In Murnau's playful espionage thriller reminiscent of Ernst Lubitsch (who had recently left Germany for Hollywood), Harry Liedtke stars as a benevolent dictator who must preserve the tiny nation of Abacco by fending off creditors, wooing a wealthy Russian princess, and evading a band of demonic conspirators.

A movie that "packs a lot of laughs and action into a beautifully shot 105 minutes" (Variety), Chinese odyssey 2002 follows royal heirs Princess Wushuang (Asian pop diva and Chungking Express heroine Faye Wong) and future Emperor Zheng De (Crouching tiger, hidden dragon's Chen Chang) as they escape the Forbidden City to taste life among Ming Dynasty China's have-nots. Combining swordfights, slapstick, satire, songs, and genuine sentiment into a lightning-paced big-screen farrago of "identity changes and gender confusions; plot contortions, clever puns and a great punchline" (Time out London).