During China’s Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself. (imdb.com)

Curse of the Golden Flower directed by Yimou Zhang (House of Flying Daggers, Hero, Raise the Red Lantern) was yet another remarkable film in a long line of remarkable films directed by Zhang. This time set in the 10th Century Tang Dynasty. “During the latter days of the Tang dynasty, the Emperor (Chow Yun-Fat) returns home from the war with his son Prince Jai (Jay Chou) in tow. However, the monarch gets a chilly reception from the Empress (Gong Li); though she’s eager to see her son, her marriage has become deeply acrimonious, and she’s taken a lover, Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye), her stepson from the Emperor’s first marriage. The Emperor, meanwhile, has his own plan for dealing with his failing marriage — he’s ordered the Imperial Doctor (Ni Dahong) to find an exotic drug that will drive the Empress insane and administer it to her without her knowledge. However, the doctor’s ethical dilemma is intensified by the fact his daughter Chan (Li Man) has fallen in love with Crown Prince Wan and the two wish to elope.” (from allmovie.com).

The plot is somewhat Shakespearian and the battle scenes epic and Roman. The cinematography is stunning and the costumes and set just blow your mind. Like House of Flying Daggers, I was just mesmerized by the visuals and the acting. Gong Li is simply perfect as the tormented but strong and resilient Empress. You see and feel her trapped anger and sadness like the fizzing and froth of a bottle of champagne shaken too much, if uncorked could do some serious damage. It’s rare, I think, that you can watch a foreign actress convey so much, doing so little and know for certain that you can attribute it to her fine acting. The culture and language barrier can often cloud one’s judgement of trully good acting if you don’t speak the language or are not from the culture. There was no mistake that Gong Li is one of the finest actreeses out there today. Chow Yun Fat was great as usual. The whole cast was great. However, Crown Prince Wan character was a bit difficult to watch at times. Not sure if it was bad acting on Liu Ye’s part or if the character was meant to be played as such a miserable coward. I thought of Orlando Bloom’s portrayal of Paris in Troy. Especially the scene where he’s set to fight a much more meatier foe but somehow and pathetically ends up clinging to the leg of his brother, the much more capable (in battle and acting) Hector played by Eric Bana. Anyway, the action sequences were absolutely amazing. Romanesque, picturesque and unique. Also, the blood in the violent scenes were very, very red so it throws you off a bit and takes you out of the moment. Not sure what that was about. Perhaps more theatrical and less realistic (dark red to almost black) as it should have been.

Anyway, all in all Curse of the Golden Flower is an lovely epic, a beautiful tale and journey worth embarking.

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