Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia (2006)

Director:

Yimou Zhang

Writers:

Yu Cao (play)
Yimou Zhang (writer)

Release Date:

12 January 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Unspeakable secrets are hidden within the Forbidden City.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Emperor | Prince | China | Empress | Crown Prince

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 9 wins & 18 nominations

Cast

Yun-Fat Chow	...	Emperor Ping
Li Gong	...	Empress Phoenix
Jay Chou	...	Prince Jai
Ye Liu	...	Crown Prince Wan
Dahong Ni	...	Imperial Physician Jiang
Junjie Qin	...	Prince Yu
Man Li	...	Jiang Chan
Jin Chen	...	Mrs. Jiang

Also Known As:

Autumn Remembrance (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
Curse of the Golden Flower (International: English title)
The City of Golden Armor (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

USA:114 min | Hong Kong:111 min | Argentina:114 min

Country:

Hong Kong | China

Language:

Mandarin

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:PG | Hong Kong:IIB | Malaysia:U | Australia:M | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:12 | Ireland:15A | UK:15 (cut) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Germany:12 | South Korea:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:13 | Norway:15 | Brazil:14 | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | South Korea:15 (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

China

Company:

Beijing New Picture Film Co.

Trivia:

It took over 20 days to shoot the battle scene.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When the Empress is dressing for the Chrysanthemum festival. Bobby pins and hair pins are visible in her hair. They were not produced until 1916. Chinese are noted with other decorative adornments to hold their hair in place such as combs and other trinkets seen in the movie.

Quotes:

Prince Jai: [upon discovering the Black Fungus] Mother was taken ill yesterday. Was it because of this?
Empress Phoenix: [nods head]
Prince Jai: Why is Father doing this to you?
Empress Phoenix: Jai, after the Chrysanthemum Festival, I shall tell you the whole truth.
[turns away]
Empress Phoenix: Each day, in front of your father, I have to feign ignorance. Every two hours, I swallow this poison without protest. Nobody knows what is happening. I shall die exactly as your father intends. A half-wit. But I refuse to submit without a fight. On the night of the Festival, I shall put an end to all this.
Prince Jai: Do my brothers know?
Empress Phoenix: No.
Prince Jai: If I had not returned, would Mother have gone ahead?
Empress Phoenix: Yes.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Go' morgen Danmark: (2007-08-31)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Juhua Tai

Lavish court intrigue with epic moments

At first, you will be struck by the lavishness of the decors and the elaborate "choreography" of the palace servants. Then it will be the truly exquisite costumes and armors throughout that will impress you. The lighting and colors are also quite wondrous. Visually, it's all quite stunning sometimes to the point of distraction. But those are secondary considerations. The story was delightfully complex yet understandable and for most of the first 2/3 of the movie revolves around palace intrigue and family secrets. The emperor and empress were wonderful in their roles. Gong Li in particular is amazing at conveying emotion without saying a word. Unfortunately, as it went on, I realized that two of the sons weren't up to the acting quality of their "parents". They were both somewhat lacking in terms of emoting and charisma and it undermined all the drama going on.

Besides the opulent and magnificent production values, this was obviously filmed by a great director at the peak of its form with its carefully constructed yet original cinematography. There are moments of quiet beauty and epic battles with moments I had never seen anywhere before. Actually throughout the last act, my mouth often stood agape at the sheer coolness of it all. I wish I had seen this movie on a big screen or at least high-definition because this grand spectacle deserves it. Why do I not rate this higher? Because I wish it had more emotional resonance (like Hero or House of Flying Daggers both from the same director) and a few better actors would have helped a lot. In finishing, without spoiling anything, one should admire the courage and intelligence of the Chinese director at indirectly denouncing the current Chinese regime.

Rating: 8 out of 10