Revolving around a family of bankers, Christina Yao's earnest historical drama Empire of Silver may not immediately invite sympathy for its protagonists. It is, however, a beautifully-shot feature debut, an ambitious production with a story that examines the mechanics of banking a century ago, as well as the consequences of unrequited love. Directed and co-written by Yao, an established playwright and stage director in Taiwan and the U.S., Empire of Silver begins by introducing Lord Kang (Tielin Zhang), the family head, who runs a bank with multiple branches and is a leading voice in a guild of bankers known as "the Wall Street of China." His four sons, identified solely by their birth order, run the gamut: First (Shi Da Sheng) is a charitable-minded,...
- 11/18/2011
- Screen Anarchy
For her first feature, filmmaker Christina Yao went big, epic, and ambitious - and that just covers the many roles she played in bringing Empire Of Silver to the screen. Serving as writer, director, art director, and producer on the film, Yao crafted a film that is both epic and intimate, a tale about both a family and an industry, all mixed in with gorgeous imagery, stunning attention to detail, and a wrenching love story. Empire Of Silver blends all of these elements into one original and outstanding epic about the family at the center of a Chinese banking empire in the last part of the nineteenth century. It would be an undertaking for any filmmaker, but for a first-timer, it's just stunning.
Read more on Interview: Empire Of Silver writer and director Christina Yao...
Read more on Interview: Empire Of Silver writer and director Christina Yao...
- 6/9/2011
- by Kate Erbland
- GordonandtheWhale
"With his Bud Cort haircut and morbid sensibility, Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) is too smart for Swansea, Wales, an industrial city mired in some seriously mid-80s Thatcherite doldrums," begins Vadim Rizov at GreenCine Daily. "The trouble with Oliver is that he knows he's clever, which could justify anything: surreptitiously monitoring his parents' sex life, taunting an overweight girl to make local cutie Jordana (Yasmin Paige) notice him as a real livewire, or trying to trash the house of downhill neighbor Graham Purvis (Paddy Considine) who may be having an affair with mom (Sally Hawkins). Fortunately, Submarine, Richard Ayoade's feature debut, is aware of Oliver's self-justifying nature and the ways it could warp him…. Acutely aware of the long tradition of films about disaffected young men coming to terms with themselves, Ayoade doesn't duck the precedent: instead, like Oliver…, he nods to seemingly every single precursor. There's a 400 Blows-quoting dash across the beach,...
- 6/3/2011
- MUBI
Title: Empire of Silver Writer-director: Christina Yao Starring: Aaron Kwok, Tielin Zhang, Jennifer Tilly, Hao Lei There’s a special type of moviegoing misery to be found in self-important period pieces, and that’s just the sort of screaming boredom that Empire of Silver, the nearly impenetrable, emotionally arrested feature film debut of essayist and playwright Christina Yao, delivers. A drama focused on a powerful banking family in the late imperial/early Republican era of China, the movie rather gorgeously establishes its setting, but never locates a single compelling character or imparts any sense or sort of reality of what its subjects’ lives must truly have been like. Adapted from a thick, three-volume romance, Cheng Yi’s...
- 6/2/2011
- by bsimon
- ShockYa
Reviewed by Lydia Ianni
(May 2011)
Directed by: Christina Yao
Written by: Christina Yao and Cheng Yi
Starring: Aaron Kwok, Tielin Zhang and Hao Lei
Director Christina Yao’s debut feature “Empire of Silver,” based on the book by Cheng Yi, is set during China’s Boxer Rebellion. However, the uprising, in which Chinese nationalists fought against Western “spheres of influence” in China, is more of a backdrop for a story that hinges on family drama and romance.
The film’s narrative turns on the moral dilemma of the third-born son (Aaron Kwok) of a wealthy banking family in turn-of-the-century China. A series of mishaps finds him entrusted with the continued survival of the family line and wealth. However, he is torn between his duty to his family and his love of his father’s new wife (Hao Lei), a woman who had been previously engaged to him. Father and son have a tense relationship,...
(May 2011)
Directed by: Christina Yao
Written by: Christina Yao and Cheng Yi
Starring: Aaron Kwok, Tielin Zhang and Hao Lei
Director Christina Yao’s debut feature “Empire of Silver,” based on the book by Cheng Yi, is set during China’s Boxer Rebellion. However, the uprising, in which Chinese nationalists fought against Western “spheres of influence” in China, is more of a backdrop for a story that hinges on family drama and romance.
The film’s narrative turns on the moral dilemma of the third-born son (Aaron Kwok) of a wealthy banking family in turn-of-the-century China. A series of mishaps finds him entrusted with the continued survival of the family line and wealth. However, he is torn between his duty to his family and his love of his father’s new wife (Hao Lei), a woman who had been previously engaged to him. Father and son have a tense relationship,...
- 5/31/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Reviewed by Lydia Ianni
(May 2011)
Directed by: Christina Yao
Written by: Christina Yao and Cheng Yi
Starring: Aaron Kwok, Tielin Zhang and Hao Lei
Director Christina Yao’s debut feature “Empire of Silver,” based on the book by Cheng Yi, is set during China’s Boxer Rebellion. However, the uprising, in which Chinese nationalists fought against Western “spheres of influence” in China, is more of a backdrop for a story that hinges on family drama and romance.
The film’s narrative turns on the moral dilemma of the third-born son (Aaron Kwok) of a wealthy banking family in turn-of-the-century China. A series of mishaps finds him entrusted with the continued survival of the family line and wealth. However, he is torn between his duty to his family and his love of his father’s new wife (Hao Lei), a woman who had been previously engaged to him. Father and son have a tense relationship,...
