Curse of the Golden Flower

Review of Curse of the Golden Flower.

• Plot line seems more Japanese than Chinese, e.g. Kurosawa.
  
• For some reason, rulers of countries and their kin are more likely to kill one another than most siblings.
  
• Reminded me of LOTR, to some extent, except it gets outlandishly crazy. Compare it to, say, the battle at Helm's Deep, and you realize Peter Jackson is rather restrained.
  
• One key difference between LOTR and CofGF is ritual. In particular, the opening scene when the women are getting ready to greet the Emperor. This is common in Kurosawa films. People kneeling, bowing, taking care of minor duties. LOTR doesn't have that much hierarchy. You don't see servants in the film doing this or that.
  
• Furthermore, the Emperor is definitely in charge, with the Empress having to do his bidding. You don't get the sense that, say, Aragorn (being the gentle king) would ever exercise the kind of authority the Emperor has here.
  
• Zhang Yimou appears to borrow an idea from Elizabethan era dramas, which are tightly corseted women with their bosoms sticking out, quite a feat, given that Asian women tend to be less buxomous than Europeans or Americans.
  
• As usual, eye-popping colors, and extremely ornate sets. How much did this cost?
  
• And the cast? Did Zhang use lots of extras or was it CG?
  
• The Emperor seems rather cold and distant. It's not quite clear what his feelings for his first wife are, except that there is some scheming on his part to get to where he is. This is a problem because it doesn't give enough emotional impact near the end of the film.
  
• The Emperor's sons, by and large, seem like a wimpy lot. I know, they're all being compared to Chow Yun Fat.
  
• The approach of the assassins into the village is just too cool. They look like ninjas though. Again, the film seems more Japanese than Chinese.
  
• Gong Li does disdain about as well as anyone. She's at the emotional core of the film. Chow Yun Fat's Emperor while powerful, seems remote, distant. If you're meant to sympathize with anyone, it's the Empress, even though she's hardly full of virtue.
  
• They could have taken the Lone Star solution to the forbidden love affair.
  
• There's much less of the wire-fu going on, though obviously, there is some.
  
• The ending is not really that satisfying. In the end, it's hard to say who you want to root for. It's not the kind of kick in the gut feeling one gets at the end of, say, The Usual Suspects
  
• Overall, I still liked Hero better. Although there's a story of revenge there, it is an intriguing way to handle the problem. The bleak ending suggests that there are some principles, as distasteful as they maybe, that are worth dying for. CofGF doesn't have this, and merely serves as something of a revenge plot.
  
• It's not that clear why the Emperor is doing this at all. Why does he do it now? And is that story enough to really hang a whole film on? I don't feel it is.
  
• Zhang Yimou knows how to turn the melodrama to 11 and beyond, almost to the point it becomes laughably nuts. It prevents the story from becoming as touching as it could be. Peter Jackson, et al, knew that the story of the LOTR is more than just its battle sequences. It's about Frodo's journey and Samwise's friendship, to do something he doesn't want to do, but must. Even the battles have a human element to it (for example, Denethor who doesn't like his son Faramir, and is willing to kill him, even as he is being attacked).
  
• Note how important ceremony is. When the battle is over, there are people to return things back to order.
  
• So what do you think happens after the end scene? It's not clear life goes on, as it somewhat implies, as opposed to the chaos at the end of Ran when an empire effectively crumbles, taken over by the enemy.
  
• The long hair looks great on Chow Yun Fat.