''Warriors of Heaven and Earth'' () is a 2003 Chinese action adventure film directed by
He Ping. The film's notable cinematography captures a wide range of landscapes across China's
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwes ...
province. It was China's official entry for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
, though it did not get nominated.
Plot
The film is set in western China in 700AD during the
Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
, and revolves around two protagonists, the first of whom is Lieutenant Li of the Chinese army. Li's refusal to kill
Göktürk women and child prisoners is classed as a mutiny, leading him to be expelled from the army and to become a fugitive, traveling through the
Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert ( Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world.
Geography
The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast a ...
. Years later, he is saved by the survivors of a caravan which carries a powerful, mystical relic accompanied by a Buddhist monk. Li protects the caravan from Göktürks as well as the overlord of the region, Master An, who is hired by the Göktürk Khan to seize the relic.
The second protagonist, a Japanese emissary, Lai Xi, is ordered by the emperor of China to kill the fugitive, Li. In a twist of fate, Lai Xi discovers that the caravan is on a mission and helps Li to defend it, to ensure that it arrives at the capital safely. They promise to fight each other only after their duty is done, although that battle never comes to pass.
Cast
Awards and nominations
11th Beijing Student Film Festival
* Won: Best Visual Effect
* Won: Favorite Actress (
Zhao Wei
Zhao Wei (; born 12 March 1976), also known as Vicky Zhao or Vicki Zhao, is a Chinese actress, businesswoman, film director, producer and pop singer. She is considered one of the most popular actresses in China and Chinese-speaking regions, a ...
)
* Won: Favorite Actor (
Jiang Wen
Jiang Wen (born 5 January 1963) is a Chinese actor, screenwriter, and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "Sixth Generation" that emerged in the 1990s. Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred wit ...
)
27th
Hundred Flowers Awards
The Hundred Flowers Awards () are, together with the Golden Rooster Awards, the most prestigious film awards honouring the best in Chinese cinema, as well as Hong Kong cinema and the Cinema of Taiwan, they are classified as the Chinese equiv ...
* Nominated: Best Film
* Nominated: Best Actress (
Zhao Wei
Zhao Wei (; born 12 March 1976), also known as Vicky Zhao or Vicki Zhao, is a Chinese actress, businesswoman, film director, producer and pop singer. She is considered one of the most popular actresses in China and Chinese-speaking regions, a ...
)
* Nominated: Best Actor (
Jiang Wen
Jiang Wen (born 5 January 1963) is a Chinese actor, screenwriter, and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "Sixth Generation" that emerged in the 1990s. Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred wit ...
)
* Nominated: Best Actor (
Wang Xueqi
Wang Xueqi (; born 19 March 1946) is a Chinese film actor whose career has spanned over 25 years. He was often cast in early Fifth Generation films, such as Chen Kaige's '' Yellow Earth'' (1984) and '' The Big Parade'' (1986), Huang Jianxin's '' ...
)
24th
Golden Rooster Awards
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 ...
* Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (
Wang Xueqi
Wang Xueqi (; born 19 March 1946) is a Chinese film actor whose career has spanned over 25 years. He was often cast in early Fifth Generation films, such as Chen Kaige's '' Yellow Earth'' (1984) and '' The Big Parade'' (1986), Huang Jianxin's '' ...
)
Soundtrack
The original score was composed by Indian composer
A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...
. ''Warriors of Heaven and Earth: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' was released on CD featuring 14 tracks, which include excerpts from the score and 1 theme song, "Warriors in Peace", sung by Taiwanese singer
Jolin Tsai
Jolin Tsai (; ; born September 15, 1980) is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter, and actress. Referred to as the " Queen of C-Pop", she is considered one of the most influential figures in Chinese popular culture. She is known for her continual rein ...
. Following the film's release, the score and soundtrack were released in one album separately, under the title ''Between Heaven and Earth''. The album also include the theme song, "Warriors in Peace", in two languages, which are the Hindi version by
Sadhana Sargam
Sadhana Sargam (née Ghanekar, born 7 March 1969) is an Indian singer known for her playback career in Indian cinema predominantly in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil language films. She is a recipient of the National Film Award and Filmfare ...
and English version by
Sunitha Sarathy
Sunitha Sarathy is an Indian vocalist and performer in both Indian contemporary and Western classical music genres. She is also a gospel singer who performs in various church choirs. After having won the "Virgin Voice Choice" contest – a joi ...
.
Rahman signed the project after the head of
Sony Classical Music suggested he do project for them in the Western Classical mode.
While signing the project, Rahman was working with violinist
Joshua Bell
Joshua David Bell (born December 9, 1967) is an American violinist and conductor. He plays the Gibson Stradivarius.
Early life and education
Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, to Shirley Bell, a therapist, and Alan P. Bell, a psychologi ...
on compositions based on poems by the Persian poet
Rumi
Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( fa, جلالالدین محمد رومی), also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā ( fa, مولانا, lit= our master) and Mevlevî/Mawlawī ( fa, مولوی, lit= my ma ...
. This project was later cancelled.
Originally the music was supposed to be recorded in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
. But because of
SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...
, Rahman moved to
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
to record the score.
Rahman has mixed Chinese, Turkish and Indian sounds as the film is about the Silk Route.
He says that he wanted to give the Chinese something they had not heard before, while retaining that international flavour.
The score is completely acoustic with symphonic pieces and relatively little electronic sounds have been used.
Performers of the score include The Czech Film Orchestra and Chinese soloists in Hong Kong. Other instruments, including the
erhu
The ''erhu'' (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a ''Southern Fiddle'', and is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two- ...
,
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedles ...
,
duduk
The duduk ( ; hy, դուդուկ ) or tsiranapogh ( hy, ծիրանափող, meaning “apricot-made wind instrument”), is an ancient Armenian double reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood. It is indigenous to Armenia. Variations of th ...
,
dizi,
taiko drums are featured.
; Track listing
See also
*
List of historical drama films of Asia
References
External links
*
*
*
''Warriors of Heaven and Earth''at Vista Records
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warriors Of Heaven And Earth
2003 films
Chinese epic films
2000s Mandarin-language films
Wuxia films
Sony Pictures Classics films
Films set in 7th-century Tang dynasty
Films directed by He Ping
Films scored by A. R. Rahman
Chinese action adventure films
2000s action adventure films