So many superlatives can be applied to CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER that it's difficult to assess the movie without sounding totally biased and over the top. Few films have achieved the level of sheer visual beauty as this one with its interior shots of Chinese palace walls and columns illuminated by glowing hues of gold, emerald, and ruby. Few also have managed to weave the threads of so many tangled tortured relationships into such a spellbinding masterpiece of tragedy.
The seductive visual beauty of this film's set and costumes makes a powerful contrast to the deadly schemes and betrayals that motivate the leading characters, members of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 BC). Just as the viewer finds him- or herself starting to feel sorry for one character--for example the Empress who is being tortured by her husband, or the Emperor who has been scandalously betrayed by his wife--it turns out that nobody is 100 percent innocent, not even the youngest of the royal family's three sons. If there's one great exception to the royal family's collective guilt, it would be the second son, Prince Jai, played with nobility and charisma by Chinese pop star Jay Chou. Having proved himself on the battlefield as a worthy contender for the throne, Prince Jai returns home only to find himself agonizingly torn between loyalty to his mother and father. The sacrifice he makes in the end turns out to be the most brutal tragedy of all.
Yun Fat Chow as the Emperor and Gong Li in the role of the Empress give incredible performances as a couple whose love has long died but who remain together for the sake of political convenience. Behind their beautiful clothes, lavish furnishings, and perfectly choreographed movements, the two calmly seek each others' destruction. Yun Fat Chow's and Li's performance are on par with that of the world's best Shakespearean actors and the story of CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER itself can be compared to a combination of "King Lear" and "Oedipus Rex." One begins to truly appreciate the challenges directors face when considering the titanic logistics director Zhang Yimou had to deal with in order to make this film. Imagine the precision of detail and control it took to go, as he does with the movie, from one scene of dozens of beautiful feudal-era women waking and preparing to work in the palace, to another later on of a thousand warriors in gold armor charging against another thousand warriors in metallic black. With its brilliant storyline, glorious production, and extraordinary performances, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER stands as a major triumph of modern film-making.
by Aberjhani, author of "The Bridge of Silver Wings"
The seductive visual beauty of this film's set and costumes makes a powerful contrast to the deadly schemes and betrayals that motivate the leading characters, members of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 BC). Just as the viewer finds him- or herself starting to feel sorry for one character--for example the Empress who is being tortured by her husband, or the Emperor who has been scandalously betrayed by his wife--it turns out that nobody is 100 percent innocent, not even the youngest of the royal family's three sons. If there's one great exception to the royal family's collective guilt, it would be the second son, Prince Jai, played with nobility and charisma by Chinese pop star Jay Chou. Having proved himself on the battlefield as a worthy contender for the throne, Prince Jai returns home only to find himself agonizingly torn between loyalty to his mother and father. The sacrifice he makes in the end turns out to be the most brutal tragedy of all.
Yun Fat Chow as the Emperor and Gong Li in the role of the Empress give incredible performances as a couple whose love has long died but who remain together for the sake of political convenience. Behind their beautiful clothes, lavish furnishings, and perfectly choreographed movements, the two calmly seek each others' destruction. Yun Fat Chow's and Li's performance are on par with that of the world's best Shakespearean actors and the story of CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER itself can be compared to a combination of "King Lear" and "Oedipus Rex." One begins to truly appreciate the challenges directors face when considering the titanic logistics director Zhang Yimou had to deal with in order to make this film. Imagine the precision of detail and control it took to go, as he does with the movie, from one scene of dozens of beautiful feudal-era women waking and preparing to work in the palace, to another later on of a thousand warriors in gold armor charging against another thousand warriors in metallic black. With its brilliant storyline, glorious production, and extraordinary performances, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER stands as a major triumph of modern film-making.
by Aberjhani, author of "The Bridge of Silver Wings"