The Guillotines
| The Guillotines | |
|---|---|
Film poster
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| Traditional | 血滴子 |
| Simplified | 血滴子 |
| Mandarin | Xiě Dī Zǐ / Xuè Dī Zǐ |
| Cantonese | Hyut3 Dik1 Zi2 |
| Directed by | Andrew Lau |
| Produced by |
Peter Chan Andrew Lau Jojo Hui Qin Hong Lorraine Ho |
| Written by | Jojo Hui Joyce Chan Aubrey Lam Philip Lui Guo Junli Chit Ka-kei |
| Starring |
Huang Xiaoming Ethan Juan Shawn Yue Li Yuchun Jing Boran |
| Music by | Chan Kwong-wing |
| Cinematography | Edmond Fung |
| Edited by | Azrael Chung |
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Production
company |
Stellar Megamedia Group
We Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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112 minutes |
| Country | China Hong Kong |
| Language | Mandarin |
| Budget | US$15,000,000 |
The Guillotines is a 2012 Chinese-Hong Kong wuxia film directed by Andrew Lau, starring Huang Xiaoming, Ethan Juan, Shawn Yue, Li Yuchun and Jing Boran. It is a remake of the 1975 Shaw Brothers film Flying Guillotine.
During the Manchu-ruled Qing Dynasty, the Yongzheng Emperor established a secret assassination squad known as the 'Guillotines' to eliminate all who posed a threat to him. Once heavily favored by the emperor, the Guillotines are deemed expendable once the Qianlong Emperor ascends to the throne and adopts Western ideas and technology. To consolidate his power under a new regime, the Qianlong Emperor continues to use the Guillotines to persecute the conquered Han Chinese in a reign of terror and oppression. The current guillotine squad is led by master fighter Leng and it consists of six young warriors: Musen, Houjia Shisan, Chen Tai, Hutu, Su and Buka. Serving the Qing court unquestioningly, they have never failed in 348 missions to eliminate their targets. However, their most recent mission would make it their last.
The Hans have been oppressed by their Manchurian-ruled government, causing social unrest and internal conflicts. Tian-Lang (Wolf), is the charismatic prophetic Han rebel leader of a group known as the Shepherd Gang. Wolf was captured alive by Leng and Wolf tells him that Leng is destined to kill him, but not at this place and time. Wolf was scheduled for execution the following day, however, Wolf's gang ambushes the execution parade and fends off both the Guillotines and the Green Army; it allowed Wolf to escape, but Bai-Lan (Shepherd member) was captured. In the chaos of fighting, Wolf takes Musen (the only female member of the Guillotines) hostage in hopes to exchange back Bai-Lan. However, the Guillotines were dispatched to recover both Musen and finish off Wolf.
With reports that Wolf has fled to the outer frontiers, the squad tracks the Shepherds to a remote village outpost, heavily occupied by Han and smallpox-diseased inhabitants. Added to the mission, the Qianlong Emperor (who favors advanced weaponry over antiquated assassins) has sent his most trusted agent, Haidu (secret sworn brother to Leng and right-hand man to the emperor) for the same mission. Unknown to the Guillotines, the emperor wants to absolve his legacy and the Guillotines is a living taint to his rule; they must be erased. Although Leng knew of the emperor's intentions and also wanted to help end the Guillotines, the group has become a family to him and he couldn't eliminate them. Therefore, Haidu was also sent there to finish a job Leng didn't have the heart to do; the definitive moment would help during their exchange.
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