# The Last Supper (王的盛宴) (2012 film)
**The Last Supper** (王的盛宴) is a 2012 Chinese historical drama film written and directed by Lu Chuan (陆川) that retells the struggle between Liu Bang and [Xiang Yu](https://www.edgepedia.org/xiang-yu) at the fall of the [Qin dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/qin-dynasty), framed as the deathbed recollections of an aged Liu Bang. It was released in mainland China on 29 November 2012, starring Liu Ye as Liu Bang, Daniel Wu (吴彦祖) as Xiang Yu, and [Chang Chen](https://www.edgepedia.org/chang-chen) (张震) as Han Xin.[1](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/2012-11-08/16153783135.shtml) • [2](https://piaofang.maoyan.com/movie/534)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Lu Chuan, his fourth feature film[3](https://finance.sina.cn/sa/2012-11-21/detail-ikftpnnx7280600.d.html?from=wap) |
| Release | 29 November 2012, mainland China; genre listed as costume/historical[2](https://piaofang.maoyan.com/movie/534) |
| Principal cast | Liu Ye (Liu Bang), Daniel Wu (Xiang Yu), Chang Chen (Han Xin), Qin Lan (Lü Zhi), Sha Yi (Xiao He), Nie Yuan (Xiang Zhuang)[1](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/2012-11-08/16153783135.shtml) |
| Production time | 13 months of preparation, including 8 months of historical research[4](https://www.chinanews.com/yl/2012/03-27/3775157.shtml) |
| Source | Based on Sima Qian's *Records of the Grand Historian* (《史记》); the opening credits state it was created from the *Shiji*[5](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/2012/2012-11-30/147964.html) • [6](https://ent.sina.cn/film/chinese/2012-11-27/detail-icesifvx4133992.d.html?vt=4) |
| Mainland box office | 76.922 million yuan cumulative; 8.192 million yuan on opening day, 39.864 million yuan in the first week[2](https://piaofang.maoyan.com/movie/534) |
| Festival and awards | Selected at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival (2012); four nominations at the 7th Asian Film Awards (2013); nominated for Best Cross-Strait Chinese Film at the 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards (2014)[7](https://www.emp.hk/cs/production/all/the-last-supper) |
## Spoilers
### Story and structure
The film follows three men of the Chu–Han contention, Liu Bang, Xiang Yu, and Han Xin, as they pursue their ambitions, and links five core episodes: the Battle of Julu (巨鹿之战), the [Feast at Hong Gate](https://www.edgepedia.org/feast-at-hong-gate) (鸿门宴), the [Battle of Gaixia](https://www.edgepedia.org/battle-of-gaixia) (垓下之战), the death of Han Xin, and the story of Lü Zhi and Consort Yu. A voiceover from Liu Bang ties these episodes together, a structure the production described as a way of skipping well-known, worn episodes and cutting directly to the most central ones. The film ends with Han Xin killed on Liu Bang's orders and hung in the air as an offering marking the end of an empire and a legend.[7](https://www.emp.hk/cs/production/all/the-last-supper)
Lu Chuan described the film's subject as the power struggles driven by power and desire, "a survivor game set in ancient times," and said it was not simply the Hongmen Banquet but the fate of a group of people and a truth of history.[8](https://media.people.com.cn/BIG5/n/2012/1127/c40606-19710592.html) • [4](https://www.chinanews.com/yl/2012/03-27/3775157.shtml) The narrative moves across multiple time lines, opening with the nightmare of the elderly Liu Bang and intercutting his memories of how he met Xiang Yu and won the empire with Lü Zhi's elimination of the founding meritorious officials.[6](https://ent.sina.cn/film/chinese/2012-11-27/detail-icesifvx4133992.d.html?vt=4)
