Review of Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) by Wei W — 18 Aug 2008

What an overwrought, melodramatic yet powerful film from Zhang Yimou. Gong Li shows why she is better at portraying complex female character that needs a commanding presence (ie Zhang Ziyi's empress character in The Banquet). Chow Yun-Fat broods confidence in his role as the hypocritical emperor. Jay Chou is sadly out of his depth as one of the prince. Liu Ye is over-the-top but manage to get you root for him. Despite the overwrought melodrama in motion, you actually connect with the characters, unlike The Banquet which left me cold. also, compared to the lucious but subtle production setting in The Banquet, the ones featured in this film is purposely overdone to illustrate the themes presented in the film. everyone is suffocated, yet they still want to present themselves as being well. The overdone of the setting can be too much for the average viewers, but for me who actually follows the film from the beginning to the end, it certainly compliments the film.

Now, one would ask which is better: The Banquet or Curse of the Golden Flower, since both came out in the same year? My answer: neither. both has its strengths and weaknesses, and both has different presentation from different directors. however, as long as it is not House of Flying Daggers (by Zhang Yimou, nonetheless) which is ridiculous, especially in the second half of the film where it just threw everything away, I don't care.