''The Opium War'' (鸦片战争) is a 1997 Chinese historical epic film directed by

Xie Jin Xie Jin (; 21 November 1923 – 18 October 2008) was a Chinese film director. He rose to prominence in 1957, directing the film ''Woman Basketball Player No. 5'', and is considered one of the Third Generation directors of China. Most recently he ...

. The winner of the 1997 Golden Rooster and 1998

Hundred Flowers Awards The Hundred Flowers Awards () are, together with the Golden Rooster Awards, the most prestigious film awards honouring the best in Chinese cinema, as well as Hong Kong cinema and the Cinema of Taiwan, they are classified as the Chinese equiv ...

for Best Picture, the film was screened in several international film festivals, notably

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. The film tells the story of the First Opium War of 1839–1842, which was fought between the Qing Empire of China and the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

, from the perspectives of key figures such as the Chinese viceroy

Lin Zexu Lin Zexu (30 August 1785 – 22 November 1850), courtesy name Yuanfu, was a Chinese political philosopher and politician. He was the head of states (Viceroy), Governor General, scholar-official, and under the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing dynas ...

and the British naval diplomat

Charles Elliot Admiral Sir Charles Elliot (15 August 1801 – 9 September 1875) was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat, and colonial administrator. He became the first Administrator of Hong Kong in 1841 while serving as both Plenipotentiary and Chief Su ...

. Unlike many of its contemporaries, ''The Opium War'' was strongly supported by the state apparatus. Despite its clear political message, many Western commentators found the treatment of the historical events to be generally even-handed. At the time of its release, ''The Opium War'', with a budget of $15 million (USD), was the most expensive film produced in China. It was released to coincide with the

Hong Kong handover ceremony The handover ceremony of Hong Kong in 1997 officially marked the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the People's Republic of China. It was an internationally televised event w ...

in July 1997.

Plot

The story of Qing Dynasty official

and his battle against

British imperialism The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

is set at the start of 1838 during the first hints of the conflict that would become the

Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...

which led to the ceding of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

to the British Empire. Lin Zexu is dispatched to

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

to put an end to the British trader's mass selling of opium to the population, a move that leads him to blockade the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

. The British trade rep Eliot arrives in China to broker a public ceremony whereby the opium would be publicly dumped into the sea. This move does not please the politicos in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

who promptly dispatch massive firepower to attack China's ports.

Cast

* Bao Guo'an as

* Lin Liankun as Qishan * Sihung Lung as He Jingrong * Shao Hsin as He Shanzi *

Bob Peck Robert Peck (23 August 1945 – 4 April 1999) was an English actor who played Ronald Craven in the television serial ''Edge of Darkness'', for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He was also known for his role as game warden Rob ...

as Denton (based on Lancelot Dent) * Simon Williams as

* Su Min as the

Daoguang Emperor The Daoguang Emperor (; 16 September 1782 – 26 February 1850), also known by his temple name Emperor Xuanxong of Qing, born Mianning, was the seventh Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning ...

* Jiang Hua as

Guan Tianpei Guan Tianpei (; 1781 – 26 February 1841) was a Chinese admiral of the Qing dynasty who served in the First Opium War. His Chinese title was "Commander-in-Chief of Naval Forces". In 1838, he established courteous relations with British Rear-Admi ...

* Li Shilong as Han Zhaoqing * Li Weixin as

Deng Tingzhen Deng Tingzhen (; 1776–1846) was a Chinese politician who served as the Governor-General of Liangguang (Guangdong and Guangxi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhu ...

* Gao Yuan as Rong'er * Emma Griffiths as Mary Denton * Philip Jackson as Captain White *

Garrick Hagon Garrick Hagon (; born September 27, 1939) is a British-Canadian actor in film, stage, television and radio, known for his role as Biggs Darklighter in '' Star Wars: A New Hope''. His many films include ''Batman'', ''Spy Game'', '' Me and Orso ...

as Sidon Laughton * Robert Freeman as Hill *

Denis Lill Denis Lill (born 22 April 1942) is a New Zealand-born British actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Survivors'' as Charles Vaughan, ''Only Fools and Horses'' as Alan Parry, ''Outside Edge'' as Dennis Broadley and as Consultant General Sur ...

as Lord Eversley *

Corin Redgrave Corin William Redgrave (16 July 19396 April 2010) was an English actor and left-wing socialist activist. Early life Redgrave was born on 16 July 1939 in Marylebone, London, the only son and middle child of actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kem ...

