Curse of the Golden Flower is probably the most talked-about Chinese film of 2006. International star Chow Yun Fat returns to Chinese cinema to team up with Gong Li in a film directed by the famed Zhang Yimou, who continues in the period epic genre after Hero and House of Flying Daggers. In addition to these three big names, the film also features acclaimed Mainland actor Liu Ye and Taiwanese top singer Jay Chou in his first costume role. The extravagant palace and the omnipresent chrysanthemums give the film its dazzling colors, creating an unprecedented visual sumptuousness that is beyond astounding.

Turning Cao Yu’s famous play Thunder Storm into an epic film, Curse of the Golden Flower details a complicated dispute that encompasses both familial and political dimensions. Patriarchal Emperor Ping (Chow Yun Fat) summons his second son, Prince Jie (Jay Chou), to return to the palace after his tour of duty defending the border. Meanwhile, Prince Xiang (Liu Ye) wants to hide his incestuous affair with his step-mother, Empress Phoenix (Gong Li). Spectacularly beautiful from the outside, the royal family is actually falling apart within the golden confines of the palace. The calculating Emperor Ping wants to slowly kill the Empress with help from the Imperial Physician (Ni Dahong) and his daughter (Li Man), but Phoenix is also trying to ally with Prince Jie to start a coup…

The film demonstrates how the hunger for power eventually distorts human nature and leads to shocking brutality. Filled with jaw-dropping fighting scenes and beautifully designed costumes and settings, Curse of the Golden Flower exhibits the full potential of the genre’s aesthetics. Zhang Yimou uses the most exorbitant visual elements to narrate a thrilling story, in which the brightest colors come into contrast with the darkest acts that human beings are capable of.

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