Curse of the Golden Flower (Film Review)
5/5
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Source: http://www.movieartarena.com/imgs/cotgfdvd.jpg
Following
his two martial-art epics, “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers”, Yimou stretched
the boundaries of line and color once more with his third epic, “Curse of the
Golden Flower” (2006). The topic of tyranny is obviously familiar territory for
Yimou; another murderous emperor, another rebellious hero, another devious
conspiracy, and another ambiguous moral at the end that is as intellectually sophisticated
as Hero’s. In addition to the Hero-like sets and intense action sequences, Yimou
has increased the number of subjects in the frame with computer-generated
armies to surpass his previous attempts in depicting the massive military
prowess of ancient China. Given the pictorial extremes of advanced special
effects in the west, one would not expect a Hong Kong production to rival those
of contemporary Hollywood blockbusters. Yimou was well aware of his international
competition and absence of his “Hero” cinematographer Christopher Doyle; “Curse
of the Golden Flower” sufficiently distracts the viewers eye with its matching,
lavish production design and expensive costumes. The dark and depressing plot
is masked with saturated primary colors, so preternaturally vivid, that it
causes the viewer to first focus on the world he’s created and the characters
second. Rather than focusing on the emotional identification with each
character, it instead emanates from our respect for the astounding amount of
time and imagination that has gone into the sets, costumes, and action
sequences.
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Source: http://media-cacheec0.pinimg.com/236x/8c/cd/82/8ccd8206c56e7c4da431ad636527fbad.jpg
A
variety of screenshots shows the dynamism of close-ups on the empress (Gong Li)
The
various aspects of eating and drinking, including the preparation and consumption
of meals are shown with a forthright enthusiasm throughout Yimou’s work. Food and
drinks are provided by one group of workers to another group within in the dwelling,
as well as the means of bonding between the woman and the man. In this case,
the empress has been required to drink a medicinal tea every two hours. Without her knowing, the tea was secretly
supplemented by the emperor’s command, with a poisonous mushroom that will
eventually kill her. The Empress' response is to fight back:
she executes a plan of revenge to take place during the Chong Yang Festival, a
celebration of family, ancestry, and escape from evil fortune.
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