When the beautiful Ulanara spies her husband, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, filled with longing and undying love, before the portrait of his late first wife, she is overcome with jealousy. She implores the Emperor to commission a portrait of her, as well, in the hope of arousing the same desire in him. The Emperor chooses French Jesuit painter, Jean Denis Attiret (Melvil Poupaud), for the delicate task that is to follow. Chinese megastar Fan Bingbing turns in an understated, very moving performance as a proud Empress deeply wounded by her husband’s neglect. Director Charles de Meaux also served as cinematographer on this exquisitely photographed, sumptuous period piece set in the 18th-century Imperial Court of China and loosely based on a true story… and the haunting portrait it left behind.
