A poster of "Empire of Silver"

Financial crisis epic "Empire of Silver" made a big splash in Taiwan the past weekend, raking in 10 million Taiwan New Dollars (about US$305,829.8) to top the first week earning rankings of Chinese-language films screened in 2009 in the region.

The film, centering on the saga of a Shanxi banking giant's family in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), is the first film venture of Taiwan tycoon Terry Guo, who pumped 9.8 million dollars into it.

The story is adapted from the historic novel "Valley of Silver", which chronicles the once-prosperous businessmen culture of Shanxi in the 18th and 19th centuries. It tells the story of the Kang family who ran a banking network in the troubled times of the late Qing dynasty and the early Republic of China. At their peak, the Kang family's bankers ruled the nationwide money transfer system with their business expanding beyond China to neighboring countries of Japan, Russia, Mongolia and Southeast Asia.

The highs and lows of the Kangs reflect the profound social changes of the era. The family rode the storms of the Boxer Uprising, the invasion by the Eight-Power Allied Forces from the west and the 1911 revolution which saw the Qing dynasty topple.

Directed by Taiwan's veteran stage director Christina Yao, "Empire of Silver" stars two-time Best Actor winner of Golden Horse Film Awards, Hong Kong's singer/actor Aaron Kwok, along with mainland actor Zhang Tielin and actress Hao Lei.

The film will go on screens in the mainland from August 21.

(CRI August 6, 2009)