Directed by: Yimou Zhang
Premise: Emperor Ping (Chow Yun Fat) attempts to
maintain control over his kingdom while his wife (Li Gong) and eldest son (Ye
Liu) plot to overthrow him.
What Works: Curse of the Golden Flower is a
film that delivers in all areas. It is tightly scripted, well acted, and
satisfying as an action film, as an epic, and as a family drama. Golden
Flower takes some narrative risks, dealing with difficult thematic material,
including Oedipal impulses, and is able to use them to make the picture a
stronger experience, grounding the political story in a familial framework, much
like how The
Godfather makes the inner workings of the mafia palatable by playing
them out in conjunction with the story of a family. Golden Flower’s
action sequences are well choreographed and while they feature the kind of
wirework characteristic of this genre, they also have a fluidity and credibility
to them that hasn’t been seen before in Zhang’s films.
What Doesn’t: The transition into the third act
is bit rough. The motives of Emperor Ping that push him and country to war are
sketchy. The ending of the film, while capitalizing on the tragedy, is
surprising and defies conventional thinking about how epics ought to end; while
this is to the film’s credit, some viewers might be turned off by Curse of
the Golden Flower’s downbeat ending.
Bottom Line: Curse of the Golden Flower is
another great picture from the director of Hero and The House
of Flying Daggers. While Curse of the Golden Flower is better
than Flying Daggers, it does not reach the heights in quality of Hero,
but that is a tall order. As it is, Curse of the Golden Flower is a
terrific film that features some great work.