Curse of the golden flower - 满城尽带黄金甲 - spoiler FREE!

[babygodzilla]

just saw this movie. overall pretty good. I think guys will like this movie, a lot of boobage in everyfrickin scene LOL.

seriously though, I know they're trying to recreate the Tang Dynasty and all, and I know back then in every culture all the girls wear corsets that push their breasts WAY up, but I had a feeling they kinda overdid it in this one. everyone's boobs are just about to pop out!! so much that when a girl comes into the scene you just can't help staring at her boobs. whichever way the girls move, their boobs would jiggle. even my girlfriend felt the same way (which made me feel a lot better, I thought I was too perverted for a sec..). Zhang Yimou must've spent either a lot of time looking for girls with at least C cups, or a lot of money on push-up bras, socks, tissues, vitamins, implants, and any other kind of breast-enhancer.

aaaaaaanyways, onto the main points.

1) Beautiful. every scene is very beautiful. the colors of the walls, the pillars, the clothes, the valley, the weapons, the chrystantemum flowers, they're all so shiny and in a perfect mix of colors. very pleasing to the eyes. Quite a few pretty girls. And did I mention lots of boobage?

2) Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li. i can't remember the last time Yun Fat was in a decent movie. last I remember is Crouching Tiger, and that's stretching it. both Yun Fat and Gong Li gave very good and convincing performances. Yun Fat's expressions are always calm, but his words and actions are always firm and commanding. Gong Li looks especially vicious, like she wants to kill everybody (she probably does, if you know the story). she scared me.

3) Jay Chou. His first movie isn't it? He wasn't in as many scenes as I expected, and I can't say anything special about his performance, but I thought he did fine. I'm surprised he didn't pull out a Moto RAZR or the new E690 during a fight LOL...

4) Dialogue. 古代汉语 is always fun to listen to. the mix of 成语 makes every sentence sound like a poem, and theyre all so carefully said.

4) Story. The story was easily understood, which might be a weak point. There's just not very many twists. In fact the ending was abrupt and twistless, and it left me wanting more. This is the weakest part of the movie, although that's not saying it's a bad ending. it's just a normal ending, nothing too exciting. it's one of those "oh... it's over?" kind of ending.

5) Lots of boo... wait I already said that...

That's all that comes to mind at this moment. I had fun watching it and that's the most important thing that a movie should do, entertain you! So go watch it and tell me what you think!

[gougou]

I watched it on opening night, and while zapping through Chinese TV stations has left me with [POP=Fear of historical TV dramas]gudaidianshijuphobia[/POP], I enjoyed it a lot. Even thought relationships are complex, the story is simple. I regretted that the characters were not very developed, instead of focusing on two or three main actors, the movie devotes almost equal time to half a dozen people. While that reinforces the complexity of the relations, it lets the overall movie seem a bit shallow. Not that Zhang Yimou is the actor you should watch for profound movies, though...

What I like about his way of directing is the opulent use of color. In this movie, however, I thought the colors were overdone (everything inside sparkling in either gold or the rainbow colors, everything outside grey and dark) and not as beautiful as for instance 十面埋伏.

As for actors, I was impressed by Zhou Jielun‘s (a.k.a. Jay Chou) performance. He was the perfect fit for his role, seeming naive and innocent. By the way, it's not his first movie, but the first few apparently drew on his fame rather than on his acting skills. Chow Yun Fat belongs to the type of charismatic actors that I'd like in any role in any movie, so nothing more needs to be said there. Gong Li was good, not outstanding, but that also is what I thought about her in every movie.

One more thing: if the director wasn't Zhang Yimou, one might be tempted to think that the emperor concealing discord behind a facade of unity and regularity was directed at China's current government...

[babygodzilla]

hmmm i didnt think the colors were overdone. in fact i thought it fit the story just fine. the beauty of the palace is so blinding that you can hardly see the evils going on in it...

or something like that... im not a poet or a movie buff, i just enjoyed the movie

id have to agree about the movie being a bit shallow. like i said i felt it had hardly any twists.

question for those who have seen the movie. please skip if you havent.

you know i never understood 100% why Yun Fat wanted to kill Gong Li. is it because she was doing his son behind his back? or is Yun Fat just a greedy mofo?

[gougou]

I didn't get that part either! I asked the girl who came with me (who is studying something about movies, as it happens, what better company to take?), and she said that

yes, it was only revenge for her being unfaithful.

[babygodzilla]

hmmm... well that's not that exciting... it's also ambiguous in the movie, they never clearly stated that.

