Curse of the Golden Flower

Theatrical Release Date: 2006 12 22 (USA - Limited) / 2007 01 12 (USA)

UPC: 043396184923

Studio: Sony Pictures

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence]

Summary: A dying love between two powerful people leads to deceit, infidelity, and conspiracy in this epic-scale historical drama from director Zhang Yimou. During the latter days of the Tang dynasty, the Emperor (Chow Yun-Fat) returns home from the war with his son Prince Jai (Jay Chou) in tow. However, the monarch gets a chilly reception from the Empress (Gong Li); though she's eager to see her son, her marriage has become deeply acrimonious, and she's taken a lover, Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye), her stepson from the Emperor's first marriage. The Emperor, meanwhile, has his own plan for dealing with his failing marriage -- he's ordered the Imperial Doctor (Ni Dahong) to find an exotic drug that will drive the Empress insane and administer it to her without her knowledge. However, the doctor's ethical dilemma is intensified by the fact his daughter Chan (Li Man) has fallen in love with Crown Prince Wan and the two wish to elope. As the Emperor and Empress allow their estrangement to sink into violence and retribution, their youngest son, Prince Yu (Qin Junjie), struggles to keep the peace in the household. Curse of the Golden Flower (aka Man Cheng Jim Dai Huang Jin Jia) received its North American premiere at the 2006 American Film Institute Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Cinematography (Runner-up) – Boston Society of Film Critics Best Cinematographer (Runner-up) – New York Film Critics Society Best Cinematography – Satellite Awards Best Costume Design – Satellite Awards Best Cinematography – National Society of Film Critics Best Art Direction in a Period Film – Art Directors Guild Best Costume Design – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Costumes in a Period Film – Costume Guild Awards

Curse of the Golden Flower

Format: Universal Media Disc

Release Date: 03/27/2007

Runtime: 114 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,French,Portuguese,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Cammila Albertson

Curse of the Golden Flower has its work cut out for it in terms of audience expectations. It will disappoint viewers hoping for Chow Yun-Fat to take them on a high-kicking martial arts thrill ride, but if you go into the movie expecting more of a Shakespearian tragedy than a wushu adventure, this epic tale is sure to impress. While it's true that Golden Flower can feel stilted and murky compared to director Zhang Yimou's more enthralling movies like Hero and Raise the Red Lantern, it's still an incredibly textured, multi-dimensional narrative. The opulent costumes and art direction are dazzling enough to keep you transfixed, but as brooding as the mood can be, the story is still eloquent and moving. The twists and turns of who is double crossing whom can get a little confusing, but the film still manages to gracefully run the gamut from an intimate melodrama to a symbolic yarn about human nature. Both of these readings hinge on a plot about a tenth century Chinese royal family that struggles within the confines of the extremely insulated palace through poisonings, attempted coups, and possibly incestuous affairs. All that drama might sound a little too much like a soap opera, and sometimes it is, but the emphasis is on the opera. This is a larger-than-life fable about how the power and isolation of courtly life removes all frame of reference from the lives of royals, so that destructive acts of greater and greater excess and insanity become reasonable. Zhang does an excellent job of imparting that sequestered feeling, making the viewer feel just as confined as the characters, who are almost never depicted outside the narrow corridors, paper-thin walls, and overwhelming ornamentation of the palace. This is the same isolation that fuels a story like Hamlet, where only after their warped hate and paranoia leads most of the characters to kill each other off does the absurdity of the last two bloody hours hit home. While a literal translation of the film's original Chinese title is something along the lines of "The Whole City Is Covered in Golden Armor," the American-release title of the film is extremely telling with regard to the story's meaning. The gold chrysanthemum was a flower symbolic of nobleness and royalty in ancient China, and thus the inherent calamity, betrayal, and misfortune that befall those who wear the crown could easily be called the curse of the golden flower. It's a familiar tale, but a good one, especially when told with such style. ~ Cammila Albertson, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Zhang Yimou  Director 
Zhang Yimou  Screenwriter 
Zhang Weiping  Producer 
Bill Kong  Producer 
Wu Nan  Screenwriter 
Bian Zhihong  Screenwriter 
Chow Yun-Fat  Actor 
Gong Li  Actor 
Jay Chou  Actor 
Liu Ye  Actor 
Chen Jin  Actor 
Ni Dahong  Actor 
Li Man  Actor 
Qin Junjie  Actor 
Guo Changhui  Actor 
Feng Bai  Actor 
Li Ming  Actor 
Guo Jiukong  Actor 
Wang Cong  Actor 
Chen Xinhua  Actor 
Hong Zonghan  Actor 
Feng Dinghong  Actor 
Chen Xiaoyi  Actor 
Sun Menging  Actor 
Zhang Shihan  Actor 
Hou Jingkun  Actor 
Song Huiru  Actor 
Li Yufei  Actor 
Zhang Jiao  Actor 
Ge Dan  Actor 
Li Shuang  Actor 
Liu Shanshan  Actor 
Zhang Jihang  Actor 
Liu Wanting  Actor 
Wang Lanqi  Actor 
Hu Pan  Actor 
Yu Tingting  Actor 
Li Sisi  Actor 
Zhang Yu  Actor 
Liu Yang  Actor 
Li Lu  Actor 
Li Jingfei  Actor 
Ai Lisen  Actor 
Xi Sailan  Actor 
Yang Ziu-Neng  Actor 
Liu Weijie  Actor 
Zhang Wen  Actor 
Liu Shabai  Actor 
Liu Xiaohui  Actor 
Shu Aiqin  Actor 
Zeng Yali  Actor 
Li Junxi  Actor 
Li Xianjie  Actor 
Wang Jinbo  Actor 
Sun Quan  Actor 
Li Yang  Actor 
Zhu Guarangyu  Actor 
Yang Zeyu  Actor 
Wang Xingye  Actor 
Gao Yudong  Actor 
Jiang Houli  Actor 
Li Geng  Actor 
Liu Zhengeng  Actor 
Liu Lianyuan  Actor 
Shi Renshan  Actor 
Jiao Lianshi  Actor 
Cong Shusheng  Actor 
Ling Daiying  Actor 
Wang Hongsheng  Actor 
Zhang Hua  Actor 
Huo Guangxi  Actor 
Liu Chunyu  Actor 
Sheng Honglin  Actor 
Zhang Yide  Actor 
Zhang Ziaoqing  Actor 
Shi Chuan  Actor 
Mao Yangming  Actor 

Country: China,Hong Kong