Lord Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...

* Debra Beaumont as

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

Benjamin Whitrow Benjamin John Whitrow (17 February 1937 – 28 September 2017) was an English actor. He was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for his role as Mr Bennet in the 1995 BBC version of ''Pride and Prejudice'', and voiced the role of Fo ...

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...

Oliver Cotton Oliver Charles Cotton (born 20 June 1944) is an English actor, comedian and playwright, known for his prolific work on stage, TV and film. He remains best known for his role as Cesare Borgia in the BBC's 1981 drama series '' The Borgias''. Early ...

James Bremer Sir James John Gordon Bremer (26 September 1786 – 14 February 1850) was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the Napoleonic Wars, First Anglo-Burmese War, and First Anglo-Chinese War. In China, he served twice as commander-in-chief of British ...

* Zhou Chuanyi as Yiliang *

Ko Hsiang-ting Ko Hsiang-ting (; 8 August 1916 – 16 May 2010) was a Taiwanese actor. Born in Suzhou, China on 8 August 1916, Ko became a member of the National Revolutionary Army corp of entertainers. He moved to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War, and started ...

as Yishan * Liu Zhongyuan as Lü Zifang * Shi Yang as Lin Sheng * Gu Lan as senior minister * Kong Xianzhu as He Rengui * Chang Xueren as San * Li Shaoxiong as Yao Huaixiang * Yang Heping as military officer * Yang Zhaoquan as blind musician * Wang Fen as Qiuping * Liang Yang as Baihe * He Qingqing as Lanrui * Zhang Wanwen as brothel owner * James Innes-Smith as Prince Albert *

Edward Petherbridge Edward Petherbridge (born 3 August 1936) is an English actor, writer and artist. Among his many roles, he portrayed Lord Peter Wimsey in the 1987 BBC television adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayers' novels, and Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's ''R ...

as British Member of Parliament *

Dominic Jephcott Dominic Jephcott (born 1957) is a RADA-trained English actor and writer. He is known for his work in ''The Beiderbecke Affair'', ''The Beiderbecke Connection'', '' Midsomer Murders'', and in '' Holby City'' and ''Casualty'', as the adulterous Doc ...

as British Member of Parliament * Tony Rushforth as British Member of Parliament * Jamie Wilson (uncredited) as Paul Artuard *

Nigel Davenport Arthur Nigel Davenport (23 May 1928 – 25 October 2013) was an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Birkenhead in the Academy Award-winning films '' A Man for All Seasons'' and '' Chariots of F ...

(uncredited)

Production

The film was shot in the

Hengdian World Studios Hengdian World Studios () is a film studio located in Hengdian, a Chinese town in the city of Dongyang, Zhejiang Province. It is one of the largest film studios in the world. The movie studio is operated by the privately owned Hengdian Group fo ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

province, a common filming site for historical films which has been dubbed "Chinawood." In order to recreate the streets of 19th-century

, nearly 120 construction teams from surrounding villages were assembled. In contrast, nearly all post-production took place in Japan.

Reception

Despite its clear political background (and its release on the eve of the return of Hong Kong to China), the film was generally well received by Western critics as a workable example of the big-budget historical film. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', in one review, begins with the fact that despite the film's "unashamedly political message," ''The Opium War'' was nevertheless "comparatively even-handed," while the film itself had excellent production values. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' recognised that the film, despite its official backing, "was relatively nuanced," and praised the performance of

as the venal opium trader Denton. The film's domestic release was also positive, with ''The Opium War'' eventually winning the Golden Rooster for Best Film.

References

External links

* * *
''The Opium War''
at the Chinese Movie Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Opium War, The 1997 films Golden Rooster Best Film recipients 1990s Mandarin-language films British Empire war films Films directed by Xie Jin Films set in 1839 Films set in 1840 Films set in 1841 Films set in 1842 Films set in 19th-century Qing dynasty Chinese epic films First Opium War Chinese historical films Films with screenplays by Zhu Sujin Films about opium