I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Fantastic!

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

I must admit that this movie is one of the worst disappointments in my life. I saw it by recommendation, and from the comments they made me, I thought it would be a masterpiece: A visually perfect film with a great plot focused on family drama and mistrust. What was my opinion when I finished seeing it ?: Yes, it has family drama, but the softer one. A plot that we have seen over and over again in best- sellers or epic films and while good visually, is not a masterpiece in this regard. Everything is overloaded: the colors, the elements of the changing rooms, the decorations. Everything is arranged so that you do not get to appreciate everything and feel overwhelmed with it. The movie is not meant for you to enjoy a good story, it's made for you to say "oh, look at those great scenarios, how awesome" and nothing more. It is not a deep movie and it lacks everything to be considered a "masterpiece". The plot and its coherence and any interest we might have in it were sacrificed for what could be considered a "greater good" but ended up being a "major evil." This leads to the fact that even the characters are not interesting, they are flat and boring and the actors hardly make an effort to interpret them and that, at the end of instances, it seems that they realized that they made a mistake with the plot and tried to remedy it. The resulting was a whole sequence of meaningless dialogues and cringe situations that give way to an equally disappointing and insipid end. Summary of everything said: They wanted to make a film visually perfect and failed. There was no effort in dealing with the plot or the characters and the director seemed more willing to teach scenarios and costumes than a good movie with all that it entails.

As someone who is slowly becoming a big fan of Zhang Yimou's work I decided I might give this a try. Out of the movies I have seen that he's done of Hero, House Of Flying Daggers and this that this is by far the weakest of his movies, which is not to say that I didn't like it - I just preferred Flying Daggers and Hero more. Even on it's own I'd say it is worth a watch.The main focus is this Borgia-type family of the Chinese Emperor trying to seize more power. The Emperor is poisoning his wife - slowly but surely, his first born wants to make his mother happy, the Empress finds out about the poisoning and wants to confront the Emperor about it and stop him from continuing by any means necessary, The Emperor's second born is in a love relationship with a slave girl who's a part of a family that's secretly trying to kill the Emperor and also trying to stop an... incestuous relationship with the Empress and the third born barely knows anything about what's going on.So what's good about this movie. Well as typical of Yimou's work the cinematography is excellent, The fight scenes are very impressive and as typical of Hero, the scale of everything is just huge. I'm not kidding when I say that I think Yimou took the best technical elements of both Hero and House of Flying Daggers and combined both of them to make a technical marvel. I think especially in the battle scenes in the last third... It looks like something out of Hollywood (actually I may go so far as to say it looks better).On a non-technical standpoint, the story maybe where it falls flat. The first third is completely uninteresting unless you love looking at art design and the characters... This may seem obvious but they aren't that likable and even then they aren't that interesting.On a more positive note about the story, I liked Chow Yun Fat's performance as The Emperor. Basically he comes across as the guy who seems reasonable unless you do something to upset him, when that happens - run, but when I put it like that you might expect him to play it basically like a whiny spoiled brat, but he doesn't. All I have to say is that I do want to see more of his movies.So I just preferred House of Flying Daggers and Hero more. But if you are looking for a movie about diabolical family trying to double-cross and back-stab each other then this is probably going to be a major fill for you. This does have some really good things going for it, like that cinematography, I could talk about how this movie looks good for hours. If you want to watch this then I'd say it is definitely worth a look.

I caught this movie on TV the other night while flicking around, and could not turn it off! As a Westerner with little knowledge of Chinese history or culture, (any knowledge that I do have has come from a smattering at school as a child and some movies as an adult), this visually spectacular work grabbed my attention and would not let me go.As has been said by others here, this picture is set during the reign of the famous Tang dynasty, where the Emporer lusts for complete control of everyone in his kingdom, including his immediate family. If he cannot gain this by twisting their lives to his will, he will do so by blood-lust. The machinations which surround his ambitions involve every member of the family, and his personal army, as well as his doctor and his relatives.I am not normally a fan of martial arts movies, but the fighting scenes which sew this story together are extremely well choreographed and spectacular to see. Be aware that the blood does flow though. The scenery in this movie is mostly of the Forbidden Kingdom palace and grounds, but is spectacularly offered. Hollywood could certainly learn something from the way that these sets are presented.Masterful performances by the two leads steer this movie through twists and turns which demand the viewer's full attention. Chow Yun Fat is wonderful as Emporer Ping, and the very beautiful Gong Li is quite incredible as the dutiful Empress Phoenix, and grabs your attention in every scene. While on the subject, from a male's point of view it is notable that the push-up bra's are doing overtime in this movie!This is a great picture which I believe that any fan of Chinese cinema, and also those who enjoy Hollywood's offerings about ancient China, will love. It is more than a martial arts movie, and more than a drama involving family. It is a thoroughly engrossing story told in spectacular fashion. I look forward to seeing this picture again, subtitles and all !!

Curse of the Golden Flower is a Chinese epic drama film directed by Zhang Yimou.It stars big name in the Chinese industry namely Chow Yun- fat and Gong Li together with Jay Chou and Qin Junjie.The movie presents a dying love between two powerful people leads to deceit, infidelity, and conspiracy in this epic-scale historical drama that has been reportedly the biggest budget Chinese film ever made.This Chinese film takes place during the latter days of the Tang dynasty.The Emperor returns home from the war with his son Prince Jai in tow. However, the monarch gets a chilly reception from the Empress; though she's eager to see her son, her marriage has become deeply acrimonious, and she's taken a lover, Crown Prince Wan, her stepson from the Emperor's first marriage. The Emperor, meanwhile, has his own plan for dealing with his failing marriage as he's ordered the Imperial Doctor to find an exotic drug that will drive the Empress insane and administer it to her without her knowledge. However, the doctor's ethical dilemma is intensified by the fact his daughter Chan has fallen in love with Crown Prince Wan and the two wish to elope. As the Emperor and Empress allow their estrangement to sink into violence and retribution, their youngest son, Prince Yu, struggles to keep the peace in the household. The movie was a good one.The acting of the cast was definitely brilliant.It consists of spectacular production designs and giant CGI battles especially the swordplay and fist-cuffs.It was definitely lavish,beautiful and appealing.What never lived up into becoming an epic film is the story and the screenplay.The violent and operatic saga of cruelty and revenge became more of an Asian soap opera and a melodrama that was contrived at some parts especially in the ending.Nevertheless,it is worthy of one's time to watch this film.