Opening 27 Apr 2006
Directed by:
Kaige Chen
Writing credits:
Kaige Chen
Principal actors:
Dong-Kun Jang, Hiroyuki Sanada, Cecilia Cheung, Nicholas Tse, Ye Liu
In The Promise (Wuji) Chinese director Chen Kaige, best known for his internationally successful Farewell, My Concubine, tells a fairy tale of vehement passions: love, revenge, greed, ambition, loyalty. The tale opens with a ragged little girl scavenging for food among bodies littering a battlefield. A noble young lad catches her and offers her the food if she will be his slave. She accepts the offer, but then breaking her promise attacks him, fleeing with the food. She encounters a Sorceress who makes her another offer: She can be a Princess desired the world over, but if she accepts, she will never experience true love or genuine happiness. She accepts. Twenty years later, she is a Princess and mistress of the King. The King offers her to his enemy, the Duke of the North. When the Princess is threatened, she is saved by a Slave dressed as the General. The Slave kills the King to save her, but everyone believes the General is responsible for the murder. The Princess and the Slave flee but are cornered by the Duke who makes them an offer. Is this destiny or are uncontrollable passions ruling their lives? Promise not to miss the romance, martial arts, stunning cinematography and plot twists worthy of Shakespeare. (Mary Nyiri)
