Scooter Chronicles

Since we knocked out one movie, and had a lot of time since Nigel went down for another nap, we decided to watch another. “Curse of the Golden Flower” (of “Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia”) starring Chow Yun-Fat, Li Gong, Jay Chou, and Ye Liu.

I wanted to find a synopsis that told you as much of the story as possible without telling you to much, however both IMDB and Amazon have the same write-up. Oh well:

China, Later Tang Dynasty, 10th Century. On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival (Chrysanthemum Festival), golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The Emperor (Chow Yun-Fat) returns unexpectedly with his second son, Prince Jai (Jay Chou). His pretext is to celebrate the holiday with his family, but given the chilled relations between the Emperor and the ailing Empress (Gong Li), this seems disingenuous. For many years, the Empress and Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye), her stepson, have had an illicit liaison. Feeling trapped, Prince Wan dreams of escaping the palace with his secret love Chan (Li Man), the Imperial Doctor’s daughter. Meanwhile, Prince Jai, the faithful son, grows worried over the Empress’s health and her obsession with golden chrysanthemums. Could she be headed down an ominous path? The Emperor harbors equally clandestine plans; the Imperial Doctor (Ni Dahong) is the only one privy to his machinations. When the Emperor senses a looming threat, he relocates the doctor’s family from the Palace to a remote area. While they are en route, mysterious assassins attack them. Chan and her mother, Jiang Shi (Chen Jin) are forced back to the palace. Their return sets off a tumultuous sequence of dark surprises. Amid the glamour and grandeur of the festival, ugly secrets are revealed. As the Imperial Family continues its elaborate charade in a palatial setting, thousands of golden armored warriors charge the palace. Who is behind this brutal rebellion? Where do Prince Jai’s loyalties lie? Between love and desire, is there a final winner? Against a moonlit night, thousands of chrysanthemum blossoms are trampled as blood spills across the Imperial Palace.

There is one thing, and only one thing that I had a problem with in this movie, was that all the events happen over the span of 24 hours. However, the way the story is presented, with servants going through the palace announcing the hours, with all the pageantry and color, it was quite spectacular. There are a lot of hidden agendas, a very tangled web of deceit and hidden truths. Just when you think someone is not going to do something, they do. But the strength of the characters are their loyalties. They stay within these boundaries and even struggle with what they should do based on them.

I think everyone had great performances in this movie. Other then having so much happen in such a short span of time, and understanding little of the culture, especially at that time, I found it very engaging. Quite honestly there is little else to say other then the fact that I really enjoyed this film. I had a good feeling about it when I saw the trailers and was glad that my instincts were correct.