The Emperor and the Assassin (Jing Ke ci Qin Wang) (1998)
Movie Info
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Cast
as Lady Zhao
as Jing Ke
as Ying Zheng, King Of Qin
as Dan, Prince Of Yan
as Gen. Fan Yuqi
as Marquis Changxin
as Lu Buwei
as Queen Mother
as Gao Jianli
as Prison Official
as Qin Wuyang
as Blind Girl
as General Fan Yuqi
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Critic Reviews for The Emperor and the Assassin (Jing Ke ci Qin Wang)
All Critics (36) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (29) | Rotten (7) | DVD (2)
...full of sweeping battles and scenes of sometimes confusing palace intrigue
It's hard to argue against such a melodramatic approach when such palpable, haunting emotion is created.
Chen mixes in rich details and politics to make it all come alive and seem relevant.
Works so hard at being big and important that it all but shuts out small gesture.
A Shakespearian tale about China's genesis as a unified empire.
Chen's is a blazing, exceptional entertainment.
Audience Reviews for The Emperor and the Assassin (Jing Ke ci Qin Wang)
Loads of costumer details, wartime battles, and a bit of Chinese history combine to make for an interesting couple of hours as the King of Qin ignominiously struggles to unite a divided China dead set against any grand uniting schemes or dreams (imagine as if Napolean tried uniting Europe, w/o all that annoying English spoiling interference!). Along the way there's spikes in the action, time for some fingerpointing drama, Dallas/Dynasty style, but not so much so as you lose track of the mostly unknown to the West story.
Super Reviewer
The Emperor and the Assassin is a historical drama, with a touch of Shakespeare, from writer and director Kaige Chen.
The plot does have its moments and it is interesting at times, but it is just too drawn out. The film is broken into chapters, which works out quite well with the story, however it isn't until the last chapter, which has the same title as the film, where things get really interesting. Unfortunately, this final chapter doesn't start until 2 hours and 20 minutes in. Yep, this is a long film. 2 hours and 40 minutes long. Despite having an interesting story, there needs to be more going on, like action or an upbeat tempo among other things. This film hardly has any of those, and the story, as deep as it is, can only hold for so long.
While the story does deal with the conquering of kingdoms throughout China, the action is very slim. There are no huge epic battles. Actually there are, but they are not shown. The film focuses more on the characters themselves.
The acting is good. Gong Li, Fengyi Zhang, and Xuejian Li all carry this film with ease. Kaige Chen even finds a role for himself to play. Also, be on the lookout for a young Zhou Xun.
The Emperor and the Assassin isn't a waste of time, however fans that can appreciate a good story, with little in the way of action, may find this enjoyable.
Super Reviewer
gorgeous epic about china's first emperor, every bit as good as hero and said to be more historically accurate. also it's almost 3 hours long but it's a complicated story! and it's not really a wuxia film
Super Reviewer
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