The Emperor and the Assassin (1998)
Director
Chen Kaige
Main cast
Gong Li; Zhang Fengyi; Zhou Sun; Xiaohe Lü; Wang Zhi-Wen
Genres
Drama, Foreign, History
Description
In pre-unified China, the King of Qin sends his concubine to a rival kingdom to produce an assassin for a political plot, but as the king's cruelty mounts she finds her loyalty faltering.
Chen Kaige
Main cast
Gong Li; Zhang Fengyi; Zhou Sun; Xiaohe Lü; Wang Zhi-Wen
Genres
Drama, Foreign, History
Description
In pre-unified China, the King of Qin sends his concubine to a rival kingdom to produce an assassin for a political plot, but as the king's cruelty mounts she finds her loyalty faltering.
Similar movies
The Soong family was a political dynasty in China that reached the highest levels of power. This film follows the lives of the three Soong daughters, who were educated in America and returned to China. Ai-ling (the oldest) married a wealthy and powerful businessman. Ching-ling married Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary founder of modern China. Mei-ling (the youngest) married Chiang Kai-shek, China's l
Insurrection deposes the tyrannical first emperor of China during the evil Qin Dynasty. Warrior/general Xiang Yu and the cunning peasant Liu Pang join forces to win through civil war. Xiang Yu's weakness for Lady Yu combine with Liu Pang's treachery result in Liu founding the legendary Han dynasty
During the 16th century, as Thailand contends with both a civil war and Burmese invasion, a beautiful princess rises up to help protect the glory of the Kingdom of Ayothaya. Based on the life of Queen Suriyothai.
7 Assassins is a new martial arts movie which delivers a great cast which see Shaw Brothers legends Kara Hui and Ti Lung back on screen... When social unrest plagues a Kingdom in ancient China, the Imperial Court collects stockpiles of gold from local governments to expand the royal army. However, the gold is robbed while in transport. In a desperate move to retrieve the stolen treasure, elite royal guards are sent on a mission to go after the gold but soon find out they are not the only ones in pursuit of it.
In 370 B.C, China was separated as seven nations and several other small tribes, one of these being the city state of Liang. The nation of Zhao is led by the terrifying Xiang Yangzhong who orders his troops to conquer the small city. Leaping to the defense of the people of Liang is 'Ge Li' from the Mo-Tsu tribe, their last hope from the terrors of Yangzhong's troops.
In the 16th century in Chosun dynasty, HWANG Jung-hak and LEE Mong-hak create the âGrand Allianceâ with the united dream of a better world. While the new leader LEE dreams of eradicating this world of all its corruption and becoming king himself, the legendary blind swordsman HWANG who had once been his comrade goes after him with the loss of his good friend at the hands of LEE. Just as the king abandoned his kingdom from Japanese invasion, the two come face-to-face inside the empty palace and begin their last battle they were destined to fight.
A royal official accompanies a Portuguese warship to the Black Cliffs to see the site of the defeat of the evil Invincible Asia, who attained supernatural abilities by following the sacred scroll and castrating himself.
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.
February 17 to March 3, 1860, inside Edo castle. A group of assassins wait by Sakurada Gate to kill the lord of the House of Ii, a powerful man in the Tokugawa government, which has ruled Japan for 300 years. They suspect a traitor in their midst, and their suspicions fall on Niiro, an impoverished ronin who dreams of samurai status, and Kurihara, an aristocratic samurai who befriends Niiro. Niiro longs to identify his father, knowing he is a high-ranking official who will disclose himself only if Niiro achieves samurai status. With American ships in Japan's harbors, cynicism among the assassins, and change in the air, Niiro resolves to reach ends that may prove ephemeral.
After having been forced to leave the Soviet Union 1929 Trotsky has ended up in Mexico 1940. He is still busy with the politics. Stalin has sent out an assassin, Frank Jacson. Jacson befriends a young communist and gets an invitation to Trotsky's house.
