| | | Unspeakable Secrets Are Hidden Within the Forbidden City.
Features: Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), English, French, Subtitled
From the director of Hero and House of Flying Daggers comes the martial arts epic masterpiece whose savage beauty and exquisite elegance has mesmerized and captivated audiences around the world.Set in the lavish and breathtakingly colorful world hidden from the eyes of mere mortals behind the walls of the Forbidden City, a tale of a royal family divided against itself builds to a mythic climax as lines are crossed, trust is betrayed, and family blood is spilled in the quest for redemption and revenge. Starring Chow Yun Fat of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as the embattled Emperor and Gong Li of Memoirs of a Geisha as his poisoned Empress, Curse of the Golden Flower grants you entry into a dazzling and spectacular world of betrayal, vengeance and passion that will change he way you think of martial arts forever.
"Another remarkable chapter in the career of Asia's most important living filmmaker." Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com
"A period spectacle, steeped in awesome splendor and lethal palace intrigue...[an] epic tragedy." Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
"...a lavish entertainment that revels in lurid colors and yet more lurid emotions." Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide
"...a work by cinematic geniuses that reveals beauty and terror in a long-ago time with a virtuoso intensity." Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
"A dazzling costume epic, a spectacle for the eyes and for the soul." Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Editor's Note
IN THEATERS DECEMBER 22, 2006 Chow Yun Fat, Jay Chou, and Gong Li head up an impressive cast in this tale from director Yimou Zhang (RIDING ALONE FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES). The story revolves around a romance between a prince and his bodyguard, whose relationship leads to some royal secrets unwittingly being revealed.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Audio: Mandarin PCM 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Dubbed: English | | Interactive Menus | | Los Angeles Premiere | | Making-Of Featurette: Secrets Within | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French | | This Is A Blu-Ray DVD Made For Blue-Laser Format Players Which Produce Higher Quality Picture & Sound |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Sony Pictures |
| Release Date: 5/29/2007 |
| Running Time: 114 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2006 | | Catalog ID: 17913 | | UPC: 00043396179134 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Mandarin | | Available Audio Tracks: Mandarin | | Available Subtitles: English, French | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew | Chow Yun-Fat | | Gong Li | | Jay Chou | | Liu Ye | | Huo Tingxiao - Production Designer | | Long Cheng - Editor | | Shigeru Umebayashi - Original Music By | | William Kong, et. al. - Producer | | Yimou Zhang - Screenplay | | Yimou Zhang - Director | | Yu Cao - Based On Play By | | Zhao Xiaoding - Cinematographer |
| Awards |
Nominee (2007) | | | Image Award, Curse of the Golden Flower, Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film | | | Oscar, Chung Man Yee, Best Achievement in Costume Design |
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| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone
3 stars out of 5 -- "[Gong Li] bites into her role like a juicy apple. The great Chow Yun Fat is her match as the emperor..." 01/25/2007 p.80Entertainment Weekly
"[There is] ominous buildup in this lavish, dripping-in-gold drama from Zhang Yimou." -- Grade: A 03/30/2007 58 Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "Overflowing with sumptuous visuals, chop-socky mayhem and the finest CG battle since THE RETURN OF THE KING, it's a lavish, lurid, eye-saucering spectacular..." 05/01/2007 p.36 Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "The director's attention to detail is exquisite, with so much on screen, you'll want to freeze frame every moment to take it all in." 05/01/2007 p.108 ReelViews 8 of 10
Curse of the Golden Flower is director Zhang Yimou's ambitious attempt to blend martial arts action with Shakespearean melodrama. It's not a perfect marriage but it offers two hours of solidly over-the-top entertainment featuring incredible visuals and powerful performances by international icons Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat. While aspects of Curse of the Golden Flower hearken back to some of Zhang's earlier films, the movie as whole is more in keeping with the style he has developed in recent years (with Hero and House of Flying Daggers). The strong elements of melodrama in the story are likely to make it more accessible to those who found those movies too action oriented. - James Berardinelli
San Francisco Chronicle 8 of 10
The ideal audience for "Curse of the Golden Flower" would be fans of soap opera, grand opera, space opera -- as in "Star Wars'' -- and Cecil B. De Mille extravaganzas. This pseudo-historical drama about a 10th century Chinese dynasty right out of "Dynasty" is way over the top...Its overabundance is more blessing than curse, however, provided you can suspend disbelief over a campy plot and focus on one lush, eye-popping scene after another...The actors are lavishly costumed as well, particularly during wartime. One army covered in golden armor attacks another of black-clothed Darth Vader wannabes armed with spears and arrows, which they set in motion with the precision of a champion baton team...Everything else comes from the vivid imaginations of writers Wu Nan and Bian Zhihong, both barely over 30. I'd bet the palace they grew up on the "Star Wars" saga. - Ruthe Stein
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