so criminally underrated - my favourite film depicting Qin Shihuang

I saw this film on television years ago in perhaps 2003. I never forgot it, but I did forget the NAME, and when trying to look it up back then, could only find "The Emperor and the Assassin" (which I thought was nowhere near as compelling, in spite of ). I thought I was going to have to write in to someone at a newspaper to help me find it, but search engines and databases are both much improved, and now I'm here.

I've never seen a more complex portrayal of the man who became "Qin Shihuang", China's first emperor, and the lengths he went to create and control a unified country from the Warring States, at any cost. Power, love, ambition, jealousy, trust, betrayal, suffering, ingenuity, and intrigue all combine to make a riveting story and unforgettably bring ancient Chinese history to life. But it's also witty and at times light hearted - great writing.

Qin Shihuang is an ambivalent cultural figure of China's past, associated with unprecedented cruelty and unprecedented innovation. The Emperor's Shadow has no flashy wuxia, but in exploring the complexities of this character is a much more compelling film than many later Chinese films with splendid visuals taking precedence over story and character, such as Zhang Yimou's later work in particular (i.e. films like Hero, The House of Flying Daggers, and The Curse of the Golden Flower). Although the cinematography, sets and costumes and even the score are all quite stunning, they don't interfere with the most basic and important point of cinema, to me, which is to tell a cracking good story.

Wei Lu also wrote the screenplay for "To Live", back when Zhang Yimou was arguably at his peak as a story teller, rather than focussing on grand visuals and commercial success at the cost of character and insightfulness. (In his imdb profile, Zhang Yimou acknowledges this change himself and actually states he prefers the former.) I can't help desire a return to Zhang's master works of character and place, but I don't think it's going to happen for now.

The really unfortunate thing is that while Zhang has gone on to make fims which attained commercial success in the West, Xiaowen Zhou who directed this film has since disappeared. It's starting to seem like the masterpieces of the Fifth Generation that were produced in the 90s are indeed a thing of the past. Of course, filmmaking is not easy in China unless you want to make a particular kind of film, in terms of permission and censorship, but it seems like the momentum for great drama has definitely changed. I'll always keep watching, but it would be rare to see a film like The Emperor's Shadow 15.. now, as of a few days, 16 years on.

The song sung by those building the Great Wall is a particularly haunting scene. And the ending has never left me... This is one of my favourite Chinese films, and deserves a wide audience for its study of the First Emperor and the pursuit and transfiguring effects of power, and of love. It's witty and often playful. Some liberties are certainly taken with the accuracy of historical details, but the focus is on exploring these characters for better or worse in a way I find acceptable in the context.

How on earth is this film overlooked?

Has anyone seen other work by the director?

Shall we literally now create a formation? Of us. In order that we might revolt and demand from filmmakers, they know who they are, a step down from CGI-and-wires chicanery constantly recycled ad nauseum. and instead build a giant phoenix that will rise from a pyre, appropriately lit by paper,lucky money: the birth of the transcendental 6th generation. Sure, my sleeping pill's kicking in a bit during this sentense, it seems like a mighty fine idea today.