## Development
The project began in 2009, when Starlight International approached Lu Chuan, whose previous film *City of Life and Death* (《南京！南京！》) had joined the 100-million-yuan box-office club earlier that year, to make a film about the Hongmen Banquet. Lu Chuan wanted to cover the whole arc from the rise of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu to Liu Bang's late years as emperor and Han Xin's death, while the investors wanted a film focused only on the banquet. Unable to agree, Starlight withdrew and instead funded Hong Kong director Daniel Lee's *White Vengeance* (《鸿门宴传奇》), released in 2011, which reached the same subject first. Lu Chuan set up the film independently, taking the elderly Liu Bang's recollections as the point of entry.[9](https://m.yicai.com/news/2297699.html) • [8](https://media.people.com.cn/BIG5/n/2012/1127/c40606-19710592.html)
In July 2010 Lu Chuan's company announced the film's renaming to *The Last Supper*, confirming new investors including Stellar Mega Films (星美影业) and a total investment of 100 million yuan, with the stated aim of recreating the battles of Julu, Gaixia, and Weishui as well as the banquet.[10](https://www.slrbs.com/yule/dptj/2012-11-12/79812.html) Production ran into a series of disruptions, including the renaming, changes of key crew, delayed start, suspended shooting, and a postponed release.[10](https://www.slrbs.com/yule/dptj/2012-11-12/79812.html) In June 2012 the film had not yet passed censorship review; asked at an industry forum why, Lu Chuan said he could say nothing, and later explained only that the film sought patterns in repeated historical events and that some content might be sensitive. He insisted the film was made strictly according to history.[11](https://www.chinanews.com/yl/2012/06-20/3975809.shtml)
## Historical research and visual style
Lu Chuan, who called himself having an "archaeology addiction," spent 8 months of the 13-month preparation on historical research, engaged university professors to tutor the cast, and aimed to "place the camera two thousand years earlier."[4](https://www.chinanews.com/yl/2012/03-27/3775157.shtml) • [12](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2012-11-12/10323785313.shtml) He read the biographies and annals of the *Shiji*, consulted the *Zizhi Tongjian*, and drew on works by historians including Li Kaiyuan and Chen Jingyuan.[9](https://m.yicai.com/news/2297699.html) On set he was called a "detail obsessive": the sword dance of [Xiang Zhuang](https://www.edgepedia.org/xiang-zhuang), Han Xin's cangue, the tableware and screens at the banquet, and the kneeling rituals all had to have textual grounding; bamboo slips were required to have the natural curvature of excavated artifacts. In the banquet scene, the seating positions of Xiang Yu, Xiang Bo, Liu Bang, and Zhang Liang were arranged according to the *Shiji*.[9](https://m.yicai.com/news/2297699.html)
The film's lighting is largely overhead light, which Lu Chuan justified by the ventilated open tops of period military tents; fabrics were woven with [Han dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/han-dynasty) methods and dyed with plant dyes.[8](https://media.people.com.cn/BIG5/n/2012/1127/c40606-19710592.html) Lu Chuan said the film mainly follows the *Shiji* but also treats contradictions in the record, such as how [Fan Kuai](https://www.edgepedia.org/fan-kuai) burst into the banquet and how [Xiang Bo](https://www.edgepedia.org/xiang-bo)'s sword entered the scene, as puzzles the film "reasons" about, distinguishing this from inventing history.[8](https://media.people.com.cn/BIG5/n/2012/1127/c40606-19710592.html)
## Reception
The film opened on 29 November 2012 against Feng Xiaogang's *Back to 1942*, which took 20,000 screens on its first day to *The Last Supper*'s 15,000, and the midnight showing of *Back to 1942* reached 70 percent occupancy against 40 percent for *The Last Supper* in Nanjing.[13](https://media.people.com.cn/n/2012/1129/c40606-19733529.html) To compete for screens, Stellar Group chairman Qin Hong announced a Hollywood-style sliding split favoring theaters: the distributor took 43 percent in the first week, 41 percent in the second, and 39 percent thereafter, a concession relative to *Back to 1942*'s 43 to 57 percent.[6](https://ent.sina.cn/film/chinese/2012-11-27/detail-icesifvx4133992.d.html?vt=4) Final mainland box office was 76.922 million yuan.[2](https://piaofang.maoyan.com/movie/534)
