Ye yan (2006)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Xiaogang Feng

Writers:

Gangjian Qiu (writer)
William Shakespeare (play)

Release Date:

14 September 2006 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Fantasy | History | War

Plot:

A loose adaptation of Hamlet, "The Night Banquet" is set in an empire in chaos. The Emperor, the Empress, the Crown Prince, the Minister and the General all have their own enemies they would like to finish off at a night banquet.

Plot Keywords:

Prince | Banquet | Empress | Emperor | Death

Awards:

7 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Ziyi Zhang	...	Empress Wan
You Ge	...	Emperor Li
Daniel Wu	...	Prince Wu Luan
Xun Zhou	...	Qing Nu
Jingwu Ma	...	Minister Yin Taichang
Xiaoming Huang	...	General Yin Sun
Zhonghe Zhou	...	Chamberlain
Zeng Qiusheng	...	Governor Pei Hong
Xu Xiyan	...	Ling
Liu Yanbin	...	Messenger
Ma Lun	...	Pharmacist
Xiang Bin	...	Imperial Guard
Chunyu Zheng	...	Imperial Guard

Also Known As:

Legend of the Black Scorpion (USA) (DVD title)
The Banquet (International: English title)

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

China

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Australia:MA | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Brazil:14 | South Korea:15 | Japan:PG-12 | Finland:K-15 | UK:15 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Anji bamboo forest, Jiangsu, China

Company:

Huayi Brothers

Trivia:

At 180 meters long and 60 meters wide, the set for the Emperor's Palace is the largest set ever built in China.

Movie Connections:

Version of Amleto di Carmelo Bene (da Shakespeare a Laforgue) (1978) (TV)

A beautiful yet disturbing art piece

Definitely worth catching on the BIG screen, this is an epic about court intrigue in the Five Dynasties period, which follows in part the Hamlet setup of a murderous uncle usurper (You Ge) and his duplicitous queen (Zhang Ziyi), with an angry yet distant, brooding prince (Daniel Wu). The details and setting are different enough so that the new story carries its own weight and is interesting, however. The acting is strong (some excellent), the martial arts scenes memorable, and the sets are fantastic! This is not a fully realistic historical drama, by the way. Director Xiaogang Feng has crafted a modern art piece here, highly stylized in some parts, and often gory, especially the martial arts scenes, so if you can't stomach people flying and leaping like phoenixes (while disemboweling each other), skip it. The highly artistic feel of the film is kept somewhat in check by the gritty, used, and sometimes decaying feel of the palace, and more so by the tight, sparse dialog, the drama and the tension of the story. (Although following in the footsteps of highly stylized films like some of Zhang Yimou's, the focus returns very firmly to the story in this one, thankfully.) Similarly, the stunning beauty of parts of the film is balanced by the unmitigated ambition of the characters and their other dark flaws. These left the story with no single, simplified protagonist to cheer for – the very opposite of Hollywood formula. (The supporting role played by Xun Zhou might be an exception, but she's the very image of innocence and purity to a fatal flaw, and you pity her more than rooting for her.) The raw ambition, incestuous lust, jealous hate, betrayal and/or impotence darken nearly every character. While refreshingly different in this sense, it almost left me reaching for my goblet of hemlock. The Chinese title Ye Yan should have been translated as The Night Banquet rather than The Banquet (its English billing where I am), as the climax occurs at a midnight banquet unwisely set by the emperor at an inauspicious time, and it would have better reflected the darkness of the film.

Overall, I give it a big thumbs up.