CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (Man Cheng Jin Dai
Huang Jin Jia) Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
Sony Pictures Classics
Grade: B
Directed by: Zhang Yimou
Written By: Zhang Yimou, Wu Nan, Bian Zhihong, from play
"Thunderstorm by Cao Yu
Cast: Chow Yun-fat, Gong Li, Jay Chou, Liu Ye, Chen Jin, Ni
Dahong, Li Man, Qin Junjie
Screened at: Sony, NYC, 12/6/06
Opens: December 21, 2006 Move over Shakespeare. A poisoned sword, some corpses
strewn about, no big deal. Ditto Sophocles. A guy blinds himself
when he discovers he was committing incest? Mere
misdemeanor. Take a look at Zhang Yimou's visually
exhilarating "Curse of the Golden Flower," and you'll see what
tragedy and rot and all about. We've got to be thankful that the
members of the Tang dynasty in the 10th century did not
possess weapons of mass destruction, or there would arguably
be nobody alive in the vast regions of China to this very day. "Curse of the Golden Flower" features martial arts, of course,
but tones down the fighting in favor of analyzing character.
Zhang, using a script written by him together with Wu Nan and
Bian Zhihong, sculpts a melodramatic movie featuring actors
with broad facial expressions to project their emotions as though
taking part in grand opera. "Curse" is a cynical shot in the arm
to all innocents in the audience who believe that family values
will triumph over all adversity. The same goes for everyone who
thinks that the more wealth you have, the happier you'll be.
These residents of the most opulent palace you'll ever see are
bitter people bent on destroying one another, or at least doing in
anybody within their own family that they had not already
crushed. The action takes place in the year 928 A.D., not so far back
when you think that the fictional King Lear reigned centuries
before and came to no good either. The costumes to-die-for,
the draperies and carpeting to marvel at, are symbolically
juxtaposed against the rot within the characters. But the rot is
not economic. There is no indication that the populace oppose
the emperor (Chow Yun Fat) or his wife, the Empress *(Gong
Li). However there is tension among the three sons, each
toying with the idea of succeeding his father. Prince Jai (Jay
Chou) is returning with his father from the front. Crown Prince
Wan (Liu Ye), another son but from an earlier marriage, is
having an affair with his stepmother, the Empress, but tries to
break thing off because he's getting a better deal from a pretty
young servant, Chan (Li Man), who is more than she appears to
be. Prince Yu (Qin Junjie), the youngest, is more or less
ignored. The crowning dysfunction, however, emerges, when
we learn that the Emperor has ordered the imperial doctor (Ni
Dahong), to slowly poison the Empress who, when learning
about her man's homicidal intentions, plans a coup by
distributing thousands of golden flowers, i.e. crysanthemums, to
the army. While the younger members of the audience might be expected
to go mostly for the battle scenes toward the conclusion of the
film, that segment is disappointing. The CGI is simply overdone,
turning the movie into a video game, the soldiers obviously not
actual human beings. The real interest–particularly for those
who look beyond the sumptuous and expensive outlay of
costumes and production design–is in the acting of two of
China's most celebrated performers. Gong Li, whose diverse
work includes the upcoming "Hannibal Rising" as well as
traditional Chinese dramas like "Farewell My Concubine," is a
beauty and a magnetic presence. Chow Yun Fat boasts a huge
resume stretches back to 1976 including perhaps the most
popular foreign language movie of recent times, "Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon," which gave Hong Kong martial arts films
a classic status with serious critics. If you're an only child, don't fret. This picture will put a smile on
your face. Not Rated. 118 minutes 2006 by Harvey Karten
harveycritic@cs.com Member: NY Film Critics Online | 
