Here's a copy of my review from WOKJ's very own Foreign & Independent Films sub-forum:



Awesome! How else can one describe an epic movie on historical China with a Shakespearean melodrama as it's narrative heart?

Though I enjoyed the recent Hero and House of Flying Daggers, the Imperial setting and intrigue provided a much richer vein from which to mine the titular golden flower. And speaking of titular, Gong Li was outstanding in the role of the Empress. If there were any true justice (smirk) at the Academy awards, she would be awarded Best Actress by default this year. She rules this film.

As for the cinematography and art design -- sumptuous would be one word to begin to describe them. After seeing a movie like Curse of the Golden Flower, you almost begin to think that film stock is wasted on lesser canvases.

Very, very pleasing to a fan such as myself interested in continuing to explore the mysteries of China...

6 out of 5.

Note: If you're looking strictly for a martial arts movie, look somewhere else than Curse of the Golden Flower. While there are a couple of brief but awesome sequences, the emphasis in this film is on the sweeping epic melodrama...

Still a visual feast, but this is quite a different type of film from Hero and House of Flying Daggers. The plot takes center stage, with only a few martial arts scenes. Is it too melodramatic? Probably, but if you can follow it all the way, it's pretty interesting. Performance-wise, Gong Li absolutely owned the screen. Chow Yun-Fat wasn't given much to work with in the first half but was able to turn it around during the second. Jay held up well too, while the rest of the cast felt cartoonish or way over-the-top. The film was dragged down by the last act, when the CGI effect on the massive number of soldiers was so poorly done that it distracted the eventual climax. Cut the number in half, the film would have moved up a grade. As it is, I'll give it a B.

I loved the movie.

What it comes down to, I guess, is the parts I could see issues with, but with the experience of the whole film being so great, so enthralling and amazingly twisted and beautiful and brilliant, i wouldn't feel comfortable looking at the little pieces and marking the film down for it.

It's a film that is worth to be seen on a big screen.

Why do I keep seeing Zhang Yimou films? Hero was incredibly dissapointing, I laughed all the way through House of Plot Convienence Daggers, and now I was forced to see this. It's supposed to be both claustrophobic and excessive - but the end result just gave me a headache. The turgid melodrama just got on my nerves, and the magnified amount of extras appearing out of nowhere had the audience laughing. Gong Li and that... bubbly maid both handled the material about as well as could be expected, but everyone else chews the scenary. And believe me, that's a hell of a lot to chew. C-

Zhang Yimou is the Lenbi Riefenstahl of the 21st Century. John Milius looks like a communist against him. As marvellous as the movie looks and the asction is choreographed, the statement of the movie is so right-wing it isn't even funny.
How can anyone ignore his "revolutions are pointless, you're all gonna die and after it everything is the same as it was before" (beautifully shown by the way how the aquare was cleaned of the blood and beind decorated with chrysanthemes then seconds after the battle was over) and declare this one a good movie?
But it seems common with Yimou since most people in the US loved his pro death-penalty movie "Hero" as well. The saddest thing though is that Yimou is a really accomplished filmmaker. He might even be the best action director currently working, but why does he paint all his movies into the colors od a supporter of the regime? F

Hmmm... is this the dawn of the strictly political review on WOKJ?

We've had superficial reviews long enough, don't you think?

I must say, it's a pretty impressive display of indignation about a thousand year old political situation...

Just because it is set 1000 years ago, you turn off your brain and can't see what the director intended? So that menas for you Good Night and Good Luck was just about McCarthy and had nothing to do with today? Gee...

I see your point, though I don't think that that one reading/meaning of the film should trump all others for viewers. And even that one may be viewed as a warning as much as an endorsement...

B+ for all the cleavage.

Beautiful, well-acted(especially by Gong Li) with a great first two acts. The story is reminiscent of a Greek tragedy with elements from Oedipus and Electra. However all those elements are diminished in the last act which is underwhelming to say the least. The resolution was...I don't know, I'll have to somewhat agree with Levy here. It supports a very right-wing message. That's not even half the problem here, I did not feel that the character arcs were completed with such a resolution. It could have been much different and much better and that is very unfortunate because the first two acts had such great potential. I'm giving it a lenient C+. Disappointing.

B-


While I didn't love the film, I completely disagree with Levy's assessment of it. It doesn't ever make that kind of a statement. Yes, the revolution against the evil Emperor doesn't succeed and it is a tragic ending as all threee of his sons are dead. It's tragic for everyone and the Emperor is never shown to be any other than eveil, so ony because he still reigns at the end, it doesn't mean that the movie implies that it's all fine and good the way it ended. Gong Li's Empress, the one who started the uprising, is the tragic character here. It all comes down to the fact that because of all the intrigues, plotting and lies, many many people had to die and the Emperor remains without a heir.

That said, the movie's plot is way too twisted and turned for its own good. The characters of the sons aren't nearly as well-developed as they should have been and evevn the evil Emperor is rather one-dimensional. Gong Li is the only one here who gets some good character development and motivations. Also, several characters here are acting just plain stupid.

It's a very beautiful and breathtaking movie to look at, though. No surprise, however. Hero looked even better!

Yeah, I also don't think Yimou is trying to make any kind of political statement here. For Hero I do see such a point, but here the tragedy is more on a personal level and within the confine of the emperor's throne. Remember, Yimou made films like To Live and Raising the Red Latterns, great films that got banned in China because of its political undertone. The so-called 5th generation of Chinese directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige lived through cultural revolution, so they certainly don't look at the current regime with any favor.

A-

I enjoyed it enough to purchase it, and I rarely ever buy DVD's. The DVD's I do buy are always the same thing. Disney Classics, random musical, new Burton film every few years, and a few fantasy titles like Harry Potter.

After Memoirs of a Geisha and Curse of the Golden Flower, I really like Gong Li.