The Curse of the Golden Flower

[The Willow Sword]

So what is the dilly on this New chow yun fat flick? I saw the trailer for it when i went to see fearless. It looks really really good.

Any info about this one from the KFM Peeps? Gene? Design Sifu? anyone?


Peace,TWS

[Li Kao]

Well, the original title was called The City of Golden Armor, but they renamed it for the American market. It's the next big wuxia film by Zhang Yimou, whose last two movies were Hero and House of Flying Daggers.
Chow Yun-Fat plays the emperor and Gong Li will be the empress. I believe the crux of the story will involve the power struggle between the emperor, empress, and the 3 princes, so expect alot of political powerbrokering and backstabbing, intermingled with some romance and mystery. I think this one will have some great action/martial arts sequences but a more interesting and intriguing plot than Hero and House of Flying Daggers.

You can view a different trailer than the teaser one playing before Fearless at this website. http://www.sonyclassics.com/curseofthegoldenflower/

The set photos have looked magnificient -- Zhang built replicas of the Forbidden City and the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the imperial palace was decorated with an ungodly amount of fake chrysanthemum flowers -- much like all of his movies, expect vivid use of colors (golden, primarily, in this case) to help convey the mood. I'm sure it will be visually stunning from what I've seen. There should be a few large-scale battles as well which look amazing -- apparently they built 20,000 suits of armor to be used in filming.

The action choreographer is the legendary Ching Siu-Tung, who worked on Zhang's last 2 films as well as with Tsui Hark, Stephen Chow, and Wong Jing. His list of credits include: Shaolin Soccer, Duel to the Death (that awesome Japanese vs. Chinese swordfighting oldie), the Duel (the recent one with Andy Lau), The Heroic Trio (with Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, and Anita Mui), City Hunter, Butterfly Sword (with Donnie Yen), Swordsman I and II, John Woo's The Killer, A Chinese Ghost Story, Dragon Inn, etc., etc. He even had a small acting role in the seminal 1966 King Hu movie Come Drink With Me when he was 13 years old! Sorry, I got a lil carried away there, but this guy is a true legend to me, and along with Yuen Woo Ping are the undisputed masters of recent Hong Kong fight choreagraphy. I'm expecting more good stuff from him ...

I can't wait to see the Fatman again in a period piece -- and I'm digging the salt-and-pepper beard he's sporting in this one. Gong Li looks to be as sultry and seductive as usual. One of the princes will be played by Jay Chou, who debuted last year in the live version of Japanese comic series Initial D.

Also, Zhang is introducing a new cutie, fresh out of the Beijing Drama Academy (where both Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi attended). Her name is Li Man and she is 17 -- perhaps she'll be the next young Chinese star ala Zhang Ziyi? (you heard it here first). Zhang does have a knack for plucking out unknown new actresses and catapulting them into instant superstars. Her character will fall in love with the eldest prince.

This is definitely one that I will resist seeking out in VCD/bootleg form -- I want my first viewing to be at the theater, so I can appreciate it.

[Li Kao]

According to sina.com.cn:

The Chinese press reports that, according to an insider, Zhang Yimou's third period epic Curse of the Golden Flower has been officially selected by the authority to compete for the Best Foreign Language award of next year's Oscar. The anonymous insider claimed that some good words of mouth from people who saw the film actually helped the film to get the nomination. A few other titles were also up to the nomination but were not strong enough to defeat Golden Flower. The Banquet, Feng Xiaogang's Hamlet inspired historically drama, which has a story setup very similar to that of Golden Flower, received mixed/negative reviews both at home and overseas; The Road, Zhang Jiarui's drama about a bus drive and a ticket-seller's friendship / love story in the 1960/70's, also failed to draw a strong support; and the production studio of Curiosity Kills the Cat, a modern day urban psychological thriller by Zhang Yibao, basically used the bidding for the nomination as a publicity stunt for the low budget flick, which will open next month in China.



During the past two decades, more than half dozen movies by Zhang Yimou were sent to bid for the award. Three of them made to the final round, Judou, Raise the Red Lanterns and Hero, but Zhang had never won once. Curse of the Golden Flower will be released this December in Asia and in North America, by Sony Pictures Classics

[GeneChing]

All that I might add is that it's scheduled for a limited U.S. release on Dec 22. That's deep in the holiday rush. If it does well, a later wider release may happen, akin to the way Hero was marketed.

We'll have more for you when it gets closer.

[jethro]

Well if it is Zhang Zimou's next big Wuxia epic then it had better have a wider release. There is a big difference between his movies and other action movies.

