The Curse of Zhang Yimou

I loved Hero. Honestly and truly. It's the 'I-get-craving-to-watch', 'I-remember-the-movie-but-still-want-to-watch' love. And if that's not true movie love, I don't know what is.

Yimou plays his colours well, very very well. Gosh, the visuals have never been a let down in any Yimou movie - Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and now The Curse of the Golden Flower. And being titled such, the color gold predominates the movie. No, not predominate, more like consumes the movie, and the audience's sense of sight. Of course there were other colours, hey the guy knows his colour palatte, I bet he even invented some colours on it. The yellow army, what I like to call the Chrysanthemum Team, faces the Black Assassins and Furry Whites. Gosh, the scene where the Chrysanthemum's million-man Team climbed up the palace - my favourite visual delicacy. And let's not forget the greyish-blue hues that lit the scene where Xiao Chan leaves her home to safe the Crown Prince, her flawless complexion made radiantly soft and her silky blue silk overcoat absorbing the grey-blue hues to perfection! Visual treats abound, as always. It's great that a movie is worthy simply based on asethetic beauty and once again, Yimou delivers.

But the Curse of Zhang Yimou lies in his story-telling, to me. It wasn't so apparent in The Curse of the Golden Flower, but take a look at The House of Flying Daggers. The plot had more holes than my grandmother's bedsheets and more twists than a pretzel. Visuals were the main, possibly only appeal of 'House'.

In 'Curse', the two friends I watched it with were bewildered and unsatisfied with the movie's conclusion. Especially the credit-rolling song! Yes, apt lyrics, but pop nonetheless, and it was a jarring modern touch to the otherwise intensely-archaic-Chinese-cultured movie. The abrupt ending reminded me of that of The Banquet, but that had a point. If ending 'Curse' with the extremely arty shot of the 'poisoned blood' defying gravity then symbolically dissolving through the heart of the family crest had a point, other than a pretty picture and symbolism, then... actually, that IS the point isn't it. Okay.

Oh, the ACTING. I have to speak of the ACTING. Or the attempts to, by none other than the well-loved Jay Chou. In his acting debut here in 'Curse', he's not half bad. He is quite bad. The entire cinema broke out in laughter whenever he was on the screen! Alright, I'll give the boy credit. He tried, but some faces are just not meant for the silver screen, especially if they have lower lips that quiver in a manner resembling spastic behaviour. He sounded like a - I say whinny, but my editor-to-be friend sitting besides me says 'querulous' - little boy acting across the great, the marvellous and to-be-beholded Gong Li in the scene where he finds out she is slowly, but surely, poisoned by the King. That part is also where the spastic lower lip makes its grand appearance.

Yet, a simplistic plot well followed through, and all elements that make a Chinese gong fu movie, as well as a Artistic Chinese Movie - you know, good and original fight scenes, some blood, some breast, lots of scandal, too much hate, incest (an increasingly popular trend!), beautiful women, powerful men... are present in 'Curse', granting it a neat rating of 7.2 on my list.

Did I mention it was a visual gourmet meal? Bring your sunglasses.