The Emperor And The Assassin on DVD (1999)

Slow but beautiful

A customer from Bradford , 20/09/2003

Chen Kaige gives us magnificent depth of atmosphere. Yes, it's a 'period piece', but Chen's artistic use of imagery makes it something more. The actors often behave like players using the stylised diction, postures and facial expressions of Peking Opera. All the actors in a scene play to the 'back wall' even when addressing each other. They are like spirits of the past enunciating with powerful clarity a story with urgent meaning for those in the present. Combined with close attention to scale and masterful cinematography indoors and out, The Emperor and the Assassin is a stunning tale told with great reverence in its own idiom that captivates completely.

It is a great movie, but it must be said a little long. This really is a movie to watch on your own, so that you can lose yourself in the sweeping cinematography and not feel awkward in the long silences. Worth watching on a Sunday afternoon.

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The other side of Hero

PeaceNick from Hampshire , 12/01/2005

If you enjoyed Hero, you might be interested in this. It's set in the exact same period, but tells the story from the Emperor's point of view.

Having said that, it's never clear what his point of view is - is he a noble leader bringing peace to the known world, or genocidal sociopath spreading death and destruction to compensate for deep personality flaws? Thank God that sort of thing doesn't happen these days.

Great set pieces, without the fantasy element of Hero (or the budget - when they need a hail of arrows, they need real people firing them - many of them obviously not professional archers).

As usual, it's not worth listening to the English soundtrack. It's great if you're learning Mandarin, though - being set in the court, most of the dialogue is formal and slow paced and pretty easy to follow.

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Incredible cinematography

Alonso from London , 23/08/2004

A massive film in many respects. Incredible cinematography, beautiful costumes and exciting plot, although you must stay fairly focussed. Good feudal Chinese theme, with some stunning sequences. One epic that seems to have been very overlooked, it’s not well known at all.

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slow

A customer from uk , 31/07/2006

this film is slow moving and the poor dubbing can be annoying. acting isn't the best but if you like Chinese film acting and style watch this

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The other side of Hero

PeaceNick from Hampshire , 12/01/2005

If you enjoyed Hero, you might be interested in this. It's set in the exact same period, but tells the story from the Emperor's point of view.

Having said that, it's never clear what his point of view is - is he a noble leader bringing peace to the known world, or genocidal sociopath spreading death and destruction to compensate for deep personality flaws? Thank God that sort of thing doesn't happen these days.

Great set pieces, without the fantasy element of Hero (or the budget - when they need a hail of arrows, they need real people firing them - many of them obviously not professional archers).

As usual, it's not worth listening to the English soundtrack. It's great if you're learning Mandarin, though - being set in the court, most of the dialogue is formal and slow paced and pretty easy to follow.

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the forth chinese director

Ge Huang from england , 22/06/2005

mr zhang is one of the best examples of chinese forth generation of film dirctors. apparenly he tried to make the film to be expressed by a westernlised way, some good attempts also some failures. the chinese glory history has been covered a big thick miserable yellow dusty screen in the film.

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