"The Emperor And The Assassin" (1998)

(Originally released as Jing Ke Ci Qin Wang)

Starring: Gong Li, Fengyi Zhang, Zhou Sun, Xiaohe Lu, Zhiwen Wang, Kaige Chen, Yongfei Gu

First, the Lowdown: An epic portrayal of the unification of China in the Qin dynasty.

Not too many westerners are abreast of Chinese history, but I’ve always found it fascinating. As with the legacy of all monarchies: the further you go back, the more the line between fact and legend is blurred. In fact, when it comes to the stories of the early unification, there is often more legend than fact.

In 220 BC, Ying Zheng, the newly crowned King of Qin, seeks to carries out his clan’s legacy: to unify the seven warring states under one banner. The idea being that unification will bring about an age of peace and thusly end the centuries of battle that had been ripping the land apart. However, it seems to be only a good idea on paper and not in practice. Rather than using diplomacy to appeal to the neighboring kingdoms, Ying Zheng is determined on overtaking them by force.

Ying Zheng’s only constant companion is Lady Zhao, a concubine from the kingdom of Zhao. Lady Zhao’s loyalty is divided between her king and her homeland, though. When the Qin army sacks the capital of Han, Ying Zheng sets his eyes his eyes on the province of Yan. But Ying Zheng knows that if he attacks Yan without provocation, the remaining states may sympathize and unite against the Qin army. To generate the excuse he needs, Ying Zheng plans on releasing a hostage he has held from Yan, a prince, with the hopes that the prince will send an assassin to kill him. Ying Zheng tells this to Lady Zhao, who recommends she be exiled with the Yan prince, to earn his trust and make sure that all goes as planned. To complete the illusion, Lady Zhao has her face branded like a prisoner before she leaves.

However, Lady Zhao’s true motives for assisting prince Yan are so that she can leave the stifling atmosphere of palace and be free to express herself. While in the Yan province, she finds a recalcitrant assassin, Jing Ke, and sees him as the perfect person to set against Ying Zheng. Lady Zhao initially follows along with Ying Zheng’s conspiracy out of duty and love, but when Ying Zheng slaughters the armies of Zhao, her homeland, she sees the king’s thirst for conquest as it truly is – madness.

For an epic of war and conquest, The Emperor and the Assassin is very sparing on large scale battle sequences. Where most movies would’ve added an extra 15 minutes are more so you could see the sacking of Han or the slaughter of Zhao in its entirety, this film spends more time on the human intrigue aspects than on the war. In fact many of these scenes help illustrate the grandeur of the Qin palace, and also emphasize the smallness of Ying Zheng.

Line of the movie: “Even a knife has a name.”

Four and a half stars. Burn, baby, burn.