Jing Ke Ci Qin Wang (1999)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 160 minuten
Alternative titles: The Emperor and the Assassin / The First Emperor
Country:
China / France / Japan
Directed by: Kaige Chen
Starst: Gong Li, Fengyi Zhang and Xuejian Li
IMDb score:
7,2 (6.677)
Releasedate: 8 October 1998
Jing Ke Ci Qin Wang plot
The leader of the kingdom of Qin, wants to conquer the six kingdoms of China and unite them into one great and powerful country. To achieve his goal, Ying goes over corpses and does not shy away from leading a bloody and brutal reign of terror. The one who aids him in this is his childhood sweetheart Lady Zhao, who hatches an ingenious plan to conquer the kingdom of Yan. However, when Ying deceives her and unexpectedly invades Zhao, Lady Zhao makes an alliance with Jing Ke, a brave warrior and former assassin, and join forces with the Prince of Yan to stop Qin in his all-destructive campaign of conquest.
Actors and actresses
Lady Zhao
Jing Ke
Ying Zheng
Marquis Changxin
Dan, Prince of Yan
Lu Buwei
Prison Official
Gao Jianli
Qin Wuyang
Blind Girl
Reviews & comments
Onderhond
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- 87592 messages
- 12835 votes
Drama in the Chinese court.
The unification of China has been a difficult labor. Countless films have been made about it and although I think I have seen almost all of them, it is almost impossible to piece everything together into a coherent whole.
I have to say that this one from Chen does a better job at that. The attention is not focused on the action scenes (more something for the films that would come after Hero), but on the political play and history.
The King of Qin is out to bring everyone under his power. Obviously based on a certain ideal, which unfortunately ends up in the trash bin over time. What follows is a lot of intrigue, no one happy, deaths everywhere, a lot of suspicion and sadness. So what you can expect from a film like this.
The decoration is nice, it would have been special in '99, but the '00s ensured that the bar for these types of films would be much higher. The acting is also nice, with good Fengyi Zhang, Li Gong and Xuejian Li. If you look closely, you will also see a very young Xun Zhou (as the blind girl).
160 minutes is quite a chunk, especially because it has primarily become a narrative/political film. Fortunately, the decoration is refined and the acting is good, so it never gets boring. But I think you have to be in the mood for it and unfortunately for this film the bar was raised a few times a few years later.
3.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
BBarbie
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- 12893 messages
- 7675 votes
Epic film about the turbulent unification of China. Reportedly, director Kaige Chen (playing the role of Prime Minister in the film) reasonably adhered to the facts as they occurred at the time when writing the script. It results in an interesting film, in which, in addition to the violence, ample attention is paid to character drawings, to the interaction between the king and his court (mistress, mother, prime minister) and to everyday life (the beautiful scene in the inn).
In addition to the always remarkable Li Gong, a fine role by Fengyi Zhang as the assassin Jing Ke, who renounced violence after witnessing the suicide of the blind Xun Zhou. Interesting to see how his character development is paradoxical to that of King Ying.
I've seen a handful of films so far about this period in Chinese history. I must say that this film stands out a bit compared to others because of the fascinating story, the beautiful design and the excellent cinematography. The film is long, but I didn't notice that while watching; a good sign in my opinion.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Lovelyboy
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- 3906 messages
- 2920 votes
I wasn't interested in this film per se, but it was part of a duo pack together with Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence. And that, together with the decent rating this film receives on IMDb, was the reason to give it a try. And knowing that IMDb rating, I expected something from this film, but that didn't come close...
The historical background of this film is at least interesting. The attempt to turn all kinds of small islands into a large, powerful country can be called the origins of China as we know it today. And of course this was achieved with a lot of resistance, intrigues, crises, war and deaths. In itself a basis that you could do a lot with and make a lot of. And in itself the beginning may be with the intention to form, betray and recruit the assassin. Of course the acting is excellent, the soundtrack is quite okay, the action is gripping, we see some interesting torture methods, and there are a number of impressive scenes.
But amid a language that is incomprehensible, customs that can be called ancient, the usual Asian elusive facial expressions, a lot of complexity and even more characters, it is almost inevitable that a 2.5 hour film will be almost impossible to get through. is. And that is the major stumbling point of Emperor and the Assassin. It rarely gets really exciting, the film lasts far too long and it can often be called boring. But to judge the film entirely on that basis is too simplistic, because for someone who finds Asian history and cinema interesting, this can absolutely be a fascinating film. I, in turn, was done with it after almost 2 hours. I find it difficult to rate the film, but three stars for the effort.
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