Thin Blood, Thick Plot

 

 

Curse of the Golden Flower, the latest cinematic spectacle by acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou after Hero and House of Flying Daggers is a bit of a Chinese puzzle that takes its own sweet time before unravelling its charms. It is the most expensive film ever made in China and was the Chinese entry at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. Exotic locales, amazing set design, great costumes and unparalleled production values are all there along with some good acting by the lead pair, Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li, playing the emperor and empress in late Tang dynasty China, in 928 A.D., but it never really comes together. Instead all the audience is treated to is a fairly confusing period drama which could put a soap opera to shame. Sample this, the empress is having an affair with her stepson who in turn is having an affair with the daughter of the Imperial doctor, who in turn has been directed by the emperor to slowly poison the empress, and this fact is revealed to her by the wife of the doctor, who actually is the mother of the empress’s stepson. Phew, such a contrived plot would have tested even the best script writers that Ekta Kapoor has to offer. Having said that, the film is a visual treat and if not burdened with the weight of its hype, is not too unenjoyable an experience.