Curse Of The Golden Flower

"Curse Of The Golden Flower" is the last 'segment' in director Zhang Yimou's wuxia trilogy, the previous two films "Hero" and "House Of Flying Daggers" were films big in spectacle and this is no different.

Set in 10th Century China, the film follows the political machinations of various members of the royal family and household as they vie against each other in a power struggle in the lead up to the Festival Of The Chrysanthemum; the Emperor (Chow Yun Fat) is slowly poisoning the Empress (Gong Li), she's having an affair with her stepson, he in turn is sleeping with one of the servants, meanwhile his brothers are being sucked in, to varying degrees, to a number of plots to overthrow the Emperor.

"Curse Of The Golden Flower" is one of the most colourful films I've seen for some time. The palace interiors are a riot of colour - vivid colours 'tastefully' contrasted with gold... The word 'garish' springs to mind! One of my big problems with "House Of Flying Daggers" was that it was slowly building towards a giant battle at the end of the film, but this disappointingly never materialised. "Curse Of The Golden Flower" goes some way towards redressing the balance by staging battles that wouldn't have looked out of place in Peter Jackson's "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy. There is a fight between soldiers and ninjas, which is quickly followed up by a battle between two armies - one in gold armour, the other in silver. Throw in some blood and chrysanthemums and you have another colourful feast for the eyes on the screen.

While the screen is bright, the film itself is dark. It feels very Shakespearean, while watching it I was constantly reminded of such tragedies as 'Macbeth', 'King Lear' and 'Hamlet' - this link is strengthened through comparisons with Kurosawa's takes on Shakespeare: "Throne Of Blood" and "Ran". As the film plays out you can foresee the bloody mess that will be left at the end. No character is truly innocent, each of them plays a part in their own downfall.

It's the strength of the lead performances that stops the film from feeling like a shallow melodramatic spectacle. Chow Yun Fat is an actor who I've liked ever since I saw John Woo's "The Killer" on video during the early 90s*, here he is utterly convincing as the ultra-cool but ultra-brutal Emperor - in fact he's so cool in this film that even his hair gets its own 'billow whoosh' moment. I've never been too sure about Gong Li as an actor before, but I've been prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt and put it down to the material rather than her; she seemed like the weakest link in "Miami Vice" as Colin Farrell's love interest - however female characters tend to be poorly served by Michael Mann - and she wasn't great in "Hannibal Rising", but then, little was... In "Curse Of The Golden Flower" she proves why Zhang has chosen her as his leading lady before, she gives a suitably understated performance as the Empress who wants to overthrow the Emperor and install her son on the throne before she succumbs to the poison slowly destroying her mind, while at the same time unable to act overtly.

If you're looking for a piece of ripe melodrama to 'brighten up' an afternoon, especially if you've enjoyed Zhang's earlier films, you'll enjoy "Curse Of The Golden Flower". You may want to take some sunglasses for the interior scenes though...


*Thanks HJ!