Curse of the Golden Flower
Zhang Yimou's mega-budget costume action drama, Curse of the Golden Flower, is a glittering but deeply flawed film.
Adapted from writer Cao Yu's classic play Thunderstorm, it revolves around a dysfunctional imperial family in the Tang dynasty. The king, played by Chow Yun-fat, is a tyrant who is slowly poisoning his queen (Gong Li). The queen, meanwhile, is plotting a rebellion with her favourite son (Jay Chou), having an affair with her stepson (Liu Ye) and dragging the king's ex-girlfriend into her murderous plot.
This family needs therapy. But who can blame them? The palace is apparently designed to drive people crazy. Everything - from the shiny walls and roofs to their glittering wardrobes and the heavy armour they casually wear to family gatherings - is made of gold. Every frame of the movie is flooded with glaring yellows and golds that will repulse anyone with the slightest sense of taste.
Like most family tragedies, the story ends in violence. But the fights - choreographed by Ching Siu-tong - are more spectacular than usual family violence, as they involve ninja-like warriors swooping down on their enemies.
As an action choreographer, Ching, whose brilliant work ranges from local martial arts flicks in the 1990s to the brilliant swordfights in Hero, is incapable of shooting a clumsy fight scene. While his work for Curse of the Golden Flower is far from being his masterpiece, it is still first-class action.
But should we feel satisfied? Hand-to-hand combat can never replace heart-to-heart drama, and the film offers little of the latter for us to savour. Chow and Gong are very good performers, but their acting is severely handicapped by their cardboard roles. The lavish costumes may tantalise our senses, but the story never quite reaches our hearts.
As for Chou, he looks so sleepy throughout the film it's as if he has just been dragged out of bed by his lunatic mother. But the real victim is Liu, who tries so hard to liven up his one-dimensional role and wooden lines that his performance comes across as absurd.
Curse of the Golden Flower may be a box office hit. But Zhang needs to remember
that an artist should never trade his ideals for gold.
Curse of the Golden Flower is now showing
