Yesterday I watched "The Banquet" with Jiansheng.
Well... about 10 minutes into the show, I already knew what made the show an NC-16. The fighting and killing scenes are very graphical; you just see blood lah.
Overall there was quite a lot of build-up to the climax of the show, which is the banquet itself, where various plots will unfold.
Basically the show tells you one thing -- what goes around, comes around.
The Emperor in the show (played by Ge You) was actually the brother of the previous Emperor whom he killed in order to grab his power. There was one official who was still loyal to the previous Emperor, so the new Emperor got him executed in this very elaborate way of beating someone to death.
Read: About 10 sticks on a criminal, and not only hitting him on the ground. The criminal will be tossed about and will only be given the fatal blow after having his limbs and back broken. The official was beaten to death in such a way. I was very sympathetic for him until it was said that...
The official was the one who invented this type of punishment when he was serving the prevous Emperor.
Moral of the story: Quit while you're ahead.
The Queen Wan (played by Zhang Ziyi) was the wife of the previous Emperor, but whom the current Emperor wanted to marry as well. Originally she found the very idea of it repulsive, but she had to accede to the new Emperor's request for the safety of prince Wu Luan (played by Daniel Wu) who was supposed to be the rightful heir to the throne (you know... the father and son thing).
Qing (played by Zhou Xun) was the daughter of a high-ranking official and she's in love with Wu Luan.
OK I shall not talk too much (if I'm not revealing too much spoilers already) for the sake of those who don't want to be spoiled. But you'll probably know the ending of the show, so just allow me to carry on about the ending, which occured in such a way that the Emperor had to say, "perhaps it was because my plots and strategies couldn't compare with a pure heart". Go figure.
And then, Wan, for some reason, became Empress and while musing about all this fighting and killing resulting from human greed, and how she was the only one to rise above all the, erm, battle for power...
WHO KILLED HER?
