Friday, December 29, 2006

The Curse of the Golden Flower

We went to see The Curse of the Golden Flower tonight. I had high hopes for the movie, since it comes from Zhang Yimou, the same director who made Hero and The House of Flying Daggers.

The short version is: I liked the story, I liked the characters (they were all unique and very well defined), and I loved Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat. That said, I also have to say that it does not hold up to the high standard set by Hero. I can't pinpoint the problem, but I did leave the theater feeling like something was missing.

The one thing that really surprised me was the colors. Instead of the strong color theming I've come to associate with Zhang Yimou, Curse of the Golden Flower had this lollipop rainbow swirl thing going on which I found rather distracting.

Two final points: I liked the pomp and circumstance and the sheer spectacle of it, and I found the underlying message of the movie rather novel, cynical as it may be -- power is everything.

It's just too darn bad that watching this movie is like eating a great meal where you're still hungry when you're done. 3/5 - worth renting.

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