The year is 1905. Sun Wen, a leading Chinese revolutionary, is headed to the British territory of Hong Kong to plan the overthrow of the corrupt Qing Dynasty with his co-conspirators and financial backers. The Qing Dynasty sends a team of assassins to eliminate the revolutionaries, who are forced to enlist men from the streets of Hong Kong as makeshift bodyguards.

Bodyguards & Assassins dominated the 2010 Hong Kong film awards, scoring the most nominations of any film in the event’s 29 year history – 18 nominations in the 17 categories the film was eligible for. It won half the categories in which it was nominated. The secret to the film’s success is that it manages to effectively balance personal and political drama with some of the most impressive action sequences captured on film in the last decade. Think of it as a martial arts Gangs of New York meets Network, if it’s possible to imagine such a thing.

For trivia fans, Bodyguards & Assassins features the largest full scale set ever built for a film. The film accurately reconstructed the entire streetscape of the centre of Hong Kong circa 1905 based on images from the time, in intimate detail. The visuals captured in this amazing set are enough to warrant checking it out on the big screen on what is sure to be one of the few opportunities you’ll have in Canberra.