The Emperor's Shadow (1997) Movie Information:

The Emperor's Shadow (1997) Directed by: Xiaowen Zhou The Emperor's Shadow (1997) Written by: Wei Lu The Emperor's Shadow (1997) Cast: Jiang Wen, Ge You, Li Mengnan

The Emperor's Shadow (1997) U.S. Distributor: Fox Lorber The Emperor's Shadow (1997) U.K. Distributor: Not available at this time

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The Emperor's Shadow (1997) Synopsis:

In the early years of the reign of the Qin dynasty, the First Emperor's power is absolute. None dare to question or contradict him... except his childhood friend, a famous composer who stubbornly refuses to submit. A titanic contest of wills results, complicated by the presence of the similarly spirited daughter of the Emperor himself. Only one can survive.

The Emperor's Shadow (1997) Movie Review:

A movie with as much melodramatic flair as the amount of money thrown behind its making, "The Emperor's Shadow" is short on subtlety, but manages to awe with a world as alien and exotic as any produced for a sc-fi movie. A fictionalised account of the tempestuous relationship between the First Emperor of China and his court musician, it could also be seen as a comment on censorship and artistic freedom, a message which hampered the film's release on its native soil.

Ying Zheng is an absolute monarch, demanding and receiving total obedience from all before him, except two people: his precocious daughter, Yueyang, and his court musician, Gao Jianli. Though Ying Zheng indulges his daughter, it seems that he has more of a familial relationship with Gao Jianli, the only other person who dares to challenge him, though often at the risk of his own life and limb. Gao opposes every attempt by Ying Zheng to control him artistically, something that baffles a man whose whim is law. Inevitably, this leads to a terrible result, for the rebellious souls.

Everything in this movie seems imbued with a sense of otherworld-ness. This is a China I've not seen before, an archaic China tinged with strange, wild passions, unlike the dignified and demure standard of behaviour more acceptable in the culture today. Wen Jiang plays his Emperor with a fascinating mix of inhumanity and vulnerability, and only Yueyang and Gao seems allowed to express anything resembling a functioning human being (and then again, only just). This is a film that rumbles with all the gusto of a good melodrama, set against a sumptuous canvas of storytelling. It is a period piece that heaves with bodice-popping gusto, if there be any bodices to be popped. Amazing.

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The Emperor's Shadow (1997) review written by: Eden Law