Move over Charlie Chan…Detective Dee is smart, bold and doesn’t speak chop suey English. Directed by Tsui Hark (“Seven Swords”), “Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame” has it all: mystery, murder, mystical wonders, costumes and ill-fated romance. If you’re squeamish about seeing foreign movies with subtitles (Mandarin with English subtitles), this adventure flick is a sure cure. The movie is currently playing at the Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena and at the AMC Atlantic Times Square 14 in Monterey Park.

The movie takes place during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It was a time of peace and prosperity and very cosmopolitan. The Tang Dynasty capital city, Chang-an, was the most densely populated city in the world and very cosmopolitan–25,000 foreigners from Japan, Korea, Vietnam, India, Tibet, Persia and other parts of Central Asia lived there. Various religions were practiced–Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam. The wars weren’t over religion, but power. Although Buddhism originated in India, it has become the religion of the imperial family.

Detective Dee has been imprisoned, declared an enemy of the state for plotting against the soon-to-be crowned empress Wu (Carina Lau). Yet as part of the preparations for her coronation as the first empress of China, a great statue is being built. Think of the size of the Statue of Liberty but as a statement the grand idealism of Lady Liberty replaced by ambition and ego. Empress Wu has distributed her own Great Cloud Sutra to help legitimize her ascension to the throne and for her coronation, the giant Buddhist stupa is being built in her own image.

Seven men connected with the statue (stupa) have mysteriously burst into flames, like the undead in a vampire flick.

Don’t worry. This isn’t in any way Twilight romantic vampire gothic. Detective Dee Renjie (Andy Lau) is released from prison and matches wits and martial arts wall-walking with Empress Wu’s confidant Jing Er (Li Bingbing) and assorted adversaries to discover the mystery behind the deaths.

Detective Dee and Empress Wu were historical people, but this movie is pure fantasy and the production is well-done with enough romance and martial arts dare-doing to satisfy fans of both.

The real Dee (also Di Renjie 狄仁傑;) was born in 630 during Emperor Taizong’s (唐太宗) reign (626-649).  His father was a scholar official and his family had other members who served as officials including his grandfather who was a secretary general. Di was a man of personal integrity and courage. Dee was a secretary general at the supreme court during Emperor Gaozong’s reign, serving as a judge for 17,000 cases a year.  He stood up to Gaozong’s order to execute two men as a matter of law. The offense (cutting down trees around Emperor Taizong’s tomb accidentally) was supposedly punishable by removal from office and not death. Even after Gaozong (唐高宗) dismissed Dee, Dee continued to object until the emperor changed his mind and exiled the defendants. When a favorite of Gaozong was abusing his status as an official by committing illegal acts, Dee accused the favorite and convinced the emperor that allowing the man to continue his acts was detrimental to his rule.

Dee did served under Empress Wu (武則天). and in 692 he was accused of treason, confessing to avoid being tortured. His accuser, Lai Junchen, forged petitions which were later discovered by Empress Wu, resulting in the release of Dee who was exiled. Dee would be promoted and eventually return to the palace where he served until his death in 700.

Taizong was the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty and after his death he was replaced by Li Zhi who became Emperor Gaozong. Li Zhi was the song of Taizong and Empress Zhangsun. One of Taizong’s concubines was Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian had been born in 624 and entered the imperial palace when she was 13-years-old to become the concubine of Taizong who was then around 38. She was not his favorite consort and was childless by him. Upon his death in 649, she was 25 and might have been forced to become a Buddhist nun had not Gaozong’s wife, Empress Wang, been engaged in a power struggle with Gaozong’s consort Xiao. Wang brought Wu back and eventually both Wang and Xiao were killed and Wu became empress. As empress, Wu reportedly sacrificed her own children to consolidate her own power. Her daughter was killed–either murdered by Wang or as a means of framing Wang, killed by Wu herself. Her eldest son was killed as well and two other sons (Li Dan and Li Zhe 李哲) deposed (Li Zhe was forced to step down after two months as emperor) and exiled. Her youngest son became Emperor Ruizong, but in 690, Wu forced him to step down and became Empress, established the Zhou Dynasty. Wu was eventually deposed by her son, Li Zhe who became Emperor Zhongzong (唐中宗) after reigning for 14 years. She was the only woman in Chinese history to bear the title of Empress Regnant and reign over China.

It was Dee who recommended that Wu bring back Li Zhe back to the capital and the promotion of several officials who would later help Li Zhe win back the throne by restoring the Tang Dynasty. Dee is credited with bringing bureaucratic efficiency and honesty to the Zhou Dynasty and even, building a basis for its end.

The “Old History of the Tang Dynasty” (Jiu Tangshu) includes information about Dee’s career as a high official as does the 1060 “New History of the Tang Dynasty” (Xin Tangshu). Little is known about Dee’s life and work during his time as a district magistrate and that has become the subject of much popular fiction.

Dutch diplomat Robert van Gulik was posted in China and Japan and learned about Detective Dee. After translating an 18th-century novel about Dee, van Gulik wrote 25 original Detective/Judge Dee novels, covering 663-681 when Dee was a magistrate in the Shantung province.

“Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame” is based on a book by the same name written by Lin Qianyu. The movie was released in 2010 in China and Hong Kong. The movie won Tsui Hark a Best Director award at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Carina Lau won Best Actress. The production also won Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Sound Effects and Best Visual Effects.