Curses

Just saw a screening of Curse of the Golden Flower. The title sounds like a Sherlock Holmes mystery, but really it's the new Zhang Yimou flick starring Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li! (It also has Jay Zhou, for you kids out there...) Supposedly, the version we saw is incomplete. The subtitles are being redone and the orchestral soundtrack by Tan Dun was missing. But I liked the raw drum sound and have been brought up on bad subtitles, so I couldn't tell if they were messed up...


No lengthy review because I don't have the time right now, but let's just say that it's beautiful, fun, and tragic. It's kind of like a Shakespearean court drama with epic martial arts! Will Joe Sixpack or Art School Girl be able to handle mix of the arthouse style and ninjas? I don't know, but you should check it out on the big screen. The colors are incredible, and royal family's dysfunction will giveyou a lot to think about. It'll take a moment to get used to Gong Li as a mom and Chow Yun-Fat with a beard, but you'll get the hang of it--just like you did with Spock!