IMDb > Ye yan (2006)
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Overview

User Rating:
6.5/10   3,016 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Xiaogang Feng
Writers:
Gangjian Qiu (writer)
William Shakespeare (play)
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Banquet on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 September 2006 (Hong Kong) more
Genre:
Action | Drama | Fantasy | History | War more
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. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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Awards:
7 wins & 10 nominations more
NewsDesk:
Zhang Body Double Demands Film Credit
 (From WENN. 11 July 2006)

User Comments:
Wanted To Love It, But... more (48 total)

Cast

  (Credited 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
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Legend of the Black Scorpion (USA) (DVD title)
The Banquet (International: English title)
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Runtime:
131 min
Country:
China
Language:
Mandarin
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Company:
Huayi Brothers more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Both 'Li Gong (I)' and Maggie Cheung were originally considered playing the queen's role. When Ziyi Zhang took over the part, the script was rewritten to make the character younger. more
Movie Connections:
Version of Amleto (1908/I) more

FAQ

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful.
Wanted To Love It, But..., 10 March 2008
5/10
Author: david-dodd from United States

I'm a big fan of Chinese movies, Ziyi Zhang and Shakespeare, so I was definitely looking forward to this movie. The story is inspired by Shakespeare's Hamlet and does an excellent job of translating the classic to an historic setting at the end of the Tang dynasty. I especially enjoyed the reinterpretation of Hamlet's mother as Prince Wu Luan's former lover (there was always something uncomfortably incestuous in Shakespeare's original). The acting is superb with kudos to both Ziyi Zhang and You Ge for creating a pair of very complex characters as Empress and Emperor. Some of the dialog is poetic in spite of not being Shakespearean. The sets were sumptuous. And Qing Nu's song at the end was beautiful!

So where did it go wrong? Except for Qing's song, the rest of the music was annoyingly obtrusive. Most of the action scenes were stylized and shot in slow motion. And many times the annoying music was playing during the slow motion action sequences, which effectively doubled the annoyance. Only the Prince's "audition" was a meaningful, well constructed action sequence. Finally, it could have been edited better with the movie reduced by about 15 minutes. There were several scenes that just didn't make sense. For example, there is a beautiful shot of Empress Wan entering the water naked, but it has no relation to what came before or after (ok, maybe that scene doesn't need context, but it just seemed out of place).

Overall, a decent movie with flashes of brilliance but having one too many flaws to rank any higher.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Ye yan (2006)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
ending.. *spoilers!!!* beware!! leonlow
The Language RhadeL
Deserves much more than 6.4 holo69
The Banquet is being re-released redrizkev-1
Poll: Would you grab an attacker's knife to save your loved one? Reiyou
soundtrack kpak_alex_wang
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