This is the latest Chinese epic film from director Zhang Yimou. Based 1000 years ago during the Tang Dynasty period of China, Curse of the Golden Flower is a tragic story of the Imperial family. Living a seemingly perfect and powerful existence, the family is the embodiment of an ancient Chinese proverb: “Gold and Jade on the outside; Rot and Decay on the inside”.
From what I gathered of the movie trailers, I expected another grandiose example of overly artistic Chinese poetic babble like “House of Flying Daggers” and a movie where people fly around all the time like in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. Was very surprised to find myself really enmeshed in an intricate storyline of deceit and infidelity. The fighting was actually kept to a plot integral minimum and most of the hardcore scenes were done by real martial artists and not some untrained Canton pop star. The swordplay is awesome! Nice to see a halberd being used, don’t see much of those anymore. The final battle was a heart-pounding experience that is only comparable as a Chinese “Lord of the Rings”, minus the monsters 
The acting was a cinematic masterpiece with Chinese acting legends Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat dominating their roles and bringing their characters to life. The pain is almost palpable through their eyes and dialogue, making up for the otherwise young and inexperienced cast.
Overall, a beautifully shot film that overwhelmingly surpassed my (admittedly) low expectations. Great drama, action, dialogue, acting and cinematics . . . the elements of every good film. This is the best epic Chinese film to come out for some time.
The ending? Truly evil . . . rent it to find out.
Posted on March 28th, 2007 by Leo
Filed under: Reviews
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You just piqued my interest for this film. Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li are two of my favorite actors/actresses. Looking at the cover I was thinking this would be a Hong Kong wuxia wire thriller. Will check it out.
I wanted to see this when it was in the theatre. I hated Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon!! House of Flying Daggers was a little more enjoyable.
this film is near the top on my netflix queue. i have been a fan of zhang yimou since i first saw ‘raise the red lantern’ … it’s one of my favorite movies of all time. for some reason it isn’t available to rent on netflix but it’s on my wishlist. i’m glad to hear that’s there more substance than ‘house of flying daggers’ … my son loves that film and it is gorgeous i just prefer a more engaging storyline … also on my queue are zhang yimou’s ‘riding alone for thousands of miles’ and ‘the road home’
Adding to the rental list. Thanks for the review. I think the last martial arts movie I saw was FEARLESS. I picked it up in ShenZhen China at a “Special Store” months before it came out in North America. However, it was only in mandarin, and I can only still understand bits and pieces of it.
Thanks for the review Leo. Honestly, I would have picked this up anyway, but I have to agree with you 98%. You lost 2% for dissing two of my favorite films. ;^) Curse of the Golden Flower’s cinematography was nothing short of breathtaking…it was a cinematic masterpiece. I found that I was skillfully led along the storyline without getting stuck in a web of unnecessary plot twists. The superb performances of Chow Yun Fat & Gong Li did not surprise me…that was a given I think. Definitely worth a rental although, to have seen this in a theatre would have been divine.
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