The First Emperor

Colour, DIGIBETA
USA, 2007, 190 min
Section: 2008: A Musical Odyssey

Synopsis

New York’s Metropolitan Opera is currently promoting its HD (High Definition) series of live broadcasts to select movie theatres. Audiences get a chance to see lavish productions close up featuring top opera singers, with a look behind the scenes and interviews with those involved: a form of media is thus created combining opera, cinema and up-to-date interactive programmes. The grand spectacle The First Emperor is an exceptional event, even in this context, fusing Chinese and Western culture on various levels – visual expression, vocal techniques, instruments and narrative modes. The production starring Plácido Domingo is directed by filmmaker Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern, Hero, The House of Flying Daggers). The music was written by composer Tan Dun, who also conducts the production; he won an Oscar (for his score for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and is now the world’s best known contemporary Chinese composer. The spectacular opera with its impressive cast is evocative in its epic, musical and artistic conception, moreover, thanks to the martial arts sequences organically incorporated into the production.

About the director

Zhang Yimou (b. 1950, Xi’an, Shaanxi province, China) has been regarded as a key figure in the Chinese film industry since his second film Raise the Red Lantern (1991), which was nominated for an Oscar. He has twice won a Gold Lion at the Venice IFF for his films The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) and Not One Less (1998). His more recent historical adventure films include Hero (2002) and The House of Flying Daggers (2004). Zhang has also directed several operas, the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens, and he has been selected as director of the opening ceremony of the summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008.