Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia (2006)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Yimou Zhang

Writers:

Yu Cao (play)
Yimou Zhang (writer)

Release Date:

12 January 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | 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 Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | 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:

The empress's Phoenix Crown weighed 12 pounds.

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:

Empress Phoenix: So you are leaving. Are you afraid?
Crown Prince Wan: You are my mother, Your Majesty.
Empress Phoenix: We have been intimate for three years. You, of all people should know who I am.
Crown Prince Wan: I am first and foremost my father's son.
Empress Phoenix: [grabs Wan, attempting to seduce him]
Crown Prince Wan: [recoils from the Empress] Mother!
Empress Phoenix: I am not your mother!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-01-06)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Juhua Tai

A Golden Victory for an Extraordinary Film

So many superlatives can be applied to CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER that it's difficult to assess the movie without sounding totally biased and over the top. Few films have achieved the level of sheer visual beauty as this one with its interior shots of Chinese palace walls and columns illuminated by glowing hues of gold, emerald, and ruby. Few also have managed to weave the threads of so many tangled tortured relationships into such a spellbinding masterpiece of tragedy.

The seductive visual beauty of this film's set and costumes makes a powerful contrast to the deadly schemes and betrayals that motivate the leading characters, members of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 BC). Just as the viewer finds him- or herself starting to feel sorry for one character--for example the Empress who is being tortured by her husband, or the Emperor who has been scandalously betrayed by his wife--it turns out that nobody is 100 percent innocent, not even the youngest of the royal family's three sons. If there's one great exception to the royal family's collective guilt, it would be the second son, Prince Jai, played with nobility and charisma by Chinese pop star Jay Chou. Having proved himself on the battlefield as a worthy contender for the throne, Prince Jai returns home only to find himself agonizingly torn between loyalty to his mother and father. The sacrifice he makes in the end turns out to be the most brutal tragedy of all.

Yun Fat Chow as the Emperor and Gong Li in the role of the Empress give incredible performances as a couple whose love has long died but who remain together for the sake of political convenience. Behind their beautiful clothes, lavish furnishings, and perfectly choreographed movements, the two calmly seek each others' destruction. Yun Fat Chow's and Li's performance are on par with that of the world's best Shakespearean actors and the story of CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER itself can be compared to a combination of "King Lear" and "Oedipus Rex." One begins to truly appreciate the challenges directors face when considering the titanic logistics director Zhang Yimou had to deal with in order to make this film. Imagine the precision of detail and control it took to go, as he does with the movie, from one scene of dozens of beautiful feudal-era women waking and preparing to work in the palace, to another later on of a thousand warriors in gold armor charging against another thousand warriors in metallic black. With its brilliant storyline, glorious production, and extraordinary performances, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER stands as a major triumph of modern film-making.

by Aberjhani, author of "The Bridge of Silver Wings"