Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li, Jay Chou, Liu Ye
RunTime: 104 mins
Genre: Period Drama
Rating: PG
Despite the millions of chrysanthemum flowers, ten thousand soldiers and three prominent male cast (Chow Yun Fatt, Jay Chou and Liu Ye), one thing will capture your attention. Make that two.
Gong Li and her titillating assets have almost overshadowed everything else in the movie. While it may not be historically accurate for 10th Century Tang Dynasty palace females to dress so scantily, director Zhang Yimou obviously wants to make a stylistic statement right from the opening scene.
His play with colours was apparent from Hero. Curse of the Golden Flowers presents a kaleidoscope in its grandeur palace setting and elaborate costumes. The final fighting scene lead by Prince Jai (Jay Chou playing Jay?) the prince with golden armored warriors trampling over chrysanthemum is nothing short of impressive.
Jay Chou had a difficult time playing Prince Jai, which required more complexity than a cool rider in Initial D. While emotional scenes with Gong Li drew some laughter from the audience, his final scene was noteworthy and articulation has improved.
Kudos goes to Chow Yun Fatt and Gong Li. Chow has improved on his accent tremendously (which was very strange in Crouching Tiger) and portrayed the Emperor with magnitude and hysterical outrage. Look out for the scene as the usually mild mannered Chow punishes his son with both rising temper and hair.
While the film obviously banks on Gong Li’s bosoms, they shouldn’t distract audience from her exceptional acting. It may be over-the-top at times, but she shows that nobody else can play this vengeful and solitary empress better than her. At this moment, she is the queen of the Chinese cinema.
The story of betrayal, illicit affairs, chilled relations and dysfunctional families may be run on the mill and overdone. Drawing parallels with The Banquet by Zhang Ziyi is inevitable. Both are about an obsessed empress who craves for a relationship with the prince (Interestingly, both well-known for playing gay roles) and demands for more power from the emperor. Curse of the Golden Flower is not just soap drama but a period epic to impress with colours, opulence and sheer indulgence.
Curse of the Golden Flower – Old time family drama in a stunning, extravagant setting
4 Responses to “Curse of the Golden Flower”
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i like zhou jielun's final scene too. apparently it was the first one he had to film, though!
I guess Jay was trying too hard, especially during scenes with Gong Li. Maybe it backfired on him.
Yeah, he's definitely not an actor -- but possibly the luckiest dude on earth?! Merry Christmas!
Jay has tried his best.i had a 90%accurate guessing: Jay had been dreaming of playingsuch a character that he composed a great song for the movie and showed it to
Zhang Yimou. Zhang Yimou liked the song too much that he finally give in and let him play this role.