Talk about Family Drama

While waiting for my hair to dry late last night, I decided to watch a movie that's been in my "movies" folder but had yet to be viewed: The Curse of the Golden Flower.

The costumes were so beautiful, the entire place made it seem so majestic! The scenes were a beauty to watch. I loved the synchrony of the movements. That wow-ed me. And, the way the Empress looked, was just absolutely stunning. Her head decorations were so intricate and beautiful, her make-up was very nice. I suppose that Chinese Traditional Wear and the complexities of it attracts me - not that I would like to spend hours and hours dressing myself up. It is such a beauty to behold.

Now that I've finished gushing about how beautiful everything looked, the "drama" factor. I thought this was extremely odd/weird/strange all together. So many things were going on at the same time. A complete Royal disaster. I guess I really don't appreciate how the family members were portrayed. I don't think it's that realistic that a very young son (perhaps 10-12 years of age) would kill his own elder brother in front of both his royal parents. That's just calling for a suicide. What's even more strange and I thought was out of wack was that the murderous young son does die - and by his father's own hands. And if that's not enough, we see the father flogging his own son's dead body. And, that, my friend, is completely uncalled for. And, this is just one of the crazy things that happen in this Royal family. These things just makes the entire Chinese Royalty seem insane, as if the Empress being made to lose her mentality is not enough.


One wacked movie. I don't really like the plot. There's no twist, and if there is, I'm not seeing it. I thought the Empress would do something real smooth by having a second surprise attack ... but, there wasn't one. I was a bit disappointed by the way things end. This movie is quite morbid - most of the characters die, and thousands of expendable bodies are killed i.e. soldiers.

But, I did really enjoy the visual delicates and details of this movie. I suppose it would have been better if the second line of subtitles had not been cut off (the movie is in Mandarin, and I can only catch several phrases here and there). As for recommendations - comparing this to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, CTHD wins by having a lot of martial arts moves, character development and having such a tragic plot ending. Although I would still watch the Curse of the Golden Flower, there doesn't seem to be much of a planned out plot to me.