The main difference between the two versions is that the latter cuts out the dramas of Pan Changjiang and Zhao Benshan for about a quarter of an hour; it becomes a flat structure and adds five subtitle strings "Qin Wang/Assassin/Children/Zhao Dafu/Qin Wang and Assassin" Lian; There are discrepancies in the details of the selection and handling of "killing swordsmen", "buying children alive", and "easy water separation". In addition, the "other" versions (according to my inference) can also be classified into the above two versions according to the structure of the film: for example, the premiere version of the Great Hall of the People, and the DVD version of each district with slightly different film lengths. Belongs to the former; Cannes Film Festival premiere and international releases belong to the latter.
The reason why I have to explain the version situation in such detail, and even give up the expected writing due to version problems, is because the two versions are so different that they can be regarded as two different works to be evaluated separately. In fact, this is based on the film. The difference in names can be seen. Someone might say that "The Assassination of the First Emperor" is just a customary expression in Japanese, but in fact, in the 169-minute DVD version that I have seen in Japan, the title "Jing Ke Assassin" did not appear in the full Chinese traditional subtitles. "This film title directly used "The First Emperor Assassinated."
In fact, the biggest protagonist in this version of "Beginning" is Ying Zheng (not Jing Ke). Although he is still ranked third in the cast list, his role is not the most, and he has not overwhelmed the first two in acting. . But the whole show focuses on him, and all the development of the plot is for him. Even I think that "Assassination of Qin" is no longer necessary. At the beginning, the director said that he was not satisfied with the version that was cut out of the literary script by the Japanese investors, so there was the later "modification that was not against the intention" version. But in a recent speech he gave when he went all the way to Greece to claim the Lifetime Achievement Award, he said that because the Japanese had their own views on this film, they edited a different film specifically for Japan. Version in other countries. Although there are discrepancies in the formulation of the facts, there is no logical contradiction: First, the Japanese version is a big hit at the box office in Japan; Second, the premiere version of the Great Hall (theoretically the original Japanese version) has been criticized in China. Of course, what happened later was that the Chinese still didn't buy the Chinese version, so some people expressed praise for the Japanese DVD version (theoretically, the premiere version of the Great Hall). However, in my opinion, "Beginning" is indeed not a good work.
Originally, I wanted to write something about the difference between the titles of the two versions. I remember that when Professor Dai Jinhua talked about the "Assassination of Qin Action" in the "Hundred Schools Forum", he specifically wrote about "Song of Qin" and its original title "Blood Building". From "Song of Qin" to "Assassin of Qin" to "Hero", what sociological and cultural implications are behind this series of assassinations of the same head of state, she provides us with a good entry point. In fact, it has a deeper political meaning, but she can't express it directly on such occasions. And she explained it in a lecture in Taiwan: the fifth-generation director’s "Assassin Complex" was reproduced as an allegory of the "father-son order", and the shadow of the Cultural Revolution memory. The process of rewriting the story of Assassin Qin, quietly changing from identifying with the position of the assassin to the king of Qin is the inevitable winner and the narrative of the legalization of unified unification.
I can only keep the evaluation of the film itself in the future. I just want to say something about it: the director does not have the ability to control the big scene. The majestic ladder siege looks like the demolition operation of the city management team, and in some close-up shots on the tower, the extras wield weapons as if they are driving flies... The opening scene uses the compelling tension of the war scene shown by the camera. That's it, bit by bit, and the whole drama is slightly procrastinated and complicated in plot due to the lack of internal tension. The only thing that is commendable is the "rebellion" (the word is inaccurate) in the scene, which is expressed through the switching of various lenses and the comparison of sound effects, which may be written into textbooks in the future. Later, I tried to think about it again, and found that in fact, there is no director who can manage such a grand scene in the whole of China. Those so-called "Lord of the Rings" or "Star Wars" words in China are really just myths.
"Song of Qin" was watched in junior high school, and I have been impressed by many of the plots so far. It should be attributed to it telling a wonderful story. As for its deeper meaning, I didn't care about it at that time. I already went to college when I watched "Hero". For such a story that could have been more detached from history than "Song of Qin", the director put it on Qin Shihuang to speak of "peace", why not go What about making up a king instead of overturning the case for Qin Shihuang? Fortunately, "Assassin of the Qin" tells us a certain truth. The so-called "peace" of Qin Shihuang is nothing more than "dirty means to realize beautiful dreams." Under tyranny and tyranny, how can there be real peace?
A few years later, Chen Kaige left a sentence to Zhang Yimou, an old classmate and colleague: "I don't think it is right to sacrifice individual lives to achieve a collective achievement." I want to thank him for his sincerity. Perhaps, "tell the audience the facts" is the greatest significance of "Assassin".
[Attachment] N versions of "Assassin":
September 1998, Japan premiere version
October 8,
1998 , national premiere version November 1998, Japan release version
May 17, 1999, Cannes premiere version
August 6, 1999, the national release version
later, the film is slightly different districts have been released on DVD
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