[Quest]

everyone's boobs are just about to pop out!!

Isn't that 张艺谋's style? It reminds me of the athens olympics closing ceremony...

[skylee]

I have posted the ending song here.

I think Jay Chou is very good in the film. I agree with gougou's remark - "He was the perfect fit for his role, seeming naive and innocent." The ending is not twistless. I actually thought Jay would do otherwise, which is what is to be expected of a man if he wants power (think the youngest prince). But it turns out that he is a better (and thus weaker) man.

I like the film. I think the story is fine. Like the characters and the acting too. The girls next to me exclaimed lowly when they at last saw clearly Chow's (we don't really call him Yun Fat, we audience are not really that close to him you see ) blue eyes.

I think I would like the film even better if some of the fighting were cut, and if the director could just reduce the repetition. I think repetition (or stress if you like) is one of Zhang Yimou's main techniques but when it becomes too much, it becomes too much. I did not dislike his telling the same story three times (though from different angles) and the yelling of 風 in "Hero". But the yelling of each fighting pose and the announcing of each hour (although it has a purpose in the film) and the lengthy fighting (which is not really that innovative any more nowdays) are just too much.

One more thing: if the director wasn't Zhang Yimou, one might be tempted to think that the emperor concealing discord behind a facade of unity and regularity was directed at China's current government...

It is perhaps his ultimate plan. First he gave you "Hero", confirming the greater good of unity. Then he gives you this, telling you how ugly it is behind the scene to maintain the order, and he covers it up with all that glitters ... (which is why it is important to overdo the colours ).

I saw it in the Warners Village cinemas at the Taipei City Hall area and I suppose they were not the newest for I would expect better seats for such a price ...

[skylee]

everyone's boobs are just about to pop out!!

Except the doctor's wife's.

[gougou]

the announcing of each hour (although it has a purpose in the film)

What is the purpose?

[ruoxuan]

yes, beautiful scenes and very pleasing colours. but overall it's "华丽的垃圾".

[skylee]

I think the purpose is to show the audience that at that court and in that country everything must be run by the established rules and according to the time assigned. The announcements tell people the time and what they should do at that time. Everything must be very orderly (as the king says 有規矩). They also tell people what each hour (two hours actually) is supposed to mean.

[babygodzilla]

Isn't that 张艺谋's style? It reminds me of the athens olympics closing ceremony...

well if it's his style to display boobs falling out, then he's a pervert... and i like him

but what do the hours mean? i dont understand anything those people say... some kind of poem or something..

btw anyone know the name of the doctor's daughter? more pictures? i thought she was cute

[Ian_Lee]

I have not watched the movie yet even though it is shown in the local theaters and know more or less the movie is about boob/incest/palace intrigue.

However, I wonder how come this movie, which concentrates on the royal court, adopts its title from a poem of 黃巢 -- a proletariat revolutionary/bandit/murder maniac (defined according to your own political inclination):

不第後賦菊

待到秋來九月八，我花開後百花殺。 沖天香陣透長安，滿城盡帶黃金甲。

And I heard Zhang Yimou has changed the film title several times before he adopted this one. Any clue?

[skylee]

Probably because the story takes place before / on Chong Yang Festival (Chrysanthemum Festival) [九月八] and the flower [菊] plays an important part in the film.

[babygodzilla]

doctor's daughter's name? pics?

[skylee]

The doctor's daughter's name is 蔣嬋 (Jiang Chan). The actress' name is 李曼 (Li Man). You can find her pictures here.

[Quest]

Does he think boobs and legs are a symbol of classiness or something? His command on colors and cinematics is world class, but his girls ruined it all.

Athens Olympics Closing Ceremony:

[student]

does anyone know where I might find the screenplay (or for that matter, the chinese/english subtitles)?

[gougou]

Danwei gathered some reviews and criticism here and here.

One quote that struck me: "If we've spent that much money to tell the public that good cannot overcome evil, then the director is a real bastard."

Not sure what to make of it. Is that what Zhang Yimou wants to say? Does he want to say anything at all? It'd be interesting to review some of his older movies with this assumption in mind. If I remember correctly, the end of House of Flying Daggers has a lot of intrigues surfacing and the main actors dying, too?

[Koneko]

If I remember correctly, the end of House of Flying Daggers has a lot of intrigues surfacing and the main actors dying, too?

I don't really like the end of that film.

I am not good at guessing the outcome.

It's either yes or no but no maybe.