Curse of the Golden Flower

Aroview: Another sumptuous Tang Dynasty epic in martial arts from the dir. of HERO, cast in the mould of a Shakespearian power struggle between an Emperor, an Empress, and other scheming heirs to the throne.

A giddy mix of intrigue, betrayal and obsession in imperial China, dir. Zhang propagates the usual sensory overload audiences have come to expect from a recent spate of wuxia pan films, albeit on a larger, warmongering scale. Fronted by marque Asian stars Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li, the film’s escalating budget (reportedly the most expensive Chinese production in history) offers plenty of style over substance, and though less intimate, is swathed in much astonishing, breathtaking imagery.

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