The Emperor and the Assassin
| The Emperor and the Assassin | |
|---|---|
DVD release cover
|
|
| Traditional | 荊軻刺秦王 |
| Simplified | 荆轲刺秦王 |
| Mandarin | Jīng Kē Cì Qín Wáng |
| Directed by | Chen Kaige |
| Produced by |
Han Sanping Chen Kaige Kadokawa Tsuguhiko Furukawa Hiromitsu |
| Written by | Chen Kaige Wang Peigong |
| Starring |
Gong Li Zhang Fengyi Zhou Xun Li Xuejian Chen Kaige |
| Music by | Zhao Jiping |
| Cinematography |
Zhao Fei Zheng Hua Shang Yong |
| Edited by | Zhou Xinxia |
|
Production
company |
Beijing Film Studio
|
| Distributed by | China Star Entertainment Group (H.K.) Sony Pictures Classics (U.S.) Columbia Pictures (U.K.) |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
162 minutes |
| Country | China |
| Language | Mandarin |
The Emperor and the Assassin, also known as The First Emperor, is a 1998 - 1999 Chinese historical romance film based primarily on Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin, as described in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. The film was directed by Chen Kaige and stars Gong Li, Zhang Fengyi, Li Xuejian, and Zhou Xun. The film was well received critically and won the Technical Prize at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. It was the most expensive Chinese film made at the time, costing US$20 million.
The film covers much of Ying Zheng's career, recalling his early experiences as a hostage and foreshadowing his dominance over China. It depicts him essentially as an idealist seeking to impose a peace or unity on the world despite various betrayals and losses. Its story consists of three main incidents: the attempt by Jing Ke to assassinate Ying Zheng in 227 BCE; the (fictitious) rumour of a Chief Minister's having sired the latter before transferring his concubine to become the Queen Dowager; and the story of an official having sired children by the Queen Dowager herself. The first incident plays out only at the end of the film, but earlier scenes foreshadow it; the other two incidents occur between the fictional genesis and historical manifestation of the first.
In the film, Ying Zheng sends his concubine Lady Zhao to the Yan state as a spy to enlist a Yan assassin to attempt to assassinate him, intending to use that as a casus belli to start a war against Yan. Lady Zhao persuades Jing Ke to perform the assassination. After learning of Ying Zheng's massacre of the children in her home state of Zhao, Lady Zhao desires the assassination in earnest. The attempt fails, but Ying Zheng expresses his fury when his associates make no attempt to stop the assassin and he is forced to kill Jing Ke himself. He is further saddened when Lady Zhao returns to Qin only to retrieve Jing Ke for burial.
...
Wikipedia