China, Later Tang Dynasty, 10th Century. On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The Emperor (Chow Yun Fat) returns unexpectedly with his second son, Prince Jai (Jay Chou). His pretext is to celebrate the holiday with his family, but given the chilled relations between the Emperor and the ailing Empress (Gong Li), this seems disingenuous. For many years, the Empress and Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye), her stepson, have had an illicit liaison. Feeling trapped, Prince Wan dreams of escaping the palace with his secret love Chan (Li Man), the Imperial Doctor's daughter. Meanwhile, Prince Jai, the faithful son, grows worried over the Empress's health and her obsession with golden chrysanthemums. Could she be headed down an ominous path? The Emperor harbors equally clandestine plans; the Imperial Doctor (Ni Dahong) is the only one privy to his machinations. When the Emperor senses a looming threat, he relocates the doctor's family from the Palace to a remote area. While they are en route, mysterious assassins attack them. Chan and her mother, Jiang Shi (Chen Jin) are forced back to the palace. Their return sets off a tumultuous sequence of dark surprises. Amid the glamour and grandeur of the festival, ugly secrets are revealed. As the Imperial Family continues its elaborate charade in a palatial setting, thousands of golden armored warriors charge the palace. Who is behind this brutal rebellion? Where do Prince Jai's loyalties lie? Between love and desire, is there a final winner? Against a moonlit night, thousands of chrysanthemum blossoms are trampled as blood spills across the Imperial Palace.
Zhang Yimou is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors now with Hero, House of Flying Daggers and now Curse of the Golden Flower. Visually, this man brings it to the table with thousands of extras, costumes, scenery, etc. Not as much action in this film as I might of anticipated but still very good nonetheless. However, there were some bada$$ ninjas in the film that EASILY made up for the lack of action. I'm looking forward to whatever Zhang Yimou puts out next and it was also good to see Chow Yun-Fat, whom I haven't seen since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Finally, Gong Li is an international star and for good reason. She really puts together an enjoyable performance as Empress Phoenix: strong, independent, defiant. And for those interested, Harry Knowles put together a pretty humerous review on his website, Ain't It Cool that I TOTALLY agree with!
