One of the most visually arresting and little-seen gems of 2006 was the martial-arts epic Curse of the Golden Flower.
Directed by Zhang Yimou (Hero), and set in 10th-century China during the Later Tang Dynasty, the film chronicles the meltdown of the Imperial Family, who make Al Bundy’s dysfunctional clan look like the Cleavers. For starters, the Empress (Gong Li) is having an illicit affair with her stepson. But that’s the least of her problems—her Emperor husband (Chow Yun-Fat) is slowly poisoning her and she must find out what he’s spiking her tea with and why before she descends into madness. There is betrayal, vengeance and passion galore before the final—and fatal—family reunion during the annual Chong Yang Festival.
Their problems might be all too human, but the Imperial Family’s Forbidden City is an extraordinary sight hidden from the eyes of mere mortals. Lucky for you, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment just released the movie on DVD (or, if you’re serious about your eye candy, wait for the Blu-ray version in May). Even though the story is a bit, well, Melrose Place and its ending woefully unsatisfying, this is a case of style triumphing over substance. The palace’s gilded halls, the lavish Oscar-nominated costumes, a gravity-defying attack by assassins, and soldiers spilling their blood on an ocean of golden chrysanthemums will make your HDTV worth every cent you paid for it.
RSS 2.0
Comments on this entry:
To remark upon this dynasty with the poetically insulting and rather clumsy couplet of "tang bang" is to disregard not only the importance of the Chinese market for today's businessmen but also to disregard completely the elegance of the Forbidden City for a lame joke about play-of-words cues for lust parties while including the reference to perhaps not-so-tastefully singing "get it on, bang a gong" while viewing the drapery of Gong Li's busom. Far be it for Playboy to recall its hopes for classy behavior in the midst of establishing bedroom decorum. The "golden" flower is the domain of an Empire more noble than Hef can ever aspire to, and to smear it with the excrement of the concept of "gang bangs," "gongs," and the Chinese/Japanese/look at these mentality of boys who don't know how to play well with others cannot be more revolting. "Jade Empire" indeed.
When the Chinese pick up their packs and drive over to your neighborhood, there will not be any congratulatory words upon this article.