[The Willow Sword]

Thanks for the info. i like the trailers, both of them. i need to keep an eye out for a sneak preview viewing as they do that very often here in Austin.

TWS

[jethro]

The helmets and armor look really cool.

[@PLUGO]

Just thought I'd bump this up as the trailers are poping up on DVD new releases this month.

[Asian49ers]

Not sure if anyone cares, here is the music video for the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiO3DD-iTjQ

[GeneChing]

China director's "eye-popping" scenes arouse debate
Wed Dec 20, 3:43 AM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese director Zhang Yimou's latest martial arts blockbuster "Curse of the Golden Flower" has been nicknamed "Curse of the Golden Corset" by the country's Internet users transfixed by the actresses' bodice-ripping gowns.

The $45 million epic set in the Tang dynasty features bloody battles, ornate sets and an "eye-popping" role from Gong Li, "whose breasts are so tightly wrapped that they appear ready to pop out of her costume," Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.

"What I remember is not the fighting scenes or the acting, but the shiny white flesh," Xinhua quoted Internet surfer "Bond" as saying in a personal review.

The term used for "golden flower" sounds similar to "golden corset" in Mandarin, though the Chinese characters are different.

An online video parodying "Curse" had cast Oscar-nominated Zhang as the principal of a breast enlargement school, Xinhua said.

Actress Gong defended the skimpy costumes as modeled on Tang dynasty fashions.

"They show the beauty of a woman's curves. There was no feeling of awkwardness or danger for us wearing the costumes," she said.

"Curse" had set a new opening-weekend box office record in China, and had grossed 96 million yuan ($12.28 million) in its first three days, Xinhua said.

($1=7.818 Yuan)

An Ugly Bruce Lee patch to whoever can post a link to that online video parody....

[jethro]

I hate to admit it but Gong Li's breasts are the thing that look most appealing in the film to me. Maybe it will be as good as Hero and HOFD but I know already know it will be better in one way, for me at least.

[GeneChing]

Check out our e-zine review CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER - Mum's the Word by Dr. Craig D. Reid

[lunghushan]

Crouching Tiger was directed by Ang Lee who despite being Asian has directed quite a few Western films.

IMHO the other films since that have tried to recreate that success either didn't have a good story, or good production values, or were a bit too focused on style (like Hero).

Maybe they should focus on the type of movie they're trying to make and make it more palatable to a Western audience if they want more success.

[Li Kao]

Hmm well I have enjoyed all of the recent wuxia movies coming out of China in the last few years ... Crouching Tiger certainly opened up the door for more movies of that style. Of course the genre of wuxia has been around for a long time -- see http://www.kungfucinema.com/categories/wuxiapien.htm for a brief timeline. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why Crouching Tiger enjoyed the success it did -- there were several reasons in my opinion. First, Ang Lee had gotten a foothold in Hollywood and his name wasn't unfamiliar. Not that his early Hollywood films were blockbusters, but Sense and Sensibility had garnered an Oscar, so he already had some credibility with American film. Secondly, Yuen Woo Ping did a great job with the action sequences and there is no question the movie was a visual treat. Yuen Woo Ping was also coming off of the success of the Matrix, so there was a certain buzz associated with him as well. Another factor -- the actors and actresses. Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh were both superstars in Hong Kong, though when Crouching Tiger came out, they too had already made some mainstream Hollywood movies. Michelle Yeoh had her big introduction to Hollywood a few years earlier in the coveted role as a Bond girl. Chow Yun Fat's first 2 forrays in American cinema, The Replacement Killers and The Corruptor were not exactly triumphs, though his next, Anna and the King fared better. Zhang ZiYi was a newcomer, though her performance justly helped make her a star as well. Finally, Crouching Tiger had an intriguing story (thanks to Du Lu Wang's excellent source material).

I would agree the recent wuxia movies haven't quite reached the mark set by Crouching Tiger, and none may ever have the same amount of success, but I know Zhang Yimou has still made a decent profit from his last films -- they are definitely not flops in a financial sense. And I'm hoping that more and more directors keep trying their hand at this type of film. I still love my old school, Shaw Brothers style movies but I think the wuxia films are great too.

I think Curse of the Golden Flower may just be the best of Zhang's recent trio of wuxia films -- and heck, even if the story ends up being a bore, we still have Gong Li's barely-contained bosom to look at

[jethro]

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS!!!! Especially after just seeing The Promise which was about as bad as it gets.