|
Wednesday, 17 January 2007 07:11 |
By BLAISE FAY
"Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia," literally translated as "The City of Golden Armor," gained its name as well as its main motif from the late Tang dynasty.
While it is neither historically accurate nor loosely based on fact, the filmës tale of imperial conflict was inspired by the poetry of rebel leader Huang Chao.
 Set
in the Chinese age of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the film ǃÓ
released under the English title, "Curse of the Golden Flower" ǃÓ
depicts a dysfunctional royal family at the time of grandeur and
ceremony, a time when their closeness drives them apart. The film is an
excellent, frightening example of corrupted power forces and the
complexity of relationships.
Chow Yun Fat
plays Emperor Ping, a merciless tyrant capable of destroying anyone to
keep control over his family and kingdom. His dark secrets propel this
film, unleashing their horror on anyone close to him.
The Empress
Phoenix (played by the memorable Chinese film star Gong Li) has a
pitiful relationship with her husband. She bitterly obeys the emperorës
order to consume medicine every two hours while growing suspicious and
resentful of him. As she weakens, the empress begins to plot her
revenge against her husband around the time of the chrysanthemum
festival.
The three princes of the kingdom ÇƒÓ Wan, Jai and Yu ÇƒÓ each displays a fatal character flaw that leads to his demise.
Wan is engaged
in two romantic relationships that we know of ÇƒÓ one with the empress,
the other with a servant girl, who is the daughter of the Imperial
Doctor.
Jai has just
returned from fighting for three years, and feels torn between his
parents, both of whom are trying to recruit the princes to do their own
corrupted bidding.
Despite having
just a small part in the film, Yu, the youngest prince, plans to
overthrow his parents, after watching the strange interactions between
Prince Wan and the empress.
Appropriately
enough, the film ends in a bloody rampage between almost every
character in the film. And, although it was confusing and overdone,
there were many exciting twists.
The elements
were so mixed, I think it would be safe to dub "Curse of the Golden
Flower" as a Chinese Shakespearean samurai epic period piece.
Zhang Yimou, who
also directed "House of Flying Daggers," uses extremely vivid colors
throughout the film, especially in the corridors of the palace. The
costumes are equally extravagant, from the full-suit plated armor to
the revealing gowns, the splendor of color and light took the artistic
theme further.
"Curse of the Golden Flower" was exciting ÇƒÓ full of human drama, blood and sexual deviance, but I really hated this film.
Much of the acting was overdone and generally cheesy, though Gong Liës performance was a notable exception.
Furthermore,
the subtitles bothered me right away ÇƒÓ the film was too fast-paced and
vibrant to be reading the whole time. I felt I could barely glimpse the
screen before another line flashed on for me to read. With all the
character quirks and well-designed twists in the story, I felt there
was too little development of the past.
However, I think
anyone interested in foreign films will find "Curse of the Golden
Flower" worth seeing for its camera technique, color palette and
fascinating story.
Otherwise, I think this movie will be a let-down.
|
