Curse of the Golden Flower - Sony Pictures

It was beautiful to watch, but a bit too over the top with drama

We loved to watch the cinamatography was amazing, one of the best I have seen in some time, worth watching, just a bit soap opera-ish. I love Asian artistic movies and this is a touch more dramatic. A bit bloody, but over fun to watch.

Stunning and subtle

I found this movie to be one of the most visually stunning epics I have ever seen. The meticulous research that went into creating a lavish set and historically accurate costuming down to the last bead and stitch, including the multiple layers of dress, most of which is never even seen on camera, but authentically recreated to give the actors a true sense of the burden (both literally and figuratively) of the opulence of the Tang Dynasty. The veneer of utter decadence and affluence allowed the absolute ruler to maintain the appearance for the masses that the royal families were to be worshiped as living gods - a belief that some Asian cultures continue to this day.

This movie effectively demonstrates that this facade veiled the fact that absolute power disintegrates rulers from within, resulting in malignance, inner corrosion and depravity.

There are endless plot twists as the members of the royal family clandestinely maneuver and conspire against one another, each one shifting loyalties in desperate attempts to protect their own fluctuating sense of honor and motivation in an attempted coup against the Emperor, with the added onus of having deeper hidden agendas that do not emerge until the climax of the film.

The antagonist is the only true survivor of the coup, having the greater tactical prowess than all the other players, but eventually having to suffer the painful losses and consequences, culminating in the destruction of his royal lineage.

The retention of absolute power at any price is what drives the film. Yes, bad guys DO win in the end sometimes, just as in life, but at what cost? Clearly the victor has won the battle, but has actually lost the war.

I believe that the only error in the reporting of this movie is that it is labeled as action/adventure, when in truth it should have been listed as a period drama.

I have read several very poor reviews on this site, stating that the movie was over-long, plotless and shallow, with no redeeming qualities. Almost all stated that they were disappointed at the lack of real action; the reviewers were expecting to see a "martial arts" action film, naturally became detractors because they were apparently just watching their clocks until the "cool Asian action" began, unable to simply watch the movie and allow the beautiful nuance and subtlety to flow over them in the historically accurate representation of the era that was designed to show how difficult survival was in the 10th century, a misogynistic period of absolute loyalty and obedience to the crown.

Since it is as much a period drama as "Anna and the King," I find it sad that it was promoted as action/adventure rather than a foreign-language drama. It would have undoubtedly altered the expectations of the viewers, allowing the movie to be better appreciated as a subtle commentary on absolute power, warning away the viewers who were looking for Jet Li or Jackie Chan Asian fight movies.

To quote another reviewer who seems to share my opinion:
"There is no doubt that this detractory perspective is derived from overly-saturated people of western education, without any consideration of eastern understanding and that the history originates from an ancient tradition from which European literature itself was derived."

speak the truth

Cavil about historical accuracy, over-the-top bodice-infatuated costuming, this that and a thousand other things - this is just flat out one helluva movie! Without question the most visually ecstatic film since Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring.. Curse of the Golden Flower is more intoxicating than the empress' hourly medicine! What an actor Li Gong is, and gorgeous to look at. Yun Fat Chow is the first eminence of the whole piece, as he is in virtually every film he makes. I submit that in the end it isnt the camera's magnificence that triumphs, but a story of human destiny told with blood-burning intimacy. Far from being a "martial arts" film as it's often said, Curse of the Golden Flower flies from the curse of formula, bemoaning it in almost every scene, with exceeding interior beauty. It's a spiritual film perhaps BECAUSE of its operatic heart, who knows? The scenes are bewitching, riveting; the force of the actors' embodiments lifts the piece to wild heights, which is to say, toward the actual. From beginning to end, Li Gong carries the complete story in her face. Every minor part - the court doctor, his daughter - is spun with consummate finesse. Another treasure is this film's uncommonly beautiful score, subtly integrated as another and equal dimension of character. One of the finest movie scores in years. It's just one helluva movie! If we want 'historical' China and look for it everywhere, entertainment will rarely hand us the pivotal tool to crack the nut. But to congregate the shamelessly intense ethos of China, the koan, if you will, of China, and hand it jewel-like to us, is indeed what film can do, what it can be. In forms visible and invisible, Curse of the Golden Flower dreams and matches, near perfectly, far as I can tell, the spiritual truth of human experience. Watch it and live!

Amazing visuals

Many have commented on the epic scale of this production. Some claim it is the most expensive movie ever made in China and that the set was the largest ever constructed for a movie there. Whatever the claims, the visuals in this movie are amazing. Frankly, I have never seen colors and opulence depicted in such luxurious tones before. The word dazzling seems somewhat understated.

