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Review

While the former masters of the martial arts epic continue to churn out disappointing retreads (Tsui Hark’s Zu Warriors, Ronny Yu’s Jet Li’s Fearless), modern cinematic genius Zhang Yimou delivers the ultimate martial Art Film with Curse of the Golden Flower. Looking back a few years, it was doubtful that the visuals in Yimou’s breathtaking Hero would ever be trumped by anyone, let alone the director himself. Then came House of Flying Daggers, which abandoned a gimmicky story structure in favor of a strong emotional narrative. Golden Flower is the next logical step in not only Yimou’s evolution as a filmmaker, but the evolution of the martial arts film itself.

In 928 A.D., Emperor Ping (Chow Yun-Fat) has a dysfunctional home life. His wife, Empress Phoenix (Gong Li), is having an affair with his son, Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye). He has two other sons: one headstrong, the other a weakling. The secrets that these family members hold leads to a two hour series of schemes, betrayals and even more incest along with some of the greatest action scenes of modern times (in concept at least, digital effects do get daunting). The annual chrysanthemum festival provides the setting for the film’s climax in which loyalties are violently tested and ninja-looking assassins swing around like an army of Spider-Men.

The luxurious feel of the period is accentuated by Yimou’s use of color, more vivid and varied than ever before. The costumes complement the visuals perfectly and the cast that wear them do the same. Though he barely throws a punch, Yun-Fat looks as cool as he ever has, especially during a brilliant bit of slow motion posing. The action that does take place is sparse and sporadic, but memorable in both premise and preciseness. Some viewers may complain about the digital quality of certain scenes, but the ingenuity on Yimou’s behalf easily assuages this complaint. Golden Flower may be the masterpiece of this filmmaker’s career, but he’s proved that statement wrong before.

 -- Eric Bresler