As the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, Gen. Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.
Perhaps the most notorious concubine in Chinese history, Yang Guifei set a pudgy standard of beauty in her days of glory during the Tang dynasty. The Emperor Minghuang was so besotted with the woman that when An Lushan stages his rebellion against the empire, the ruler takes Yang Guifei along with his imperial entourage in an escape to the mountainous area of modern-day Sichuan, and sanctuary of sorts. But the concubine had roused the jealousy of the court and unfortunately for her and to the great sorrow of the king, her brother and others among the king's retainers demanded she be strangled to death while they were still in the mountains. This is the story told in this interesting Taiwanese adaptation by director Li Han-hsiang (Li Hanxiang).
A biplane pilot is saddled with a spoiled industrialist's daughter on a search for her missing father through Asia that eventually involves them in a struggle against a Chinese warlord.
Rogue intelligence agents, right-wing politicians, greedy capitalists, and free-lance assassins plot and carry out the JFK assassination in this speculative agitprop.
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.
"Bodyguards and Assassins" tells the story of a group of bodyguards protecting Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) from assassins in 1905 Hong Kong.
The story of the romance between the King of Siam (now Thailand) and the widowed British school teacher Anna Leonowens during the 1860's. Anna teaches the children and becomes romanced by the King. She convinces him that a man can be loved by just one woman.
Mary Surratt is the lone female charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination trial of Abraham Lincoln. As the whole nation turns against her, she is forced to rely on her reluctant lawyer to uncover the truth and save her life.
Set in 1398. Kim Min-Jae (Shin Ha-Kyun) is the supreme commander of the Joseon Dynasty. He falls in love for the first time and for that woman he takes risks. Yi Bang-Won (Jang Hyuk) is the Kingâs son. He helped his father setup the Joseon Dynasty era, but he was not picked as the Crown Prince. He still holds ambitions of becoming the King one day.
Jin (Kang Ha-Neul) is Kim Min-Jaeâs son and the Kingâs son-in-law. Due to his position as the King's son-in-law, he is unable to take part in politics and only seeks out pleasure.
In 221 BC, Qin Shihuangdi conquered the rest of China. Qin's great accomplishments and also his serious faults are showed in this film. Qin adopted autocratic dictatorship and led a luxurious life: abolition of feudalism and the centralization of power in the form of a now-hereditary bureaucracy loyal to himself; burning books and burying scholars; the construction of a sumptuous palace for his concubines and also the Great Wall.
A story of the impossible love between one of the Sultan's concubines and one of his eunuchs in a harem at the end of the Ottoman Empire.
In occupied France during the WWII, a German officer is murdered. The collaborationist Vichy government decides to pin the murder on six petty criminals. Loyal judges are called in to convict them as quickly as possible.
In the year 198 BC, Cao Cao (Chow Yun Fat), Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, ventured to the east and defeated China's greatest warrior Lu Bu, terrifying every ambitious warlord across the country. Several years later, after taking the Han Emperor under his wing, Cao crowns himself King of Wei. He built a magnificent Bronze Sparrow Island to symbolize his power and rumors spread that he would replace the Emperor. Meanwhile, young lovers Mu Shun (Hiroshi Tamaki) and Ling Ju (Liu Yi-Fei) are taken from a prison camp to a hidden tomb, where they spend five cruel years together, training as assassins for a secret mission. In the year 220 BC astronomical signs predict dramatic change. As a result, Cao's son Cao Pi (Yau Sam-Chi) and Cao's followers urge Cao to become the new Emperor - but unknown opposing forces plot against him.
After his wife dies, a blacksmith named Balian is thrust into royalty, political intrigue and bloody holy wars during the Crusades.
Seven years after the apparent death of Chen Zhen, who was shot after discovering who was responsible for his teacher's death (Huo Yuanjia) in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. A mysterious stranger arrives from overseas and befriends a local mafia boss. That man is a disguised Chen Zhen, who intends to infiltrate the mob when they form an alliance with the Japanese. Disguising himself as a caped fighter by night, Chen intends to take out everyone involved as well as get his hands on an assassination list prepared by the Japanese.
