chaos-rampant I'm not much interested in the sweep of history and sagas of legend where we often see the exploits of ignorant men in the light of destiny and what not. Artifice that doesn't acknowledge itself stands in our way. But I let myself be taken in by anything that comes across my eyes, believing no thing to be better in itself than others and that they all have potential.Here the thread that takes me in is that it involves China in a defining period, the unification under the Qin. It was an important time, more pertinently for me as the time that gave rise to to different schools of thought, practices of seeing and making sense of the world, some of which I treasure and they ended up forging Chinese soul forever. In a significant way the China we know was first created in this time.None of that is particularly mined here so on that count I leave empty handed. I get the saga, the lavish scope, the camera that cleanly sweeps over crowds or across imperial rooms. Sporadic battles and the tangled knots of ironic fate. In pace, sweep and intricacy, it's fine work. Some viewers thought of Gladiator, what I saw here is a kinship to Kurosawa's Shakespearean work and Japanese jidaigeki. Zhang would portray the same period and king in Hero, this is the earthier version.The one thing I found particularly noteworthy is the plot that revolves around the lovely Gong Li. Simply seeing her is an occasion for me and the other reason I'm here, the way she holds herself with aloof grace. I have made it a point to see her in most things.The story around her tantalizes; she has been sent by her husband king to a rival kingdom, her actual mission is to find and inspire an assassin of her husband that will give him the pretext for invasion. The life she comes to share with the scarred assassin (in Japanese films he would have been a scruffy ronin), hinting at genuine romance, while we are aware of duplicity and illusion, the agency it carries from the machinations to forge a world. I would love to see that as its own film.

r-c-s This movie is excellent ( i watched the French version ). There are many subplots (which usually detracts from the whole ), but they nicely unfold and concur to the "discovering of one's real self" main theme. In fact, the whole movie (besides his background ) is the journey to the discovery of one's ( or someone else's ) self. Is the King really a "good peacenik monarch" trying to wage a "war to end all wars" or is he just a disturbed, blood thirsty hoodlum? Is he a true king, after all? Is the attendant to the queen mother just a lusty, career-driven, spineless sock puppet or rather a sharp thinking, bold individual? Will the dame/concubine realize who the king truly is? What's between the king and the old chancellor? What's the secret everyone knows but won't tell? What's the true reason the assassin quit his "job"? Subplots (something i'm not particularly fond of ) are handled well and keep one watching until the end. Scenes are well crafted and CGI fits nicely in, without going overboard. Suspense is properly maintained and actors are upto the task. There is a lot of brain-damaged smiling, but that is how one was supposed to behave at the king's court ( as the dame/concubine complains about ). Realistic movie without superhero moments. This Chinese movie really puts Hollywood cardboard colossals ( Gladiator etc ) to shame.

zzmale Unlike most Chinese films that can be related to similar events in history or society, this one may contains spoiler.As classic as it can be, especially the last part of the King facing the assassin, the director put a potential spoiler there by inserting the character of Lady Zhao simply to add Ms. Li Gong to the movie. The acting was not bad and the story still fits, but the character is definitely unnecessary for that eliminating her would not effect the movie.

Jeffrey Wang Chen Kaige's Emperor and the Assassin, if marketed correctly, could have been a massive hit in the States. But, it opened in limited release, and hardly anyone ended up watching it. What a shame, as this is a grand, lavish epic which recalls the epic spectacles of directors such as David Lean and King Vidor. Like these earlier directors, Kaige does a great job of balancing out an intimate, human story against the backgroup of grand, historic events.The climax of the film, when the emperor confronts the assassin, is a classic!