Curse Of The Golden Flower

Zhang Yimou ends his Wuxia trilogy with this epic drama. Playing out like a Shakespeare story set in China, Curse of the Golden Flower delivers a very impressive film. Not as good or actioned packed as Hero, however, not as dull and boring as House of the Flying Daggers, Curse is a very good film to watch. The story is strong, An Empress being slowly poisoned by her Emperor husband with other plot twists that had me gripped all the way through. A strong story line helps you to not notice the lack of martial arts in this one, however when there is action, it doesn't fail to deliver.

The look of this film is incredible, every shot is like a painting, and the attention to detail with costume, props and set are incredible, more colours than the rainbow could offer.

A fantastic battle scene at the end reminds us we've not seen a war this good since Helm's Deep and it never fails to impress. It's slow paced towards the end which is it's downfall, stopping it from being a 5 *. The performance from Gong Li as the Empress really carries this film, she's incredible and Chow Yun Fat show's his darker side as the Emperor, first time I've seen him not be the hero.

A visually stunning film which sits perfectly side by side with Hero & Flying Daggers. A keeper for me, a must watch for everyone who's a fan of the East!

Visually this film is very pleasant, as is to be expected...and no, not just because of the hundreds of corsets. The story is relatively simple as the events all stem from the disjointed relationship between the Emperor and Empress. It is definitely an original film in the way the story is told, making for a nice breather from the norm. The ending is a bit empty, so to speak, but doesn't spoil the show. Gong-Li is one of the greatest actresses out there and does not disappoint in this movie. Her firm countenance and piercing stare both contribute to the wonderful moody persona she illustrates on screen, exuberating with attitude and confidence. However, these characteristics in no way cast aside the heartbroken and tender feelings carried by the Empress, which Li also captures with distinction.

this 'martial arts' offering is visually stunning.
with 'pomp and ceromony' backed up with an 'extravagant
set' and 'lavish costumes'
in my opinion this fabulous spectacle eclipses all its previous contempories.
the use of coulours,the musical chants, brilliant.
and do you know what, the story line is probably one of the strongest seen yet for this style of cinema magic, the
fight scenes are also impressive.
all of which, without spoiling the plot, is why i have awarded the film '5 stars'

i really liked this filmm jay chou done great. the drama is very good and the action and battle scene was fantastic.
if you enjoy watching house of flying daggers, hero etc, then get this. this is cheap and is much enjoyable and worth happening with jay chou in!, i gave it 4 stars cause i would have liked abit more action at the start or saw what the battlefront was like( where jai was )

I was expecting great things from this film, afterall directed by the same director who did, 'Hero' and 'Flying daggers' but boy was I mistaken.

Firstly the positives, yes beautifuly made, use of colour and sound amazing, acting good as usual. If you like long flowing wide shots you will love this.

Negatives, if your expecting marital arts fighting from the start you will be disappointed, infact no fighting until the last part of the film. When it comes, good but seen lot better from the previous films mentioned.

Now the storyline, very thin indeed, infact you could almost miss it, it's that thin.

By sitting through this you will be screaming out for action and it does deliver some of that but you have to wait a long time to get it.

If you want action, action, action, watch this when it comes on TV don't bother buying it.

3 stars for the postives I'm mentioned, ok film but don't expect the impact the directors previous films had on you.