Arn has served his term in the Holy land and returns home to be reunited with his beloved Cecilia. When he returns home, he discovers that political forces tries to separate him and Cecilia - but thanks to queen Blanka they can finally get married. Arn knows that war is looming and with his martial knowledge he starts to build an army at his new home at Forsvik.
One man defeated three assassins who sought to murder the most powerful warlord in pre-unified China.
In 1893, Gandhi is thrown off a South African train for being an Indian and traveling in a first class compartment. Gandhi realizes that the laws are biased against Indians and decides to start a non-violent protest campaign for the rights of all Indians in South Africa. After numerous arrests and the unwanted attention of the world, the government finally relents by recognizing rights for Indians, though not for the native blacks of South Africa. After this victory, Gandhi is invited back to India, where he is now considered something of a national hero. He is urged to take up the fight for India's independence from the British Empire. Gandhi agrees, and mounts a non-violent non-cooperation campaign of unprecedented scale, coordinating millions of Indians nationwide. There are some setbacks, such as violence against the protesters and Gandhi's occasional imprisonment. Nevertheless...
A story of greed, a lust for power, and ultimate revenge when an elderly lord abdicates to his three sons, and the two corrupt ones turn against him. A profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power.
Set in the late 15th century during the reign of King Yeonsan, two male street clowns and tightrope walkers, Jangsaeng (Gam Wu-seong) and Gong-gil (Lee Joon-gi), are part of an entertainer troupe. Their manager prostitutes the beautiful Gong-gil to rich customers, and Jangsaeng is sickened by this practice. After Gong-gil kills the manager in defense of Jangsaeng, the pair flee to Seoul, where they form a new group with three other street performers...
In the Time of the Butterflies is inspired by the true story of the three Mirabal sisters who, in 1960, were murdered for their part in an underground plot to overthrow the government.
907 AD, the Tang Dynasty in China. The movie is set in an empire in chaos. The Emperor, the Empress, the Crown Prince, the Minister and the General all have their own enemies.
The story of Joseon's tyrant king Yeonsan who exploits the populace for his own carnal pleasures, his seemingly loyal retainer who controls him and all court dealings, and a woman who seeks vengeance.
Japan in the 19th century. A poetic love story far beyond any other samurai movie stereotype...
Diplomats, soldiers and other representatives of a dozen nations fend off the siege of the International Compound in Peking during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. The disparate interests unite for survival despite competing factions, overwhelming odds, delayed relief and tacit support of the Boxers by the Empress of China and her generals.
During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, surgeon Dr. Franticek Svoboda (Brian Donlevy), a Czech patriot, assassinates the brutal "Hangman of Europe", Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski), and is wounded in the process. In his attempt to escape, he is helped by history professor Stephen Novotny (Walter Brennan) and his daughter Mascha (Anna Lee).
A historical story describing the death of Prince Sado.
Ip Man's peaceful life in Foshan changes after Gong Yutian seeks an heir for his family in Southern China. Ip Man then meets Gong Er who challenges him for the sake of regaining her family's honor. After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man moves to Hong Kong and struggles to provide for his family. In the mean time, Gong Er chooses the path of vengeance after her father was killed by Ma San.
After setting the leg of John Wilkes Booth, Dr. Samuel Mudd is sent to prison as a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Wounded in Africa during World War II, Nazi Col. Claus von Stauffenberg returns to his native Germany and joins the Resistance in a daring plan to create a shadow government and assassinate Adolf Hitler. When events unfold so that he becomes a central player, he finds himself tasked with both leading the coup and personally killing the Führer.
