Honestly, if you’re tired of CGI-heavy historical dramas that feel like they were made in a sterile lab, you need to go back to 1998. Chen Kaige’s The Emperor and the Assassin is a massive, sprawling, and sometimes exhausting masterpiece that puts modern blockbusters to shame. It isn't just a movie. It’s a 160-minute descent into the madness of power.
You’ve probably heard of the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. He’s the guy with the Terracotta Army and the Great Wall. But this film doesn’t care about the tourist attractions. It cares about the blood. It’s about a man who wants to unify a warring nation at any cost, and the woman who realizes—too late—that she’s helped create a monster.
Most people today gravitate toward Zhang Yimou’s Hero because it’s pretty. Hero is like a ballet with swords. But The Emperor and the Assassin is a punch to the gut. It’s gritty. It’s loud. The palace walls feel cold, and the stakes feel genuinely life-or-death.
The Brutal Reality of Qin Shi Huang
Li Xuejian plays Ying Zheng (the future Emperor) not as a stoic god, but as a twitchy, insecure, and terrifyingly ambitious man. He’s human. That’s what makes him scary. You see his childhood trauma. You see his desperate need for his mother’s approval. And then you see him bury children alive.
The film covers the King of Qin's quest to conquer the other six kingdoms of China. To do this, he needs a pretext to invade the Kingdom of Yan. His concubine, Lady Zhao (played by the incredible Gong Li), devises a plan: she will go to Yan, find an assassin, and "conspire" to kill the King. This gives him the "excuse" to retaliate.
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But things go sideways.
Lady Zhao meets Jing Ke.
Jing Ke, played by Zhang Fengyi, is a broken man. He’s a professional killer who has lost his nerve after a particularly traumatizing hit involving a young girl. He’s living in the gutters, refusing to pick up a sword. Watching Gong Li’s character try to manipulate this broken man into becoming a hero is one of the most fascinating arcs in 90s cinema.
Why the Scale of This Movie is Actually Insane
We’re used to seeing digital armies now. In The Emperor and the Assassin, when you see a thousand soldiers, those are usually real people. The production cost about $20 million, which in 1998 in China was an astronomical sum. They built a massive palace set in Hengdian just for this film. It’s still there today, a testament to how much they poured into this.
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The cinematography by Zhao Fei is dark and oppressive. He doesn't use the vibrant primary colors of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Instead, we get ochre, deep blacks, and blood reds. It feels ancient. It feels like you’re breathing in the dust of the 3rd century BCE.
A Masterclass in Tragedy
Chen Kaige doesn't do "simple." If you want a movie where the good guy wins and the bad guy loses, look elsewhere. Here, everyone loses something.
- The King loses his humanity to gain an empire.
- Lady Zhao loses her love and her country to gain a conscience.
- Jing Ke loses his life to regain his honor.
There’s a specific scene where the King of Qin confronts his own lineage. It’s a long, dialogue-heavy sequence that would be cut from a modern movie for being "too slow." But here? It’s the heartbeat of the film. It explores the "Mandate of Heaven" and whether one man has the right to kill millions to save tens of millions. It’s the ultimate "ends justify the means" argument, and the movie refuses to give you an easy answer.
What Most People Get Wrong About the History
People often confuse this movie with the actual historical records from Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian. While the film is grounded in history, it takes huge liberties with Lady Zhao. In reality, the assassination attempt by Jing Ke was a real event—probably the most famous "failed" assassination in world history—but the romantic triangle involving a high-ranking concubine is mostly dramatic license.
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The real Jing Ke wasn't necessarily a "pacifist assassin." He was a scholar and a swordsman who took on a suicide mission for his prince. The film adds layers of psychological complexity that make the characters feel modern, even if the setting is 2,000 years old.
The "children’s massacre" scene in the film is also a point of heavy debate. While Qin Shi Huang was notoriously brutal, the specific depiction of him personally overseeing the execution of Yan’s children is more of a metaphorical representation of his cruelty than a documented fact. It’s meant to show the moment he crosses the point of no return.
The Sound of Silence and Screams
The score by Zhao Jiping is haunting. It uses traditional Chinese instruments but avoids the "exotic" cliches. Sometimes the most violent moments in the film are the quietest. When the final assassination attempt happens, it isn't a high-flying wire-work fight. It’s awkward. It’s messy. It’s two men stumbling over robes and pillars in a massive, empty hall. It’s probably the most realistic depiction of an assassination ever filmed because it shows how chaotic and uncoordinated real violence is.
How to Watch It Today
Finding a high-quality version of The Emperor and the Assassin can be a bit of a hunt. The original theatrical cut is the one you want. Some DVD releases were edited poorly, losing the rhythm of the story.
If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones or Succession, you’ll recognize the political maneuvering. It’s all about who is whispering in whose ear. It’s about the fact that even an "all-powerful" king is often a prisoner of his own court.
Step-by-Step for the Best Experience
- Find the Original Cut: Look for the 160-minute version. Anything shorter usually cuts out the vital character development of the Marquis of Chang'an subplot.
- Context Matters: Spend five minutes reading about the "Warring States Period." Knowing that China was split into seven literal warring factions makes the King’s obsession with "unification" much more understandable.
- Watch the Performances: Pay attention to Li Xuejian’s eyes. He does more with a frantic glance than most actors do with a five-minute monologue.
- Compare and Contrast: If you’ve seen Hero (2002), watch this immediately after. It’s a fascinating look at how two different masters of cinema view the same historical figure. One sees a visionary; the other sees a tyrant.
The film reminds us that history isn't just dates and maps. It's people making terrible choices. The Emperor and the Assassin stands as a peak of Chinese "Fifth Generation" filmmaking, a time when directors were bold enough to question the very foundations of power. It’s a long sit, but by the time the credits roll, you’ll feel like you’ve lived through an era.