I saw an even better film on the subject of the first emperor on SBS television in Australia. I remember one memorable scene in which a river literally ran with blood, (not that this was the best thing about the film). It didn't have the fictional martial-arts story-line of the superhero assassin. Can anyone tell me its name, some details about it, and whether it is available on DVD?
shareYes: that fim is The Emperor's Shadow [Qin Song], 1996 [i.e. before Chen Kaige's film], directed by Zhou Xiaowen. It is available on DVD.
shareThanks so much for that ... I thought it superior to the later film.
But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.
The Emperor and the Assassin is another really movie about the first emperor, although there are no martial arts scenes in it.
When darkness overcomes the heart, Lil' Slugger appears...
I've seen and enjoyed "The Emperor and the Assassin" but it's not the film I'm thinking of, which was a less fictionalised account of his reign ... nor is it "The First Emperor of China", a dramatised documentary with a narrator.
It was shown on TV here as "The First Emperor", a title used by "The Emperor and the Assassin" in some countries, and it should have been easy to find because it was an epic, very expensive production, with a cast of thousands. it was also longer than the other two films, and made, I would think, without one eye on the international mass market. It was definitely a mainland production ... I guess it will remain one of life's little mysteries ... once seen never forgotten is the aerial shot of the river stained red with the blood of mass-executions.
But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.