Jim Gordon commands a unit of the famed Flying Tigers, the American Volunteer Group which fought the Japanese in China before America's entry into World War II. Gordon must send his outnumbered band of fighter pilots out against overwhelming odds while juggling the disparate personalities and problems of his fellow flyers.
Tracing the struggle of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale to gain freedom from French colonial rule as seen through the eyes of Ali from his start as a petty thief to his rise to prominence in the organisation and capture by the French in 1957. The film traces the rebels' struggle and the increasingly extreme measures taken by the French government to quell the revolt.
Kanichiro Yoshimura is a Samurai and Family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the the low pay he receives from his small town clan, he is forced by the love for his family to leave for the city in search of higher pay to support them.
Set in Shanghais Gangster era of the early 1900s, THE LAST TYCOON tells the tale of CHENG (Chow Yun-Fat), a young man who is set up by the chief of police (Sammo Hung) and must leave the life he knows and QIU (Monica Mok), the woman he loves, to start again. After escaping prison CHENG quickly and violently moves his way up the ladder of Shanghais criminal underworld to become on the most powerful mob bosses in Shanghais history. But fame and notoriety take their toll when CHENG finds himself stuck between the looming Japanese army and the scheming local secret service. Matters are only made worse when he bumps into the love of his life QIU, along with her writer husband. Will love re-kindle in the dusk of an era?
Zhan Zhao (Andy Lau) is a court officer who learns of a plot to assassinate Judge Bao (Anthony Wong). While on holiday he meets a young man named Bai (Cecilia Cheung) who turns out to be a woman. Zhan Zhao tries to recruit Bai to help him stop the assassination of Judge Bao.
Set in the decadent 1920s, Temptress Moon tells the very complicated story of a wealthy family living on the outskirts of Shanghai. Their youngest daughter, Ruyi, is brought up as a servant to her opium-addicted father and brother. Meanwhile, her brother-in-law Zhongliang has a successful, if illegal, career seducing and blackmailing married women in the city. When he comes to Ruyi's home the two fall in love, and trouble ensues.
Based in Delhi's Chandni Chowk, orphaned Sidhu is adopted by the owner of Bajrang Bali Parathas, known simply as Dada. Years later Sidhu has grown up and is an expert at slicing vegetables.
Keld is in a rut. His wife of 25 years has left him. For sustenance, he eats his way through the menu at the local Chinese takeaway. The owner talks him into a marriage of convenience with his sister from China and the unplanned-for happens. A delicate romance blossoms between these two damaged, fragile individuals, but a secret gives their relationship a fateful twist. A subtle and touching story of life's diversity.
In July 1976, an Air France flight from Tel-Aviv to Paris via Athens was hijacked and forced to land in Entebbe, Uganda. The Jewish passengers were separated and held hostage in demand to release many terrorists held in Israeli prisons. After much debate, the Israeli government sent an elite commando unit to raid the airfield and release the hostages.
A gutsy police detecive and his team of cops probe into the widespread illegal dealings of a criminal mastermind who schemes to redeem himself by running for government office in taiwan.
After her husband's suicide, young and beautiful Mitsuko Fuji feels alone and helpless -- until one of her husband's major creditors, Mr. Kito, offers a sympathetic ear and a cancellation of all debts. However, Mitsuko soon learns that Kito's intentions are anything but pure, as she's forced to become his personal concubine. Her only, improbable hope for redemption lies with her one true admirer: Kito's very own son.
This movie starts off with the assassination of Sanjeevayya (Suman), the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and the subsequent turmoil in the organization of the state government. The last wish of Sanjeevayya is for his son, Arjun Prasad (Rana Daggubati), to become the next Chief Minister. However, Arjun's cousin Dhanunjay (Subbaraju) has his own dreams of becoming the Chief Minister. Arjun realizes that it's not in the best interest of the state for Dhanunjay to become the CM. To become the CM, he uses the black money his father earned as the CM in buying the MLAs and ends up being the CM. However, he soon runs into problems running the government as his dream of eradicating corruption does not go well with the legislators. How he resolves those challenges is the rest of the movie.