Critical response was divided. A *Beijing News* panel of 20 viewers gave an average score of 65 out of 100, with most questioning the theatrical treatment and the liberties taken with history and a minority praising Lu Chuan's creative individuality.[14](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/m/2012-12-07/10413806152.shtml) A *Southern Metropolis Daily* report on the premiere noted praise for Liu Ye's Liu Bang, Qin Lan's Lü Zhi, and Sha Yi's Xiao He, alongside complaints that the film was hard to follow and that [Daniel Wu](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-wu)'s Xiang Yu had too little screen time; Lu Chuan answered that "this really is not an ordinary popcorn movie."[5](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/2012/2012-11-30/147964.html) In *People's Daily*, one reader criticized the film as incoherent, while another praised it for writing about people rather than spectacle, noting that Lu Chuan touched on the Hongmen Banquet, the parting of the hegemon and his consort, and [Xiao He](https://www.edgepedia.org/xiao-he)'s role in Han Xin's death without embellishing them, and observed history with "Rashomon"-style questions without passing judgment.[15](https://cpc.people.com.cn/n/2012/1130/c78779-19747226.html) A *Yangcheng Evening News* comparison with *Life of Pi* and *Back to 1942*, all released in the same window, judged it the weakest of the three.[16](https://media.people.com.cn/BIG5/n/2012/1205/c40606-19794822.html)
In December 2012 the film became a public example of online rating manipulation, when reports described paid posters ("water armies") being hired to raise its network scores.[17](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/page/2012-12/19/07/hwbwhwxc19b.pdf) On the Maoyan ticketing platform it later held a viewer score of 6.5, and IMDb listed 5.8.[2](https://piaofang.maoyan.com/movie/534)
## References
1. [资料：电影《王的盛宴》基本信息, Sina Entertainment](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/2012-11-08/16153783135.shtml)
2. [王的盛宴, Maoyan Professional box office database](https://piaofang.maoyan.com/movie/534)
3. [《王的盛宴》就是权力生态游戏, 华夏时报 via Sina](https://finance.sina.cn/sa/2012-11-21/detail-ikftpnnx7280600.d.html?from=wap)
4. [陆川获封"陆慢慢" 刘烨:拍8个月外边片酬涨好几次, 中新网](https://www.chinanews.com/yl/2012/03-27/3775157.shtml)
5. [《王的盛宴》不是爆米花电影, 南方都市报 via 中国作家网](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/2012/2012-11-30/147964.html)
6. [《王的盛宴》首映 演员个个都是"眼神帝", 羊城晚报 via Sina](https://ent.sina.cn/film/chinese/2012-11-27/detail-icesifvx4133992.d.html?vt=4)
7. [王的盛宴, Emperor Motion Pictures](https://www.emp.hk/cs/production/all/the-last-supper)
8. [《王的盛宴》上映 陸川受訪解讀角色回應疑問, 新京报 via 人民网](https://media.people.com.cn/BIG5/n/2012/1127/c40606-19710592.html)
9. [陆川：纠结的盛宴, 第一财经日报](https://m.yicai.com/news/2297699.html)
10. [《王的盛宴》导演陆川回忆"王"的磨难, 新闻晨报 via 商洛之窗](https://www.slrbs.com/yule/dptj/2012-11-12/79812.html)
11. [《王的盛宴》未过审 陆川：坚持对真相的探寻, 中新网](https://www.chinanews.com/yl/2012/06-20/3975809.shtml)
12. [《王的盛宴》导演陆川回忆"王"的磨难, 新闻晨报 via Sina](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2012-11-12/10323785313.shtml)
13. [上映 贺岁档前哨战打响, 扬子晚报 via 人民网](https://media.people.com.cn/n/2012/1129/c40606-19733529.html)
14. [新京报：《王的盛宴》鸿门没有宴, Sina Entertainment](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/m/2012-12-07/10413806152.shtml)
15. [人民日报·看台人语：电影《王的盛宴》观后感, 人民网](https://cpc.people.com.cn/n/2012/1130/c78779-19747226.html)
16. [三部贺岁片对比报道, 羊城晚报 via 人民网](https://media.people.com.cn/BIG5/n/2012/1205/c40606-19794822.html)
17. [2012年12月19日 文化周刊, 人民日报海外版](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/page/2012-12/19/07/hwbwhwxc19b.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › War and historical films (individual works) › Historical dramas and epics › Titles symbols to L › Titles En to L*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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