Loosely inspired by Shakespeareâs Hamlet, The Banquet is a visually spectacular and emotionally charged journey about a fight for power, and the quest for revenge.Â
Unfulfilled in her royal boudoir, Empress Wan (Zhang Ziyi) harbours forbidden desires for her stepson Prince Wu Luan (Daniel Wu) who stays away from the palace favouring a life of studying the arts.
But his quiet life is soon disturbed after the sudden death of the Emperor and the immediate succession of his devious brother Li (Ge You).
A troop of soldiers are dispatched to assassinate the young Prince Wu Luan. With danger never far away, the Prince must decide whether to fight for his place as ruler or to accept his fate under Li.
But as the politics of the situation threaten to erupt into ferocious combat, the motivation of all involved must be called into question - and the Princeâs decision will have consequences that will reverberate throughout the entire Empire.
The Banquet is released 2nd June