(May 2011)
Directed by: Christina Yao
Written by: Christina Yao and Cheng Yi
Starring: Aaron Kwok, Tielin Zhang and Hao Lei
Director Christina Yao’s debut feature “Empire of Silver,” based on the book by Cheng Yi, is set during China’s Boxer Rebellion. However, the uprising, in which Chinese nationalists fought against Western “spheres of influence” in China, is more of a backdrop for a story that hinges on family drama and romance.
The film’s narrative turns on the moral dilemma of the third-born son (Aaron Kwok) of a wealthy banking family in turn-of-the-century China. A series of mishaps finds him entrusted with the continued survival of the family line and wealth. However, he is torn between his duty to his family and his love of his father’s new wife (Hao Lei), a woman who had been previously engaged to him. Father and son have a tense relationship,...
- 5/31/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
[Thanks to our friend Josh Hurtado for providing an advance look at the schedule.]
It is July. For me this means gearing up for my annual marathon movie event, the Asian Film Festival of Dallas. The organizers have been tossing hints at titles out via facebook and Twitter, but yesterday they finally let the cats out of the bag.
This year Affd is screening 30+ features as well as their usual shorts programs. I'm pretty sure this may be their biggest festival ever in terms of variety. The schedule looks great, with some really awesome titles and some surprises (which are almost always my favorite part!). Affd has a newly redesigned website that makes it easy to explore the titles, watch trailers, make your own schedule, and learn about the events. Facebook friends and Twitter followers are always the first to know about cool events and news, so be sure to check them out there as well as the official site for all the latest!
It is July. For me this means gearing up for my annual marathon movie event, the Asian Film Festival of Dallas. The organizers have been tossing hints at titles out via facebook and Twitter, but yesterday they finally let the cats out of the bag.
This year Affd is screening 30+ features as well as their usual shorts programs. I'm pretty sure this may be their biggest festival ever in terms of variety. The schedule looks great, with some really awesome titles and some surprises (which are almost always my favorite part!). Affd has a newly redesigned website that makes it easy to explore the titles, watch trailers, make your own schedule, and learn about the events. Facebook friends and Twitter followers are always the first to know about cool events and news, so be sure to check them out there as well as the official site for all the latest!
- 7/8/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Continuing its leadership in the advancement of 3D entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios today announced plans to start releasing Disney Digital 3D content for the home on Blu-ray Disc beginning in 2010 with Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” and a special 3D Showcase Disc. Disney’s new Digital 3D content for the home on Blu-ray(Tm) will be made available in coordination with hardware manufacturers’ upcoming release of new 3D home entertainment systems so that consumers can experience the magic of Disney 3D in their home upon installation
“The Walt Disney Studios has produced and released more 3D content than any other major studio to date and remains at the forefront in the continued innovation and development of today’s most advanced digital 3D and Blu-ray technology,”
commented Bob Chapek, President of Distribution for The Walt Disney Studios.
“We are excited to offer consumers an incredible line-up of true three-dimensional films...
“The Walt Disney Studios has produced and released more 3D content than any other major studio to date and remains at the forefront in the continued innovation and development of today’s most advanced digital 3D and Blu-ray technology,”
commented Bob Chapek, President of Distribution for The Walt Disney Studios.
“We are excited to offer consumers an incredible line-up of true three-dimensional films...
- 1/8/2010
- by Allan Ford
- Filmofilia
Today, the first day of the European Film Market and the Berlin Film Festival itself has buzz around The International, the opening night film by favorite son Tom Tykwer. Festival head Dieter Kosslick says the fictional portrait of the financial world it portrays is mild compared to what's going on today. At the opening press conference yesterday for EFM, Kosslick also mentioned the Wall Street type scandal of China in 1899 depicted in Taiwan's Empire of Silver (Bai Yin Di Guo) by Christina Yao is a mirror of today's events. Kosslick, a vegetarian also touts Food, Inc. as a "must-see" of the festival. The halls of the Martin Gropius Bau are sparsely populated but compared to IFTA's venue, the Maritim Hotel, quite a schlep from the rest of the market, MGB is positively humming. This is in line with the turn down this year from Cannes, AFM and Toronto, and it's reported that attendance at NATPE was also very thin. Tom Ortenberg, recently of LionsGate, is here with his new company, The Weinstein Company and Chris Paton, formerly vice chairman of DDA PR, is now senior VP acquisitions and development with Fortissimo. Newly launched IMDb.de has a new way to highlight the Berlinale as does IMDb.com itself with a special mini site for the Berlinale featuring a new blog by Christian Gaines of Withoutabox. Sundance's opening night film Max and Mary has been picked up by Gaumont for France, Benelux and Switzerland and will show in the Generation 14plus sidebar. Wild Bunch has announced a new sales arm for 3D films called, what else, Wild Bunch 3D. Reliance Big Pictures who has a major stake in Dreamworks is in Berlin with a new international sales division headed by Jawahar Sharma with backup from former Miramax senior VP Colleen Seldin as a consultant. The slate is of Indian films which were previously self distributed in U.S., U.K. and the U.A.E. The four largest Egyptian production companies are uniting under one banner for international sales with backing of the Egyptian ministry of trade and industry (Expolink). Headed by Bassma Kandil, they are also looking for international coproductions.
- 2/5/2009
- Sydney's Buzz
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