The Promise
Director: Chen Kaige
Genre: Romance Film, Adventure, Wuxia, Romantic drama, World cinema, Fantasy, Action, Drama
Year: 2005
Country: Hong Kong, China, United States of America, South Korea
Language: Standard Mandarin
Starring: Jang Dong-gun, Hiroyuki Sanada, Cecilia Cheung, Nicholas Tse, Liu Ye, Chen Hong, Xiao Wei Yu, Qian Cheng, Toby Leonard Moore, Anthony Wong
The Promise is a 2005 Chinese epic fantasy film directed by Chen Kaige and starring Jang Dong-gun, Hiroyuki Sanada, Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse. The film is based on the wuxia romance The Kunlun Slave, written by Pei Xing at the time of the Tang Dynasty.
First released in mainland China on December 15, 2005, as well as Hong Kong and Singapore. The Weinstein Company adapted it for North American distributions and three-day preview screenings, but they sold the film to Warner Independent Pictures. While under the control of TWC, 19 minutes of scenes was trimmed out and the film was renamed Master of the Crimson Armor. Eventually, it was released on May 5, 2006 as The Promise.
When it opened in Asian markets, the crowd reactions were mixed. In China, public response was largely negative, although it made US$9 million in mainland China in the first week and HK$8 million in Hong Kong. The budget was rumored to be 282~340 million yuan (US$35~$42 million), surpassing the cost of Zhang Yimou's 2002 film Hero.
Despite the negative buzz, it is one of two Chinese films in 2006 to be nominated for Golden Globes Best Foreign Language Film at the 63rd Golden Globe Awards.
A starving girl
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