This film is based on a play written by Yu Cao titled Thunderstorm and written in 1934. During China's Tang dynasty, the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as his wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest son. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself. The setting is the Imperial court in ancient China, Later Tang Dynasty, 10th Century. On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The Emperor returns unexpectedly with his second son, Prince Jai (Jay Chou). His reason for his return is to celebrate the holiday with his family. Because of the chilled relations between the Emperor and the ailing Empress, this seems disingenuous.
For many years, the Empress and Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye), her stepson, have been having an illicit liaison. Feeling trapped, Prince Wan dreams of escaping the palace with his secret love Chan, the Imperial Doctor's daughter. Meanwhile, Prince Jai, the faithful son, grows worried over the Empress's health and her obsession with golden chrysanthemums. Could she be headed down an ominous path? The Emperor harbors equally clandestine plans and the Imperial Doctor (Ni Dahong) is the only one who knows about his plans. When the Emperor senses a looming threat, he relocates the doctor's family from the Palace?
This film is the latest action extravaganza from Zhang Yimou. It is a a festival of intrigue, court plotting, vast battles and sexual obsession during imperial China a millennium ago. It really is sensational to look at!! There are some stunning settings and interior designs with intricacy and lush color. They can trigger sensory overload on your eyes!! The director is not exactly challenging himself with releasing another movie tailored to appeal to western audiences who were interested in Hero and House of Flying Daggers?? Actress Gong Li steals her scenes with her charisma and beauty as the queen.
Children who liked Hero or House of Flying Daggers will want to see this movie. But, while Zhang Yimou directed all of them, this new film is very different. It is less focused on the martial arts action and contains adult themes like betrayal and revenge. Violence includes poisoning, sword fights, knife fights and armies of assassins involved in combat. As a consequence, there are plenty of bloody results all around. 5* (I really liked this movie)
114 min, Action directed by Yimou Zhang and written by Zhihong Bian, Yu Cao, Nan Wu Yimou Zhang with Yun-Fat Chow, Li Gong, Jay Chou, Ye Liu, Dahong Ni, Junjjie Qin, Man Li, Jin Chen, aaron C. Shang, Liam O’Brien, Yuri Lowenthal, Wisen Ai, Xiaoyi Chen, Xinhua Chen.
Note: Imdb 7* out of 10* with 42,212, 65% with 126 critics, 65% with 126 critics 65% with 51,060 audience scores, reelviews.net 3*, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Common Sense Media Cynthis Fuchs, 3* out of 5*, age 16+, 5* violence 3* sex, Letterboxd 3.3* out of 5* with 24 fans, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 1299 reviews, Metacritic 70 out of 100 with 32 critics 7.5 out of 10 with 100 user scores.
Special Note: Some of the costumes weighed more than 88 pounds!! The Dragon Robe and Phoenix Gown, worn by the Emperor and Empress during the festival, were handcrafted by 40 people who took over two months to create it. The emperor's headdress is a historically accurate Tang dynasty replica. There us also the largest set ever built for a movie in China. More than 1000 real soldiers were used in the final battle.
Mistakes: When the Empress is dressing for the Chrysanthemum festival. Bobby pins and hair pins are visible in her hair. They were not produced until 1916. The Chinese are noted for using other decorative adornments to hold their hair in place such as combs and other trinkets seen in this movie. An opening scene states the story takes place in 928 A.D. China during the latter part of the Tang Dynasty, but the Tang Dynasty lasted from around 618 to 907 A.D.
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