Žanr: Drama
Format: DVD
Poreklo: Strani

The Emperor and the Assassion

The Emperor and the Assassin, 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.[1] It was the most expensive Chinese film made at the time, costing US$20 million
The film covers a great deal of Ying Zheng`s life, from his early life as a hostage to his dominance over China, and depicts him essentially as an idealist seeking to impose a peace or unity on the world and defeated by various betrayals and losses. Its story consists in the main of three incidents: the attempt by Jing Ke to assassinate Ying Zheng; the rumour of a Chief Minister`s having sired the latter before transferring his concubine to become the Queen Dowager; and the (possibly fictitious) story of an official having sired children by the Queen Dowager herself. The first incident is shown only at the end of the film, but is foreshadowed in early acts; whereas the other two 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 as a spy to enlist a Yan assassin to attempt to assassinate him, and use that a casus belli to start a war against Yan. Lady Zhao persuades Jing Ke to perform the assassination. After witnessing 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 is furious when none of his associates attempt to stop the assassin and he is forced to kill Jing Ke himself, and further saddened when Lady Zhao returns to Qin only to retrieve Jing Ke for burial.

Traditional 荊軻刺秦王
Simplified 荆轲刺秦王
Mandarin Jīng Kē Cì Qín Wáng
Directed by Chen Kaige
Produced by Han Sanping
Chen Kaige
Kadokawa Tsuguhiko
Furukawa Hiromitsu
Written by Chen Kaige
Wang Peigong
Starring Gong Li
Zhang Fengyi
Zhou Xun
Li Xuejian
Chen Kaige
Music by Zhao Jiping
Cinematography Zhao Fei
Zheng Hua
Shang Yong
Edited by Zhou Xinxia
Production
company Beijing Film Studio
Distributed by China Star Entertainment Group (H.K.)
Sony Pictures Classics (U.S.)
Columbia Pictures (U.K.)
Release date(s)

October 8, 1998

Running time 162 minutes
Country China
Language Mandarin