Curse of the Golden Flower

Watch: Curse of the Golden Flower

12/21/20061h 54m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ Unspeakable secrets are hidden within the Forbidden City. ~

Overview:

During China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as his wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself.

Director:

Zhang Yimou

Status:

Released

Language:

Mandarin

Buget:

$45,000,000.00

Revenue:

$78,568,977.00

Key words:

empire
plan
secret love
martial arts
china
swordplay
fight
toxication
marriage crisis
poison
secret society
palace
forbidden love
heir to the throne
battle for power
royal family
tang dynasty
pomp
based on play or musical
sword fight
betrayal
period drama
historical
wuxia
power struggle
poisoning
7th century

Cast

Chow Yun-Fat

~ as ~

Emperor Ping

Gong Li

~ as ~

Empress Phoenix

Jay Chou

~ as ~

Prince Zhai

Liu Ye

~ as ~

Crown Prince Wan

Qin Junjie

~ as ~

Prince Yu

Li Man

~ as ~

Jiang Chan

Ni Dahong

~ as ~

Imperial Physician Jiang

Chen Jin

~ as ~

Imperial Physician's Wife

Siran Ge

~ as ~

Maid

Guo Jiulong

~ as ~

Host of the Festival

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

r96sk
Written 2 year(s) ago
10
Now that's awesome!

Where to start with 'Curse of the Golden Flower'? Firstly, I need to show some appreciation for the score - incredible! From the very first scene I knew I was in for a treat in that department, it sets the tone perfectly throughout.

This also features outstanding performances from Gong Li (!), Chow Yun-fat, Chen Jin and Jay Chou, among some others. I was particularly impressed by Gong, she truly is terrific from beginning to end - as what is a memorable character. I know I say this a lot with actors, but I'm gonna need to try and check out more of her filmography!

Chow is the only actor in this that I'm familiar with, but this clearly tops what I've seen (not enough, granted) of him thus far - still a fan of him as Sao Feng in 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End', though. The rest of those onscreen, despite the commanding presence of the aforementioned, still manage to standout in my memory as well, from earlier noted Chen and Chou to Li Man to Liu Ye.

The costumes, the sets... I personally do not think this film really put a foot wrong in terms of how it's made. How about those battle sequences too? Visually stunning, but also audibly so. The ending didn't go the way I was expecting, which is very much a positive thing.

Admittedly, this film hit an unwritten cheat code for me. As in: Give me strong performances and a great score and I am hook, line, and sinker. This Zhang Yimou flick gave me that in abundance. Overall, in my opinion: top notch!