Emperor and the Assassin

Theatrical Release Date: 1999 12 17 (USA)

UPC: 043396050457

Studio: Columbia TriStar

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Adult Situations]

Summary: A lavishly produced historical drama from China, Jing Ke Ci Qin Wang/The Emperor and the Assassin tells the complex, multi-facetted story of the man who became the first Emperor of a unified China, another man who has sworn to kill him, and a woman who is loved by both men. Late in the Third Century B.C., when China was comprised of seven rival kingdoms, Ying Zheng (Li Xuejian) was the leader of Qin. Ying Zheng had a dream in which he joined together the seven kingdoms into a single utopian state, and taking this as a mandate from God, he invaded the nearby state of Han as the first step toward this goal. However, not everyone in the neighboring states was happy with Ying Zheng's crusade, which seemed to indicate a lengthy war with many casualties. Lady Zhao (Gong Li), Ying's lover, devised a scheme to help Ying Zheng take over the nearby and uncooperative state of Yan; she fabricated a fake assassination plot against him, and framed the leader of Yan, once Ying Zheng's childhood friend, as the man behind the murderous plot. However, Lady Zhao did not choose the would-be assassin wisely; while Jing Ke (Zhang Fengyi) loved her and was willing to do her bidding, Jing Ke's previous assassination assignment caused the unintended death of an innocent blind girl, which left him full of regret and a bit unstable. When Jing Ke learned a closely guarded secret about Ying Zheng's past, he became blindly determined to kill the would-be emperor, whatever the cost. Produced on a lavish budget by Chinese standards ($15 million), Jing Ke Ci Qin Wang/The Emperor and the Assassin was directed by Chen Kaige, best known to Western audiences for the international success Farewell My Concubine. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Epic

Awards: Grand Technical Prize – Cannes Film Festival Best Foreign Film – National Board of Review

Features: Digitally mastered audio & anamorphic video
Widescreen presentation
2-channel Dolby Surround Sound
Original language: Mandarin Chinese
Additional language: Spanish
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Director's commentary
Theatrical trailer
Talent files
Interactive menus
Production notes
Scene selections

Emperor and the Assassin

Format: DVD

Release Date: 06/13/2000

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DDS Dolby Digital Surround

Runtime: 161 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
0. Scene Selections
1. Start [3:52]
2. Qin Invades Han [2:33]
3. King of Qin [2:56]
4. War Council [7:29]
5. Lady Zhao [9:54]
6. Prince of Yan [3:20]
7. Qin Eliminates Han [3:26]
8. "Brand my face." [5:00]
9. Offer & Message [5:45]
10. The Assassin [5:25]
11. Punishing a Thief [8:38]
12. "We need your help." [7:34]
13. "I once killed a girl." [6:31]
14. The Children [7:28]
15. Marquis' Coup [6:38]
16. Fratricide [4:16]
17. Last Laugh [3:14]
18. Qin Ancestral Temple [14:32]
19. The Situation [2:19]
20. Lady Zhao [7:07]
21. "Children! Jump!" [:36]
22. Zhao Defeated [3:27]
23. Buried Alive [2:43]
24. Fan's Gift [7:42]
25. The Emporer and the Assassin [8:16]
26. Envoy From Yan [2:43]
27. Assassin Assassinated [7:35]
28. Lady Zhao Returns [4:34]

Derek Armstrong

Working with by far his largest budget to date, Chinese master Chen Kaige orchestrates an epic -- and epically melodramatic -- reproduction of the bloody unification of China in The Emperor and the Assassin. From the first moments, with the massive title cards bearing down on the massive battlefields, everything about this film is big. Yet it's Chen's trademark skill that he can focus down to the minute emotional nuances of his characters, allowing the big and the small to exist harmoniously in the same material. It's also pretty impressive that he can maintain a sense of suspense, especially when the outcome of the central narrative is known to all students of Chinese history. Li Xuejian portrays the emperor as a man occasionally conflicted about what he must do, but he also ends up with so much blood on his hands, tempered by so little pity, that viewers almost require his eventual destruction as a precondition for their catharsis. The fact that it's not as simple as that doesn't diminish the experience of watching the climax. Chen has gone to great lengths in the decorating of these sets and the recreation of this era, but still has plenty left for a juicy and interwoven political narrative. Certain revelations verge on the stuff of soap opera, but Chen embraces their operatic side, rather than their soapy side. The soul of the movie is Gong Li's Lady Zhao, forced to confront what she's refused to acknowledge her entire life, and Zhang Fengyi's weary assassin, as doomed by his prior choices as by anything that lies ahead of him. The Emperor and the Assassin leaves the melancholy impression that even virtuous actions carry heavy costs, and that the eventual verdicts of history are of little consolation in the present. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Zhao Jiping  Composer (Music Score) 
Chen Kaige  Director 
Chen Kaige  Producer 
Chen Kaige  Screenwriter 
Satoru Iseki  Producer 
Han Sanping  Executive Producer 
Tsuguhiko Kadokawa  Executive Producer 
Shirley Kao  Producer 
Wang Peigong  Screenwriter 
Gong Li  Actor 
Zhang Fengyi  Actor 
Li Xuejian  Actor 
Sun Zhou  Actor 
Wang Zhiwen  Actor 
Chen Kaige  Actor 
Lu Xiaohe  Actor 
Gu Yongfei  Actor 
Ding Haifeng  Actor 
Zhao Benshan  Actor 
Pan Changjiang  Actor 
Zhou Xun  Actor 

Country: China,France,Japan