The most ambitious Chinese production ever made is a 16th-century epic
In short: To capture the transition of dynasties, a production team of 8,000 people spent years building a cinematic universe. It isn't just a movie; it is a massive adaptation of a 16th-century novel, blending high-fantasy mythology with the brutal political fallout of China's ancient history.
The film 'Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms' (2023) serves as the first installment of a trilogy based on the Ming dynasty novel 'Investiture of the Gods' by Xu Zhonglin. The narrative centers on the fictionalized political collapse following the ascension of the last king of the Shang dynasty. The story is steeped in mythology, featuring a cursed dynasty, a man-eating fox spirit possessing a royal consort, and a quest for a magical 'Investiture Scroll' that can restore order to a world plagued by a 'patri-regicide' curse.
The scale of the production is unprecedented in Chinese cinema. Beginning in June 2014, the project involved a team of over 8,000 people for pre-production and filming, with 1,500 dedicated to post-production and visual effects. The trilogy is noted as the most expensive and ambitious production in the country's history. To achieve authenticity, the director, Wuershan, established a performance camp where over 20 actors underwent six months of rigorous training in the 'Theory of Liuyi'—covering manners, music, shooting, rein, books, and mathematics.
The film's visual and narrative weight is supported by international expertise. During pre-production in 2016, the director consulted with major Western special effects houses like Industrial Light & Magic and Weta Digital, as well as producers like Peter Jackson. The result is a 2,400-shot epic featuring 1,800 VFX shots, designed to convey the enduring struggle between good and evil through a lens of high-fantasy spectacle.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms
- Also: Art Institute of Chicago — The Storm · CC0 (data); description CC BY 4.0
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