography, etc) were top notch, the acting very realistic, and the story Shakespearean.
Great quotes I will use as my own later, like:
"You have no treasure here; your scrolls and books are just paper to you."
"Killing the wounded is a kindness; who wants a soldier who wants to die."
"The powerful survive, but to survive we have to fight. We survived, but what have we gained?:
Subtitles do NOT get in the way to the movie's impact; LOTS of action, but it helps not to be dim witted.
Bill Schaefer