Chen Kaige's "The Emperor and the Assassin" is an epic-length film with some breathtakingly filmed epic-sized battles and
palace scenes ... yet it all boils down to a simple, non-epic story of love, loyalty and power. It is 221 B.C., and Ying Zheng (Li Xuejian), king of the Chinese kingdom of Qin, has been charged by his ancestors with the duty of unifying all seven kingdoms of China. He takes this seriously, figuring the best way to do it is to conquer them. To that end, he invades the kingdom of Han, with the intention of moving on to Zhao and Yan next. Ying Zheng's prime minister, Lu Buwei (Chen Kaige), objects to these tactics, and is summarily fired. Ying Zheng's mother (Gu Yongfei), who is having a secret affair with the oleaginous Marquis (Wang Zhiwen), objects (she's a Zhao native) but is quiet about it, as is Lady Zhao (Gong Li) herself, with whom Ying Zheng grew up and who is occasionally his lover.
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