独一无二, 无尽的爱

This afternoon I went to see ‘Curse of the Golden Flower’ (黄金甲). It’s a Zhang Yimou 张艺谋 film, and the main characters are Chow Yunfat 周润发 who plays the role of the Emperor; Gong Li 巩俐 as the Empress; and Jay Chow 周杰伦 as the prodigal son. Other important characters in the film are the family of the Emperial Doctor, and the 2 other sons of the Emperor.

Zhang Yimou’s a famous producer, with megahits such as ‘Raise the Red Lantern’ (大红灯笼高高挂), ‘Hero’ (英雄) and ‘House of Flying Daggers’ (十面埋伏). He did other well received films like ‘Happy Times’ (幸福时光), ‘The Road Home’ (我的父亲母亲) and ‘Keep Cool’ (有话好好说)…. These latter films are not the action-packed type that people overseas know him for, so it’s unlikely that people outside China have seen them. He is also the guy who did the clip for the Beijing 2008 Olympics bid and directed the Chinese part of the closing ceremony in Athens.

What to think of the film? Well, the scenery and costumes were really a feast to the eyes. But the plot? Sorry, but I think it sucks. The first film of Zhang Yimou that I watched was 十面埋伏 and I was really taken in by the scenery and the subplots in the film. Actually I did watch ‘Raise the Red Lantern’ many years ago, but apart from the fact I liked it a lot, I can’t remember too much of the film. Anyway, 黄金甲 is pretty much like ‘The Banquet’ (夜宴), another film that came out earlier this year. You can more or less figure out what’s going to happen and the ending, as usual, is trying a little too hard to be unexpected (at least it’s better than 夜宴, whose ending was a complete turn off for me).

So, what is my opinion? Wait for the DVD copy. It’s good for the scenery and costumes (the part where they replaced all the chrysanthemum and washed the palace clean was actually the most striking part for me). But not quite worth spending RMB30-55 or more and sit 2 hours in the movie theatre.