The Emperor and the Assassin | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 荊軻刺秦王 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 荆轲刺秦王 | ||||||
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Directed by | Chen Kaige | ||||||
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Cinematography |
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Edited by | Zhou Xinxia | ||||||
Music by | Zhao Jiping | ||||||
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Running time | 162 minutes | ||||||
Country | China | ||||||
Language | Mandarin |
The Emperor and the Assassin (Chinese: 荊軻刺秦王; pinyin: Jīngkē cì qínwáng; lit. 'Jing Ke Assassinates the King of Qin'), also known as The First Emperor, is a 1998–1999 Chinese historical romance film based primarily on Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin, as described in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. The film was directed by Chen Kaige and stars Gong Li, Zhang Fengyi, Li Xuejian, and Zhou Xun. The film was well received critically and won the Technical Prize at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.[1] It was the most expensive Chinese film made up to that time, costing US$20 million.[2]