Curse of the Golden Flower (2006): During China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself. (7.0)
Director: Yimou Zhang
Stars: Yun-Fat Chow, Li Gong and Jay Chou
Languages: Mandarin or English (w/ English Subtitles)
This is an epic movie about an emperor, an empress, the absolute power, forbidden love and tragic consequences. The scenes are wonderful, the use of colors, again, by the director is really nice. Li Gong can deliver a thousand lines with a single facial expression and she lives the character. Some critics, apparently, didn't like the fact that this is over-the-top melodrama. Well, it is a story about an extravagant emperor and his convoluted family in the ancient china, so what do you expect. I think, the over-the-top in everything (the palace, the fight scenes, festivals, etc.) is a part of the deal. It is not today's real life. I liked it. I also really liked the "Chrysanthemum Terrace" (Juhua Tai) song (Jay Chou is a singer also, who knew) at the end of the movie. (This YouTube version, I think has the translations done line by line, but the translation in the movie makes more sense.) My Rating: 7.5
