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Curse Of The Golden Flower Details

2006 Certificate 15
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 15,397 members

China, AD928. A royal family reunion cooks up the usual array of betrayals, poisonings, back-stabbings, front-stabbings and wholesale carnage of loyal warriors. Read more

Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li Gong, Gong Jay, Liu Ye
Director Yimou Zhang
Genres Action/Adventure, Drama, Romance, World Cinema

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Curse Of The Golden Flower

China, AD928. A royal family reunion cooks up the usual array of betrayals, poisonings, back-stabbings, front-stabbings and wholesale carnage of loyal warriors.

Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li Gong, Gong Jay, Liu Ye, Dahong Ni, Ni Dahong, Qin Junjie, Junjie Qin, Man Li, Li Man, Chen Jin, Jin Chen
Director Yimou Zhang
Studio UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK VIDEO RENTAL
Run time DVD: 1 hr 54 mins
Certificate Certificate 15
Genres Action/Adventure, Drama, Romance, World Cinema
Language DVD: Mandarin
Subtitles DVD: English
Released DVD: 03 Sep 2007
Production year: 2006
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews of Curse Of The Golden Flower

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  • Emperor Ping (Chow Yun-Fat) returns to Beijing for the chrysanthemum-themed Chong Yang festival with his middle son,... read more on Time Out

    • Ben Walters, 
    • Time Out
    • Posted 10 Jun 2009

  • Most helpful member's review of Curse Of The Golden Flower

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  • 45 out of 61 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 2 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    Curse of the Melodramatic plotline

    Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon....all wonderful, beautifully filmed and choreographed, and touching films. Paced well, acted with style, and offering a vision of Mythic China that western audiences had not seen before. So, it is such as shame that Curse of the Golden Flower is so dull!

    The story is set in the latter stages of the Later Tang dynasty, and is as fantastically soap-operatic as Dallas ever was! The Imperial family are tearing themselves apart in lusts for power, revenge, or freedom. The Empress (Gong Li) is having a secret affair with her stepson. The Emperor (Chow Yun Fat) is slowly poisoning the Empress. The stepson, the Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye) is having an affair with the daughter of the Imperial Doctor. The other sons want the throne for themselves when their father passes away. Oil is struck in the desert and JR has been shot.

    Okay, ignore that last sentence, that was just a sly dig at the melodramatic nature of this film. Not only melodramatic, but drearily paced melodrama at that! The film simply takes too long to tell us very little. The first half hour or so is a chore to stay awake through, with the constant reminders of plot points hammered home at every opportunity. It seems that, like Hero, this film has very little plot which they wanted to drag out for as long as they could. Unlike Hero, however, they fill the time with nothing interesting, whereas that earlier film filled the time with more action.

    On a plus side, Golden Flower looks magnificent. The vibrant colors of the Imperial palace, the massive armies dressed in fabulous costumery, the luxurious set designs. All draw the eyes into the film and cannot fail to impress. Sumptuous and lavish, the cinematography is impeccable. The score to the film reflects well on the visuals, truly conveying the majesty and beauty of the moment in history.

    Sadly, aside from these visuals, and the key battle moments towards the latter half of the film, the film feels empty and vacant, and far too overblown for its own good. As a film on its own merit, Flower would not have received the release it got. It is only due to the popularity of the earlier films that this distinctly average film is getting so much attention.

    • Meako
      • Meako from Sheffield
      • Posted 19 Apr 2007 20:30

  • Most recent members' review of Curse Of The Golden Flower

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  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    Family Values

    Sanity and madness in the family, the psychiatric nurse in me loved it. A family totally at war with itself and told only the way the Chinese can. Lots of interesting camera shots highlighting the amazing colours and textures that China has. Yes the plot was a little OTT, but the acting for the most part was good and with so many cheap extras to be able to call on you just know that the finale is going to be impressive. Entertaining and a refreshing change from Hollywood dross. Give it a try I enjoyed it

      • Robert Macrowan from Brighton - England
      • Posted 25 Jan 2008 22:40

  • News and features

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    Curse Of The Golden Flower

    The Curse of the Golden Flower

    • 10 Apr 2007

    Miami Vice and Hannibal Rising star Gong Li was roundly criticized in the Chinese press recently after speaking up for environmental issues in the senate while wearing fur. So it goes: Gong is as close to royalty as China allows these days, and that privilege doesn't come without scrutiny (she has also used her delegate status to try to curb media intrusions into privacy). It's all a long way from the roles that made her name nearly twenty years ago now: in Red Sorghum, Ju Dou, Raise the Red... Read more

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Rating breakdown

15,397 Member ratings
  • 100
1,055
  • 90
601
  • 80
2,850
  • 70
2,705
  • 60
3,963
  • 50
1,538
  • 40
1,375
  • 30
448
  • 20
583
  • 10
279

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      • China, AD928. A royal family reunion cooks up the usual array of betrayals, poisonings, back-stabbings, front-stabbings and wholesale carnage of loyal warriors....