The Emperor and the Assassin [DVD] [2002]

It tells the story af a king in ancient China and his struggle to unite the country into one unified kingdom. As well as epic battles the film focuses on his personal relationships, with other rulers and members of his own household, and how they are worked out in true Macchiavellian style. If you have read and appreciated Sun Tzu's "the art of war" then watch this film.

In the finest traditions of "Ben Hur" it literally has a "cast of thousands," a welcome relief in the age of computer graphics. The (infrequent) battle scenes are truly awesome.

I do not think it would be too inappropriate to compare the story to the finest shakespeare plays in terms of subtlety and depth. Although it can at times be an effort to watch, it is a film which will stay with you long after it has ended. Your appreciation will grow as the complex and highly emotive story strands work themselves out in your brain hours and even days after you have watched it.

Highly recommended, the best film I have ever seen.

The cast of characters includes some convincing supporting performances particularly from Fengyi Zhang as the assassin Jing Ke.
Jing Ke is a very interesting character and he and Ying Zheng Ke are portrayed as living opposite lives in many respects .

The courtly intrigues are handled with depth and they are driven by the characters rather than to satisfy the need for plot twists.

This is a film which will reveal more with each watching and I suspect there are other subtle clues that I will never get due to my lack of knowledge about the culture.

In terms of cinematography, it couldn't be less like Hero. No beautiful painted scenes of ochre leaves, no wire fighting. The palette is subdued and the fights are generally short and brutally functional.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Definitely a historical drama (rather than an action film), but one with well developed characters and many scenes of real emotional depth as well as a grand sweeping backdrop of epic proportions.