Shih Chieh King

A television programmer reminisces about a chess player during the Cultural Revolution.

Based on Cheng Yi's romance trilogy The Silver Valley, director Christina Yao's sprawling epic centers on the exploits of a banking dynasty -- headed by patriarch Master Kang (Tielin Zhang) -- that controls much of China's wealth at the end of the 19th century. Amid political upheaval, romantic rivalries and outright revolution, the family struggles to maintain its hold on one of history's most dominant financial empires.

In much the same vein as "The Untouchables", Andy Lau stars as a Cantonese detective out to combat opium sellers. Encountering high-level corruption along with close friends being murdered, Lau sets out to stop the dealers. (imdb)