After the death of his wife, wealthy businessman Philip Emmenthal and his son Storey open their own private harem in their family residence in Geneva (they get the idea while watching Federico Fellini's 8½ and after Storey is "given" a woman, Simato (Inoh), to waive her pachinko debts). They sign one-year contracts with eight (and a half) women to this effect. The women each have a gimmick (one is a nun, another a kabuki performer, etc.). Philip soon becomes dominated by his favourite of the concubines, Palmira, who has no interest in Storey as a lover, despite what their contract might stipulate. Philip dies, the concubines' contracts expire, and Storey is left alone with Giulietta (the titular "½", played by Fujiwara) and of course the money and the houses.
Kristin Lavransdatter is a 1995 Norwegian film directed by Liv Ullman, featuring Elisabeth Matheson, Bjørn Skagestad, Jørgen Langhelle, Lena Endre and Sverre Anker Ousdal, based on Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset. It was the Norwegian entry to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1996.
During the confusing and conspiratorial Joseon Dynasty King Gwang-hae orders his councilor, HEO Kyun, to find him a double in order to avoid the constant threat of assassination. HEO Kyun finds Ha-sun, a jester who looks remarkably like the king, and just as feared, Gwang-hae is poisoned. HEO Kyun proposes Ha-sun fill the role as the king until Gwang-hae recovers fully and grooms Ha-sun to look and act every bit the king. While assuming the role of the king at his first official appearance, Ha-sun begins to ponder the intricacies of the problems debated in his court. Being fundamentally more humanitarian than Gwang-hae, Ha-sunâs affection and appreciation of even the most minor servants slowly changes morale in the castle for the better. However, his chief opposition, PARK, notices the sudden shift in the kingâs behavior and starts to ask questions.
In Camelot, kingdom of Arthur and Merlin, Lancelot is well known for his courage and honor. But one day he must quit Camelot and the Queen Guinevere's love, leaving the Round Table without protection.
Set in Fascist Italy before the outbreak of World War II, the story centers on Giannini's character, an anarchist who stays in a brothel while preparing to kill Benito Mussolini. Giannini's character, while preparing to assassinate Mussolini, falls in love with one of the whores working in the brothel
1547 Fernando De Gama, a young "Soldier of Fortune" from Portugal, set sail for the ient in an effort to find a man who murdered his father and, with luck, like many of their compatriots, to make his fortune. A vicious storm in the Indian Ocean almost ended his plans when he was on the ship sank. The sole survivor, he was washed up on a tropical beach only to be captured by Arab slavers and taken to Ayutthaya in the kingdom of Siam, where he was offered for sale as a slave.
A tale of deadly deception and betrayal unfolds when the leader of the respectable Iron Flag clan is assassinated by The Spearman while the clan fights the villainous Eagle clan. Iron Flag's eldest brother, Lo, the second brother accepts the responsibility for the deaths of the Eagle clan and goes into hiding from the authorities. Meanwhile, Chow Feng takes charge, using his position for disreputable purposes. Seeing Lo, as a potential threat, Feng sends the "nefarious" Ten Killers of the Underworld to finish him. But Lo defeats them and confronts Feng with the aid of The Spearman who hopes to atone for having unwittingly killed a righteous man, Iron Flag's former leader.
There are three stories of women and men: in "A Time for Love" set in 1966, a soldier searches for a young woman he met one afternoon playing pool; "A Time for Freedom," set in a bordello in 1911, revolves around a singer's longing to escape her surroundings; in "A Time for Youth" set in 2005 Taipei, a triangle in which a singer has an affair with a photographer while her partner suffers is dramatized. In the first two stories, letters are crucial to the outcome; in the third, it's cell-phone calls, text messages, and a computer file. Over the years between the tales, as sexual intimacy becomes more likely and words more free, communication recedes.
© Valossa 2015–2024
