The Emperor and the Assassin (1998)

Original title

荆轲刺秦王

Directed by

Chen Kaige

Genre

drama film, romance film, historical film

Country

People's Republic of China

Runtime

2h 42m

Rated

R

Rating

6.9 of 10 from 87 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A king of Qin seeks to unify China by force, which leads his former lover a courtesan to plot his assassination. A warrior named Jing Ke is recruited for the attempt, driven by loyalty and personal loss.

epicmelancholicdeliberatetensevisually lushdramaticbetrayal-ladensomber

What happens

The Emperor and the Assassin (Chinese: 荊軻刺秦王; pinyin: Jīngkē cì qínwáng; lit. 'Jing Ke Assassinates the King of Qin'), also known as The First Emperor, is a 1998–1999 Chinese historical romance film based primarily on Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin, as described in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. The film was directed by Chen Kaige and stars Gong Li, Zhang Fengyi, Li Xuejian, and Zhou Xun. 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. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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