The Opium War (film)

The Opium War is a 1997 Chinese historical epic film directed by Xie Jin. The winner of the 1997 Golden Rooster and 1998 Hundred Flowers Awards for Best Picture, the film was screened in several international film festivals, notably Cannes and Montreal. The film tells the story of the First Opium War of 18391842, which was fought between the Qing Empire of China and the British Empire, from the perspectives of key figures such as the Chinese viceroy Lin Zexu and the British naval diplomat Charles Elliot.

The film was shot in the Hengdian World Studios in Zhejiang province, a common filming site for historical films which has been dubbed Chinawood. In order to recreate the streets of 19thcentury Guangzhou, nearly 120 construction teams from surrounding villages were assembled. In contrast, nearly all postproduction took place in Japan.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 bigbudget historical film. Variety, in one review, begins with the fact that despite the films unashamedly political message, The Opium War was nevertheless comparatively evenhanded, while the film itself had excellent production values. The Guardian recognised that the film, despite its official backing, was relatively nuanced, and praised the performance of Bob Peck as the venal opium trader Denton. ........

Source: Wikipedia