The Banquet (2006 film)

Infobox Film
name = The Banquet


caption =
director = Feng Xiaogang
producer = John Chong
Wang Zhongjun
writer = Qiu Gangjian
Sheng Heyu
starring = Zhang Ziyi
Ge You
Daniel Wu
Zhou Xun
music = Tan Dun
cinematography = Zhang Li
editing = Liu Miaomiao
distributor = Huayi Brothers
Media Asia Films
released = Sept. 14, 2006 (Hong Kong)
Sept. 15, 2006 (PRC)
runtime = 131 min.
country = China
language = Mandarin
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:357707
imdb_id = 0465676

"The Banquet" (released on DVD in the U.S. as "Legend of the Black Scorpion") is a 2006 Chinese wuxia-drama film. Its original Chinese title is "Yè Yàn" (夜宴), which means "Night Banquet". The film was directed by Feng Xiaogang and stars Zhang Ziyi. It is a loose adaption of William Shakespeare's tragedy "Hamlet", and features themes of revenge and fate. It is set in the Tang Dynasty, in 10th-century China.

Plot

A narrator explains that Crown Prince Wu Luan (based on Shakespeare's Hamlet) was in love with the noblewoman "Little Wan" (based on Shakespeare's Gertrude but changed from being Hamlet's mother to his lover). However, his father, the Emperor, decided to marry "Little Wan" and made her Empress Wan. Wu Luan, deeply hurt by this, fled to the South and retreated into music and dance. The Emperor was then murdered by his brother (Shakespeare's Claudius), who became Emperor Li and upon ascending the throne took Empress Wan, whom he had previously molested, as his wife and had her recrowned as Empress.

The film begins as the usurping Emperor sends riders to assassinate Crown Prince Wu Luan, who would succeed the throne before any of his uncle's progeny. The crown prince, away at a retreat for masked mime actors, survives the massacre at the monastery and is eventually spirited back to the palace.

To keep him alive, Empress Wan has made a compromise with his uncle, which angers Prince Wu Luan. His relationship with his stepmother is unusual because they grew up together in the court, are about the same age and she has romantic feelings for him.

However, the prince is engaged to marry Qing Nu (Shakespeare's Ophelia), the daughter of a palace official, the Grand Marshal (based on Shakespeare's Polonius). A close ally of the former emperor, the Grand Marshall's power is weakened when his son (Shakespeare's Laertes), who is very protective of his sister, Qing Nu, is sent to a distant province to become governor.

Meanwhile, the Empress Wan is to have a new coronation ceremony. As a special treat, Prince Wu Luan, an accomplished singer and dancer, stages a masked mime play that exposes his uncle as his father's murderer.

Rather than kill the prince and risk alienating Empress Wan, the emperor decides the prince would be traded as a hostage for the prince of a neighboring kingdom, the Khitans, although it is known that the neighbor prince is an imposter. An ambush by the emperor's men is set up in a far away, snowy land, but the Grand Marshal's son saves the prince.

Believing that power is firmly in his grip, the emperor calls for a grand banquet. Qing Nu, the Grand Marshal's daughter, has planned another play for the occasion, and in tribute to her fiance, she wears his theater mask. Empress Wan has her own plans – to poison the emperor. However, the scheme to poison the emperor fails as the cup he was to drink out of is instead given to Qing Nu out of respect and partly of pity for her. Upon the young woman's death, the emperor realises in horror that the empress Wan had plotted his death. It is then revealed that Crown Prince Wu Luan was in fact a member of the masked performing troupe. The emperor then commits suicide by drinking the rest of the poisoned wine intended for him. As Empress Wan asks Wu Luan to kill her, the Grand Marshal's son attempts to kill the Empress to avenge his sister, but his poisoned blade is stopped by Prince Wu Luan and Empress Wan stabs the Grand Marshal's son. However, Prince Wu Luan fatally poisons himself in the process of stopping the Grand Marshal's son.

In the end sequence, Empress Wan grasps bright red cloth ands speaks of the "flames of desire" that she has satiated by taking the throne. She is suddenly pierced by a blade from an unknown source. As she is dying, she turns around and looks at her killer with a horrified expression. The blade is then dropped into a mossy koi bed, and the blood soaks the water. The film abruptly finishes, with the audience unsure who was the mysterious assailant. Asian film critic, Bey Logan, makes a claim that the film makers initially planned for the maid, Ling, to be the mysterious assailant, and the current version of the film still shows more shots of Ling than would be normally expected of such a minor non-speaking character.

Cast

* Zhang Ziyi as Empress Wan (adapted from Gertrude)
* Ge You as Emperor Li (Claudius)
* Daniel Wu as Prince Wu Luan (Hamlet)
* Zhou Xun as Qing Nu (Ophelia)
* Ma Jingwu as Grand Marshal (Polonius)
* Huang Xiaoming as the Grand Marshal's son (Laertes)

Festivals and awards

"The Banquet" had its international premiere at the Venice Film Festival, [ [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/05/content_5050440.htm "Venice critics want a more Chinese 'Banquet'"] , Xinhua, September 5, 2006.] where it received the Future Film Festival Digital Award. [ [http://www.altfg.com/awards/2006/venice.htm 63rd Venice Film Festival - 2006 Awards] , Alternative Film Guide (retrieved 10-23-2006).] Parts of the film had been previewed by film buyers during the 2006 Cannes Film Festival in May, where a promotional event for the film was hosted.

The film was screened at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival on the same day it opened to wide release in China. It received the People's Choice Award at the 4th World Film Festival of Bangkok, where it was screened two weeks before its wide release in Thailand.

"The Banquet" was chosen as Hong Kong's entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, while China's entry was Zhang Yimou's "Curse of the Golden Flower". [ [http://english.china.com/zh_cn/education/news/11020786/20061003/13663474.html "'Curse,' 'The Banquet' picked as Oscar entries"] , Associated Press via Chinadotcom, October 3, 2006.]

The Banquet won 2 awards and 5 nominations at the 43rd Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan. Art Director Tim Yip won for both Best Art Direction and Best Make up and Costume Design. The Banquet won 3 other nominations, including Best Cinematography (Li Zhang), Best Original Score (Dun Tan), and Best Song (Liangying Zhang). Co-star Xun Zhou, who plays Qing Nu, (Best Actress) and Stunt Choreographer Yuen-woo Ping (Best Stunt Choreography) won awards that evening, but for other films.

References

External links

* [http://www.helloziyi.us/Movies/night-banquet.htm HelloZiyi.us: "The Banquet"]
*imdb title|id=0465676|title=The Banquet
*rotten-tomatoes|id=10007081-the_banquet|title=The Banquet
* [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809423412/info "The Banquet"] at Yahoo! Movies