'' The Emperor and the Assassin '' , also known as '' The First Emperor '' , is a 1998 - 1999 Chinese historical romance film based primarily on Jing Ke 's assassination attempt on the King of Qin , as described in Sima Qian 's '' Records of the Grand Historian '' . The film was directed by Chen Kaige and stars Gong Li , Zhang Fengyi , Li Xuejian , and Zhou Xun . The film was well received critically and won the Technical Prize at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival . It was the most expensive Chinese film made at the time , costing US$ 20 million
1999 Cannes Film Festival
1999 Cannes Film Festival
The Emperor and the Assassin