Watched all 42 episodes of China's The Glamorous Imperial Concubine (2011), based on the novel by Murong Yaner. A fallen princess of Chu swears to reclaim the throne and avenge her father's death. During the course of her journey two princes of Shu, the prince of Han, and two other men fall in love with her.  

The movie has a good point of attack: it opens with a princess about to be executed, quickly pushing the viewer down the zipline of palace intrigues and politics. All of the characters are well-rounded and fascinating; even the servants are three-dimensional. The dialogue is brilliant without verging on the pretentious. There is excellent handling of linear time without too many annoying and repetitious flashbacks. The production design is delicious. The snow effects are convincing; snowflakes are driven in the air and, when they land on human hair and costumes, they begin melting before the viewer's eyes. Tears are real and not a result of eye drops--you see them welling up in the performers' eyes, and they flow only in the middle of long passages of dialogue. There is really more than one concubine in the movie, and the term "glamorous imperial concubine" deliberately refers to at least four women in the story. Kara Wei as Du Feihong was the performer with the finest acting nuances, traversing the whole gamut of emotions with absolute truthfulness. 

The movie also showcases the elaborate preparations and rituals for ancient Chinese weddings, concubine weddings, funerals, and even the lighting of joss sticks for two people to become sworn friends. The cliff hangers are subtle, yet urge the viewer to eagerly anticipate each, succeeding episode. This is one, must-watch, Chinese movie that successfully raises melodrama to the level of heavy drama. 

Love the parallel drinking scenes in Episode 18. Love those red candles shaped like inverted cones.

Warning: It has many death scenes and is ten times more tragic than the most tragic Greek tragedy.