Synopsis
For generations the Zhao family has wielded power, until their mortal enemy TU’AN GU slaughters the entire clan, determined to wipe out their influence forever. But one Zhao baby survives hidden by CHENG YING the doctor who delivered him. When Tu’an Gu learns of the baby’s escape he seizes every infant in the city, vowing to kill them all unless the Zhao baby is surrendered. As the tyrant’s soldiers arrive at Cheng Ying’s home the frantic doctor hides his wife with their own baby whilst surrendering the Zhao child as his own. But his family is discovered; his baby is presumed to be the Zhao heir and murdered along with his wife for harboring the infant. Now set on revenge Cheng Ying enrolls the Zhao orphan into the service of the Tu’an Gu household, plotting to use him as an instrument of vengeance when he comes of age.
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Cast
- Ge YouYin Cheng
- Wang XueqiTu'an Gu
- Huang XiaomingJue Han
- Fan BingbingMrs. ZhuangJi
- Vincent Zhao WenzhuoShuo Zhao
- Hai QingCheng Ying's wife
- Zhang FengyiGongsun Chujiu
- Arthur ChenXin Jun
- Li DongxueTi Miming
- Wang JinsongAdvisor
Recommendations
- 90
The Hollywood Reporter
Chen's direction is his most staid yet, but the riveting story speaks for itself. - 88
Chicago Sun-Times
In Sacrifice, about a father who loses his son to the power of the state, it is difficult to miss the parallels with Chen's own life. - 75
The A.V. Club
Chen can't seem to decide whether he's making a fable or something more down-to-earth, but Sacrifice works either way, if not both at once. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
Ultimately, the film works because the doctor's relationship with the general - and both of their relationships with the doctor's young boy - is just as complicated as the action-packed coup. - 70
Variety
Sacrifice is practically a chamber piece, and duly draws its strength from its performances, especially those of Ge and Wang. - 63
Slant Magazine
A historical melodrama that retains an ancient, elemental pull even as it insufficiently charts motivation and the self-denying values of antiquity. - 50
Boston Globe
Sacrifice wants to have it both ways. It's willing neither to give itself up to the goofy sincerity of genre conventions nor to make the demands on viewers that serious drama requires. The sacrifices Chen's characters make would signify that much more if he'd made a sacrifice or two himself. - 50
The New York Times
It's tough to care about characters who spend most of their lives obsessing over the violent deaths of others.
