Just watched Curse Of The Golden Flower... Well what can I say, the sets and costumes were truly made of "gold", practically everyone and everything were nicely color coordinated BUT I admit that I don't like the movie that much...
Why? Actually I don't really know why just that at some places where I am supposed to be terrified or touched I just had the urge to laugh instead. Its not that the acting was bad, on the contrary it was really good for the most parts (Chow Yun-Fatt and Gong Li were truly amazing). But the movie just feels emotionally empty. Most of the time I was admiring the actors' clothes and the lovely scenery instead of being focused on what the actors were actually saying.
But still ... although the sets and costumes look gorgeous, I kept thinking that the palace looks more like some swanky Vegas casino hotel since everything was so bright and shiny, honestly I did not know that the Tang dynasty had spotlights haha. And not forgetting the "unbelievably" buxomy palace maids. Whew... how can any guy (even eunuchs!) work in a place like that without going a little ... :-P In other words, I think in trying to create a gorgeous and elaborate palace setting, the director seemed to have forgotten that a touch of realism would have helped a lot.
And the storyline... the familial breakdown and the violence that ensued could have made for a impactful and absorbing story .. if only it was handled a little better. I felt that more scenes should be given to explaining what the main characters were feeling and how the events happened instead of focusing so much on the scenes of the palace staff getting ready for the day etc... although these scenes were interesting too in their own way... seeing how efficient the palace staff were really puts me to shame ;-)
All in all, I feel that the movie is worth watching for 3 things: the costumes, the sets and Chow Yun-Fatt's and Gong Li's superb acting.
Tags: Curse Of The Golden Flower, Chinese Movie, Zhang Yi-Mou, Chow Yun-Fatt, Gong Li, Jay Chou.
Curse Of The Golden Flower - My Thoughts
Curse Of The Golden Flower Makes It To Time Magazine's 10 Best Films Of 2006
The Chinese hit movie Curse Of The Golden Flower has made it into Time Magazine's 10 Best Films of 2006 sharing the honour with prestigious films like Borat and Letters from Iwo Jima. It is the only Asian film to have made it to this prestigious list.
However, reviews for the movie have been mixed. The movie only managed to obtain a 57% rating in the Rotten Tomatoes critic ratings. This is very much lower than other recent Zhang Yimou movies with similar themes like House of Flying Daggers
The harsh reviews did not seem to have any adverse effect on the movie's box office though... Golden Flower broke the opening week box office record previously set by super blockbuster Titanic in China. Till date, its box-office takings in China alone have exceeded the $200 million renminbi (approximately US$13 million) mark and the movie also performed above expectations in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
I have not watched the movie yet.. will post my thoughts on the movie here once I have watched it. Check out my earlier post for more interesting info on this hotly debated film of the moment.
Tags: Curse Of The Golden Flower, Chinese Movie, Zhang Yi-Mou, Chow Yun-Fatt, Gong Li, Jay Chou, Time Magazine, Best Film, Time Best Films Of 2006.
