WALL STREET meets HAMLET meets THE GODFATHER, EMPIRE OF SILVER is a story of greed, deception, love, idealism, jealousy, succession, money, and, of course, power. Set in 1899 China among the ‘piaohao’ Shanxi merchants (known as the Wall Street of China) who controlled the whole nation’s finances and whose influence was felt around the world. A hedonistic young man (Third Master – Aaron Kwok) assumes the role of heir to a banking empire he cares little about and reluctantly submits to pressure from his overbearing father, Lord Kang.
Kang is determined to prepare his son, Third Master, for leadership and in “the art of controlling men,” by molding him in his own image and trying to force him to choose an unscrupulous bank manager to run the family empire over the idealistic son’s preferred (and more honest) candidate. Their tense relationship is further complicated by Third Master’s undying love for his beautiful young stepmother—his first and only love—stolen from him by his own father.
The film reflects historical Chinese cultural values, to which present-day China is slowly returning. It is also a passionate love story about two people who are forever transformed by their love and emboldened to act heroically. Shot on real locations with real antique props, the movie is a sumptuous epic for people who are interested in China and enjoy gorgeous movies.
EMPIRE OF SILVER, directed by Christina Yao, stars Aaron Kwok, Tie Lin Zhang, Hao Lei & Jennifer Tilly and is Executive Produced by Jeremy Thomas (THE LAST EMPEROR).
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