Awe-inspiring. This was kind of like Raise the Red Lantern, but with more ornate settings and costume design, and with martial arts.

As I was sitting in the audience, I couldn’t help but overhear most of the white people referring to Zhang Yimou’s new film as “some action film”. Granted, I hadn’t really read or heard too much about “Curse of the Golden Flower” – the title of which is incredibly stupid because someone thought the the more literal translation (“City of Golden Armor”) wasn’t mysterious enough – so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by this film, which turned out to be an interesting historical drama that takes a story from 1934 and sets it in the Tang Dynasty.

Unlike “Hero”, this film focuses more on the interaction between the characters, the ruling family. What few action sequences there are are done well enough to fit within the narrative, though they tend to overuse slow-motion. There are some gruesome battle scenes as well, which are both engaging and powerful, more along the lines of Chen Kaige’s “The Emperor and the Assassin”.

The casting is excellent, with top-notch Chinese talent including Chow Yun-Fat as the Emperor, Gong Li his wife, and Jay Chou as Prince Jai. Set and costume design is also incredible, presenting the audience with so much eye candy that every single frame deserves appreciation. Though, I really want to know if the whole bodice thing is historically accurate, because until I saw “Curse of the Golden Flower” I was under the impression that bodices were a European creation; there’s a lot of freaking cleavage in this film, and it does get a little distracting.

Still, I found that overall this was a great film, and definitely one that I’m glad is getting somewhat of a wide release here in America. Another great piece of work from Zhang Yimou that any fan of Asian cinema should go and see.