Empire of Silver - 白銀帝國

Empire of Silver (白銀帝國) is a 2009 film out of China. The movie stars Aaron Kwok, Zhang Tielin, and Hao Lei.

The movie is based on the Shanxi bankers roughly 100-110 years ago in China. Nicknamed the "Wall Street of China". The Kang family are influential bankers headquartered in Shanxi. They have branches all over the eastern part of China. Beijin, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Fujian are mentioned branches. The Kang family is run by the elder Kang, played by Zhang Tielin. Elder Kang has 4 sons. The first is deaf and mute. The second is brash and hot headed. The third drowns himself in alcohol. The fourth goes crazy when his wife is abducted, raped, and commits suicide.

The third son (老三) is played by Aaron Kwok. 老三 is secretly in love with his step mother. The back story to their secret love and how she became 老三's step mother is throughly explored.

The story also covers the turbulent times of China from 1899-1910. In this case, it was the banking industry of China. Where silver taels have been the common currency of China. And than a switch to paper. And than the fall of the Qin dynasty.



The movie was visually very impressive. From the desert to the mountains, to the Shanghai, to the compounds of Shanxi, I was awestruck. Movies like this enhance the beauty of China in my mind.

It was also a very slow moving film. The film present 3 very heavy subject matters. The first is coming to grips with traditions handed down to you. The second is the freedom to search for love. The third is ethics in business. In all three areas, 老三 was the focus in relation to the others around him.

Aaron gives a strong performance. Hao Lei is a beauty to behold. This film is worth a watch if you want to think and see a slice of history.

Summer Palace - 頤和園

Summer Palace (頤和園) was an interesting film. I had seen banners of it around many Asian American blogs and sites during Q2 of 2008. I got Summer Palace via Netflix around that time too (April 2008). It also made a brief run in theaters in the states a year ago (Jan/Feb 2008). The movie is banned in China but has been released around the world since it hit the film festival circuit in 2006.  It gets a lot of publicity due to the Tienanmen/Tiananmen Square incident (六四事件/六四天安门事件) and the hightened focus on sexuality being explored to find oneself.

The movie follows a northern country gal Yu Hong as she sets off for life in college and beyond. The story unfolds into a coming of age for Yu Hong as she transverses college life, young adulthood and finally settling down. During college, Yu Hong falls for a popular student, Zhou Wei and that bond is explored through out Yu Hong's "coming of age" storyline. With minor story development of Zhou's life away from Yu Hong. In the end both have to make decisions about where they want to head in life.

Yu Hong is played by the beautiful Hao Lei (郝蕾). I first noticed 郝蕾 (Hao Lei) in a martial arts drama in 2007 called Men & Legends (精武飛鴻) as Peter Ho's (何潤東) lady interest. However, that was 1920s China and this was 80s/90s China. Hao Lei is someone to watch out for. I don't see any movie news for her, but she's in a few china dramas the last couple of years. It's unfortunate, but women actresses in their 30s don't always last very long. I hope Hao Lei makes it a nice career before calling it quits. Its almost impossible in your 40s.

Be aware that the sexuality is explored to the fullest with both Yu Hong and Zhou Wei. Don't watch this with your little ones around.

I highly recommend this film because it's a slice of history that is in the past, but still less than 20 years removed from the present. Feels old but new at the same time. Like watching Wedding Singer ;-)