Empress Wu

Jun 14, 1963

1h 52m

★ 5.9

Overview

The renowned Li Li Hua plays Wu Ze Tian, the most famous woman in China's four thousand year history.

Genres

Drama

History

Production Companies

Shaw Brothers

Empress Wu Trailers

Cast

Empress Wu Tse-Tien/ Nun Ming Kong

Li Li-Hua

Emperor Tang Kao Tsung

Zhao Lei

Empress Wang /Wong Wong Hau

Diana Chang Chung-Wen

Minister Chui Yau Gung

Yan Jun

Shang Kuan Wan Erh

Ding Ling

Crown Prince Hsuan

Lok Kei

Prince Hsien/Prince Li Xian

Kiu Chong

Prince Chieh/Prince Ying

John Law Ma

Minister Pei Yan

Lo Wei

Poet Luo Bin Wang

Hung Po

Lady Shang Kuan

Kao Pao-Shu

Lady He Lan

Chan Wan-Wa

9th century China. Ten year old general’s daughter Nie Yinniang is abducted by a nun who initiates her into the martial arts, transforming her into an exceptional assassin charged with eliminating cruel and corrupt local governors. One day, having failed in a task, she is sent back by her mistress to the land of her birth, with orders to kill the man to whom she was promised – a cousin who now leads the largest military region in North China. After 13 years of exile, the young woman must confront her parents, her memories and her long-repressed feelings.

6.0

An Empress and the Warriors

Feb 9, 2008

After the death of her father, a woman is forced to take over as empress and fight to save her kingdom.

6.8

Curse of the Golden Flower

Dec 14, 2006

During China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as his wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself.

7.1

Sissi: The Young Empress

Dec 1, 1956

Sissi is now the empress of Austria and attempts to learn etiquette. While she is busy being empress she also has to deal with her difficult new mother-in-law, while the arch-duchess Sophie is trying to tell the emperor how to rule and also Sissi how to be a mother.

7.1

Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress

Dec 18, 1957

After a wonderful time in Hungary Sissi falls extremely ill and must retreat to a Mediterranean climate to rest. The young empress’ mother takes her from Austria to recover in Madeira.

7.3

Sissi

Dec 22, 1955

The young Bavarian princess Elisabeth, who all call Sissi, goes with her mother and older sister Néné to Austria where Néné will be wed to an emperor named Franz Joseph, Yet unexpectedly Franz runs into Sissi while out fishing and they fall in love.

6.3

The First Emperor

Feb 16, 2006

Docu-drama profiling Ying Sheng, the first Emperor of China. Charting the life of the man who unified China, this documentary begins with the future Emperor's rise to power after the death of his father, becoming King of Qin at the age of thirteen. Mostly told through the use of re-enactments, the story continues to the present day and the discovery of the Emperor's tomb and terracotta army in 1974.

7.1

Red Cliff

Jul 10, 2008

In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance.

3.0

Sisi/Last Minute

Sep 19, 1991

The immature young ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Joseph, was extremely shy around women but (according to this film) was constantly being propositioned, lewdly or otherwise, by ambitious courtesans. When he was finally married to his Empress, the teen-aged Bavarian princess Sisi (Elizabeth), it seems that his relief knew no bounds, for he was now sure that he would never have to think about sex ever again. According to the filmmakers, this is the true history of that marriage. This story is a complete reversal of the romantic legend depicted in the popular 1955 film Sissi, which helped brighten the emerging stardom of Romy Schneider.

6.2

China, My Sorrow

May 24, 1989

In August 1966, the Cultural Revolution in full swing, 13-year-old Tian Ben is arrested for playing a pop record; he's sent to a remote mountain camp in Niu-Peng. There he's called "Four Eyes" and, with about 16 other older boys and men, he's made to carry muck up a mountainside, make bricks, saw logs, and sing daily to Chairman Mao of his faults. There's camaraderie among the five youths, especially with a young pickpocket named Baimao, and Tian is also drawn to a silent monk who cares for him when he falls ill and the others expect him to die. The camp is remote, so there are no fences or walls. Tian longs to escape.

7.8

Death of Yazdgerd

Apr 1, 1982

Bahram Beyzai's poetic imagining of the circumstances that led to the death of Yazdgerd III, the last of the Sassanid kings of Iran. His death in 651, during the Arab invasions that brought Islam to this Zoroastrian realm, was mysterious: his corpse was discovered in a mill, but the cause of his death—and the whereabouts of his remains—are unknown.

8.7

The Tank Man

Apr 11, 2006

On June 5, 1989, one day after Chinese troops expelled thousands of demonstrators from Tiananmen Square in Beijing, a solitary, unarmed protester stood his ground before a column of tanks advancing down the Avenue of Eternal Peace. Captured by Western photographers watching nearby, this extraordinary confrontation became an icon of the fight for freedom around the world. FRONTLINE investigates the mystery of the tank man — his identity, his fate, and his significance for the Chinese leadership.

6.9

The Scarlet Empress

May 9, 1934

During the 18th century, German noblewoman Sophia Frederica, who would later become Catherine the Great, travels to Moscow to marry the dimwitted Grand Duke Peter, the heir to the Russian throne. Their arranged marriage proves to be loveless, and Catherine takes many lovers, including the handsome Count Alexei, and bears a son. When the unstable Peter eventually ascends to the throne, Catherine plots to oust him from power.

6.3

The Good Earth

Jun 2, 1937

China, during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The arranged marriage between Wang Lung, a humble farmer, and O-Lan, a domestic slave, will endure the many hardships of life over the years; but the temptations of a fragile prosperity will endanger their love and the survival of their entire family.

5.8

The Robbers

Nov 20, 2009

Set during the Tang Dynasty, The Robbers tells the story of two robbers' adventures in a seemingly peaceful Bitter Bamboo Village, where they encounter a beautiful woman, a group of soldiers and a village head scheming to kill the duo.

6.1

The Sign of the Cross

Dec 25, 1932

A Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.

6.5

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame

Sep 18, 2010

When the future empress Wu Zetian's two courtiers die in a mysterious fire, she gets Di Renjie, a former detective and rebel, released from prison to solve the mystery of the fire.

0.0

Garden of Repose

Aug 13, 1964

Yang Mengchi is a spoiled, rich do-nothing whose habit of smoking opium has cost him his entire fortune and the family mansion, the Garden of Repose, now due to be sold to Yao Guodong. Fearing that Yao's spoiled and unruly son Siaofu will follow in Yang's footsteps, Yao's stepwife Wan Zhaohua tries to instil discipline in the child but her efforts are undermined by the child's indulging and protective father and grandmother. Unable to reform himself despite his own son's chastisement, Yang leaves home to lead a reclusive life in a destitute temple, only helped out by his filial daughter Han'er. The poverty-stricken Yang is drafted into the army and tragedy ensues.