I don't know classical Chinese history or mythology, but this is supposedly based on a historical tale from about a thousand years ago. Emperor Ping was a mere soldier who used a marriage to a royal daughter to claim his throne. He is ruthless beyond measure in keeping it. His wife, Empress Phoenix feels she is being poisoned by the medicine he forces her to take each day. The Emperor's sons all struggle for position and there are secrets galore that contribute to their antagonism and ferocity. The children are used and manipulated as needed by each parent. I will let you work out the details as you watch the movie.

Is the acting great? Well, the story doesn't demand terrible complexity in the characters. Also, remember that Western style emoting may not be what the Chinese acting ethos is all about. For me, the acting was sufficient. It was clear to me what was happening and the emotions rang true. The combat sequences are quite spectacular. Ninjas are all over the place doing all kinds of strange and almost magical things for the Emperor with a lot of it going on in the air (with ropes). The various ground armies are also amazing in scope.

So, is this a great movie? No. Is it worth seeing? Yes. Is it a classic? I doubt it, but you will sure remember the brilliance of the colors and the army sequences.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

A visual knockout

The year is 928 and the evil Tang emperor is slowly but inexorably poisoning his beautiful, unfaithful wife, after learning that she has been having an affair with her stepson, his eldest son. He can't kill her outright, because bringing her adultery into the open would discredit both himself and his son, so he takes an insidious revenge. He's added a new ingredient to her daily potion, a black fungus from Persia that, taken in small doses over a few months, will turn her into a cretin. But the empress isn't about to go down without a fight; she's onto his schemes and has hatched a scheme of her own: on the night of the Chrysanthemum Festival, when all Chinese celebrate the unity of the family, she'll raise a palace rebellion, force the emperor to abdicate and make her own blood son, Prince Jai, the emperor in his place.

So begins "Curse of the Golden Flower" a Chinese morality story directed by Zhang Yimou, and it's a visual knockout: our eyes are almost assaulted by the lush interiors and the exterior action scenes. The emperor's palace looks like an explosion in a Day-Glo factory; a non-stop riot of color everywhere you look. The imperial family is covered in so much gold from nose to toes that you wonder how they can stand up straight, let alone move about. Everything about the palace is regimented down to the last detail and we understand it's all to underline the power of the emperor. When he sneezes, the earth shakes.

The actors put in creditable performances. Chow Yun Fat (I wish Amazon would respect the Chinese rule of putting the surname first and stop calling him Yun Fat Chow) gives a chilling portrayal of the emperor, venal and evil, cruel and insensitive; watching him calmly chowing down at the Chrysanthemum Festival after his world has fallen down around his ears is mind-blowing. The beautiful Gong Li wins our sympathy as the empress, determined to go out with a bang rather than a whimper, even if it means taking everyone else down with her. Of the three sons, Liu Ye gives the most impressive performance as the weak Crown Prince Wan, seduced by his stepmother, unable to extricate himself from her machinations, and terrified of his sire; he arouses in us a mixture of pity and contempt. Qin Junjie is somewhat perplexing as the third son, Yu, who turns out to have had his own agenda all along and totally upsets the apple cart. The minor characters are interesting and well played, notably Li Man as the imperial doctor's daughter Chan, exquisitely beautiful with a face like a cameo. But the most intriguing character in this film is the emperor's cast-off first wife, the crown prince's birth mother, who reappears in the lives of the imperial family in a singularly incovenient fashion; Chen Jin's performance in this difficult role is excellent.

What keeps "Curse of the Golden Flower" from being a great movie, as opposed to a merely good movie, is there's so much of everything, it's all so overblown, that it's more melodrama than true drama. We watch it, we're blown away by it, but we don't really feel it. One gets the sense that Zhang Yimou was piling special effect on special effect and the result is a kind of sensory overload. We're watching an opulent movie and the effects are so over the top that they almost overwhelm the story.

"Curse of the Golden Flower" is meant to be a morality play, but it seems that the person most in need of enlightenment, the emperor himself, has learned exactly nothing. He knows only one way to be emperor, and he's succeeded both because of his cruelty and in spite of it. After all the blood is shed, the bodies are carted off, the blood is washed away, new carpets and chrysanthemums laid down, and everything will continue as usual. It's as if everything that went before was an inconvenient glitch in the proceedings, and it leaves us feeling curiously empty after the final credits.

(And to the producers: next time you film a historical movie, check your history book first. Although this movie is set in 928 and the emperor is identified as the "Tang emperor", the Tang dynasty actually ended in 907.)

Judy Lind