A Terra-Cotta Warrior

A Terra-Cotta Warrior, also known as Fight and Love with a Terracotta Warrior, is a 1990 Hong Kong film based on the novel by Lilian Lee, directed by Ching Siu-tung, starring Zhang Yimou and Gong Li. Tsui Hark also got credited as the special effect supervisor.^[1] The film is about a forbidden love between a court lady and a soldier of the Qin dynasty. Gong Li plays the female protagonists Dong'er (the court girl) and Zhu Lili (the actress), and Zhang Yimou plays the terracotta warrior Meng Tianfang. This is one of the only two films where Zhang Yimou has a leading role, the other being Wu Tianming's Old Well. Warner Bros. has included the film in the catalogue of Warner Archive Collection.^[2]

A Terra-Cotta Warrior
Theatrical poster
Traditional Chinese	秦俑
Simplified Chinese	古今大战秦俑情
Hanyu Pinyin	Gǔ Jīn Dà Zhàn Qín Yǒng Qíng / Qín Yǒng
Jyutping	Gu2 Gam1 Daai6 Zin3 Ceon4 Jung2 Cing4 / Ceon4 Jung2
Directed by	Ching Siu-tung
Written by	Lilian Lee
Produced by	Hon Pau-chu Zhu Mu
Starring	Zhang Yimou Gong Li
Cinematography	Hsin-Yeh Li Peter Pau
Edited by	Marco Mak
Music by	Romeo Diaz James Wong Joseph Koo
Production company	Art & Talent Groupe Inc.
Distributed by	D & B Film Distribution (Hong Kong)
Release date	12 April 1990 (1990-04-12) (Hong Kong)
Running time	106 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Languages	Mandarin Cantonese

Plot

The First Emperor searches for the elixir of immortality, and he despatches 500 teenage boys and girls to help him accomplish this task. One of his soldiers, General Meng Tianfang falls in love with one of the despatched maiden by the name Dong'er. When their forbidden love is exposed, the girl reveals she has found the elusive elixir and secretly gives it to Meng. The emperor orders their execution and the soldier is sentenced to death by being encased alive in clay as a terracotta warrior, only to be reawakened in the 1930s when a struggling actress, Zhu Lili, the reincarnation of the girl who remembers nothing of her past life, accidentally stumbles upon the tomb of the First Emperor. The soldier struggles to adapt to a new era while the two are pursued by archeological looters and thugs.

Cast

• Zhang Yimou as General Meng Tianfang (Mong Tin-Fong) / Terra-Cotta Cleaner
• Gong Li as Han Dong'er / Zhu Lili (Hon Tung Yee) / Japanese Tourist
• Yu Rongguang as Bai Yunfei (Pak Wan Fei)
• Wu Tianming as movie director
• Lu Shuming as First Emperor
• Che Bok-man as Xu Fu / tour guide (Tsui-Fok)
• David Cheung as Yuen Mong Ling
• Chiu Chi-gong
• Choi Hin-cheung

See also

• The Iceman Cometh