, 2h2 Directed byChen Kaige OriginChine GenresDrama, Thriller, Action, Historical ThemesThéâtre, Films based on plays ActorsWang Xueqi, Fàn Bīngbīng (范冰冰), Zhang Fengyi, Huang Xiaoming, Chiu Man-cheuk Roles Gongsun Chujiu (公孙杵臼), a Jin official and a friend of the Zhao family. Rating61% The story is set in Jin, a ducal state under the Zhou dynasty, during the Spring and Autumn Period of ancient China. Zhao Dun, the chancellor of Jin, and his son, General Zhao Shuo, have a rift with General Tu'an Gu. Tu'an Gu secretly murders the young Duke of Jin with poison and pushes the blame to the Zhao family, using that as an excuse to massacre the entire Zhao clan, numbering about 300 people. The sole survivor is Zhao Shuo's baby son, Zhao Wu, who is born to the Duke's elder sister, Lady Zhuang. Lady Zhuang pleads with Tu'an Gu's subordinate, Han Jue, to spare her child and commits suicide after entrusting Zhao Wu to the physician Cheng Ying, telling Cheng to bring the child to Gongsun Chujiu, a friend of the Zhao family. When Tu'an Gu learns that the orphan had escaped, he slashes his sword at Han Jue's face in anger, disfiguring Han. Subsequently, Tu'an Gu issues an order to seal the gates and to gather all newborn babies in the city. The ploy was to identify the Zhao orphan since Tu'an Gu was counting on the person hiding the baby to not hand over the baby to him, hence singling out the one baby left in the city to be the Zhao infant.
, 2h42 Directed byChen Kaige OriginChine GenresDrama, Historical ActorsGong Li, 周迅 (Zhou Xun), Zhang Fengyi, Chen Kaige, Sun Zhou, Wang Zhiwen Roles Jing Ke Rating71% The film covers much of Ying Zheng's career, recalling his early experiences as a hostage and foreshadowing his dominance over China. It depicts him essentially as an idealist seeking to impose a peace or unity on the world despite various betrayals and losses. Its story consists in the main of three incidents: the attempt by Jing Ke to assassinate Ying Zheng in 227 BCE; the rumour of a Chief Minister's having sired the latter before transferring his concubine to become the Queen Dowager; and the (possibly fictitious) story of an official having sired children by the Queen Dowager herself. The first incident plays out only at the end of the film, but earlier scenes foreshadow it; the other two incidents occur between the fictional genesis and historical manifestation of the first.
, 1h36 Directed byWu Yigong GenresDrama ActorsZhang Fengyi Rating76% In the late 1920s, a six-year-old girl named Lin Yingzi (Shen Jie) lived on a hutong in the south of Beijing with her family.
, 2h3 GenresDrama ActorsZhang Fengyi, Siqin Gaowa Roles Xiang Zi Rating71% Xiang Zi is a rickshaw boy who has always had a desire to excel and a thirst for freedom. He married Hu Niu who died of dystocia later. After her death, another girl, Xiao Fuzi, falls in love with Xiang Zi but they are separated by poverty. Xiang Zi works very hard in order to change his life, only to find that Xiao Fuzi is dead just as he begins to be hopeful for their future. Finally, Xiang Zi, an unflinching man, surrenders to that dark society.