Curse of the Golden Flower starring
Yun-Fat Chow, Li Gong, Jay Chou, Ye
Liu, Dahong Ni
A Broken Family, Deceit Within Deceit, I Loved It!
Curse of the Golden Flower, a fictionalized historical glimpse into the
brutally complicated politics of Emperor Pings (Chow Yun Fat) reign during
the Tang Dynasty, shows the viewer just how far a megalomaniac must go
to gain and retain power in medieval China. Lavish sets, massive
ceremonial displays, and perversely fascinating battle scenes impress
similarly to the special effects Americans have come to love and expect
from Chinese action films like Zhang Yimous previous House of Flying
Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. An intricate plot involving
the Emperors wife, Empress Phoenix (Gong Li) and their three sons,
Crown Prince Xiang, Prince Jie, and Prince Cheng, most closely follows
the Empresss secret plan to force abdication upon her corrupt husband as
revenge for his slowly poisoning her with Black Fungus tea. Opening on
the eve of the Chysanthemum Festival, 928 A.D., the Empress obsessively
embroiders gold chysanthemums to adorn her armys uniforms while
hatching plans with Jai to overthrow the Crown Prince for control of the
throne. Meanwhile, a side plot develops as the Emperors ex-wife and
mother to Crown Prince Yu reemerges as Yus lover. By the time the
Festival occurs, family members are pitted against each other in a King
Lear-ian web of lies that can only result in demise. The most sophisticated
narrative aspect of Curse of the Golden Flower is that as the royal family
crumbles, the Emperors death grip on China remains unwavering.
Gorgeous scenes set in the palace and costume design displaying Chinas
upper class decadence cannot fail to entertain. The paradox between good
and evil, here, is highlighted by how the Emperor successfully rules
despite, and because of, his utter cruelty. --Trinie Dalton
This has become one of my favorite movies. The beauty of the
cinematography, art and costumes is enough to catch anyones attention.
However, the true beauty lies within the story and acting. In my opinion,
the entire film is an examination of balance, good and evil, beauty and
ugliness, truths and falsehoods and most of all pride. Throw in some
veangeance, hypocrisy and some dysfunction and you have me hooked.
Excellent film in my opinion.
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