''The Emperor and the Assassin'', also known as ''The First Emperor'', is a 1998 - 1999 Chinese historical romance film based primarily on

Jing Ke Jing Ke (died 227 BC) was a ''youxia'' during the late Warring States period of Ancient China. As a retainer of Crown Prince Dan of the Yan state, he was infamous for his failed assassination attempt on King Zheng of the Qin state, who later beca ...

's assassination attempt on the King of Qin, as described in

Sima Qian Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years b ...

's ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese hist ...

''. The film was directed by

Chen Kaige Chen Kaige (; born 12 August 1952) is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema.Berry, Michael (2002). "Chen Kaige: Historical Revolution and Cinematic Rebellion" in Speaking in Images: Interviews wit ...

and stars

Gong Li Gong Li ( Chinese: 巩俐; born 31 December 1965) is a Chinese actress. She starred in three of the four Chinese-language films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Gong was born in Shenyang, Liaonin ...

Zhang Fengyi Zhang Fengyi (born 1 September 1956) is a Chinese actor best known for his role as "Duan Xiaolou" in ''Farewell My Concubine (film), Farewell My Concubine'' (1993), Jing Ke in ''The Emperor and the Assassin'' (1998), and Cao Cao in ''Red Cliff ( ...

Li Xuejian Li Xuejian (; born February 20, 1954) is a Chinese actor. He played the role Song Jiang in ''The Water Margin'', a 1998 television series adapted from the Chinese classical novel of the same title. Li also played the roles of military personne ...

, and

Zhou Xun Zhou Xun (, born 18 October 1974) is a Chinese actress and singer. She is regarded as one of the Four Dan Actresses of China. She gained international fame for her roles in '' Suzhou River'' (2000) and ''Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress'' ...

. 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 up to that time, costing US$20 million.Yang, Jeff ''Once Upon a Time in China'' (Atria, 2003) p.204

Plot

The film covers much of

Ying Zheng Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first Emperor of China, emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "Chinese king, king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang dynasty, Shang an ...

's career, recalling his early experiences as a hostage and foreshadowing his dominance over China. He is essentially depicted as an idealist seeking to impose a peace or unity on the world. However, his experiencing of various betrayals and losses slowly turn him into a mad

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...

. The story consists of three main incidents: the attempt by

to assassinate Ying Zheng in 227 BCE; the (fictitious) rumour of a

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

's having sired the latter before transferring his concubine to become the Queen Dowager; and the story of an

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

having sired children by the Queen Dowager herself. The first incident is the

climax Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community th ...

of the film, with earlier scenes foreshadowing 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 Yan (; Old Chinese pronunciation: ''*'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Its capital was Ji (later known as Yanjing and now Beijing). During the Warring States period, the court was also moved to another capital at Xiadu ...

as a spy to enlist a Yan assassin to attempt to assassinate him, intending to use that as a ''

casus belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...

'' 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.

Cast

as Lady Zhao *

* Gu Yongfei as Queen Dowager *

Wang Zhiwen Wang Zhiwen (, born June 25, 1966) is a Chinese actor born in Shanghai, China. He was selected by for his acting abilities at an early age and began to pursue a career in acting that has flourished in recent years, culminating in his role in Che ...

as Lao Ai * Lü Xiaohe as Fan Yuqi * Sun Zhou as

Crown Prince Dan of Yan Crown Prince Dan () was a crown prince of the State of Yan during the Warring States period of ancient China. He was also called Yan Dan (). He lived in the State of Qin as a hostage, but returned to Yan in 232 BC. He sent Jing Ke to assassinat ...

Lü Buwei Lü Buwei (291–235 BCE) was a Chinese merchant and politician of the Qin state during the Warring States period. Originally an influential merchant from the Wei () state, Lü Buwei met and befriended King Zhuangxiang of Qin, who was then a m ...

* Pan Changjiang as prison official *

as blind girl * Cong Zhijun as old official * Li Longyin as shop owner * Li Qiang as Han messenger *

Zhao Benshan Zhao Benshan (; born 2 October 1957) is a Chinese skit and sitcom actor, comedian, television director, and businessman. Originally from Liaoning province, Zhao has appeared on the CCTV New Year's Gala, a widely watched performing arts program, ...

Gao Jianli Gao Jianli (Chinese: 高漸離) was a musician of the Chinese state of Yan, during the Warring States period, who played a struck zither called '' zhu'' ( 筑) or ''ji zhu'' ( 击筑). Legend After his friend Jing Ke was killed during his assas ...

* Ding Haifeng as

Qin Wuyang Qin Wuyang (秦舞陽) was a young man who followed Jing Ke when the latter went on the mission to assassinate Ying Zheng, the king of Qin. Both Jing and Qin were first disguised as envoys from Yan and were there to present the severed head of "Fa ...

* Hu Yang as young official * Zhang Shen as dwarf * Li Hongtao as

Li Si Li Si (Mandarin: ; BCSeptember or October 208 BC) was a Chinese philosopher, politician, and calligrapher of the Qin dynasty. He served as Chancellor (or Prime Minister) from 246 to 208 BC under two rulers: Qin Shi Huang, the king of the Qin ...

* Wei Chao as Doujiyan * Han Dong as Qin cart driver * Li Zhonglin as Qin prison guard * Liu Tielian as palace ritual eunuch * Kong Qinsan as face tattooist * Xie Zengran as younger Wang brother * Chang Tao as older Wang brother * Zhang Jinzhan as Yan ambassador * Zhao Yanguo as artist * Lin Luyue as warrior * Liu Jiacheng as warrior * Chu Xu as warrior * Liu Bo as warrior * Liu Liang as warrior

Awards

''The Emperor and the Assassin'' won the Technical Grand Prize at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival and was in competition for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

Zhao Fei Zhao Fei (, ; born 1961) is a Chinese cinematographer and frequent collaborator to many directors of the China's so called "fifth generation" film movement. Zhao also served as Woody Allen's director of photography for three films between 1998 ...

was awarded the 1999

Golden Rooster Award The Golden Rooster Awards () are film awards given in mainland China. The awards were originally given annually, beginning in 1981. The name of the award came from the year of the Rooster in 1981. Award recipients receive a statuette in the shap ...

for Best Cinematography.

Background

Chen Kaige noted upon the film's premiere at the Cannes Film Festival that he hoped ''The Emperor and the Assassin'' would hold relevance to the events of the time, notably the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

References

External links

Official site
from

Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produc ...