Curse of the Golden Flower is a bleak film a couple scenes shy of being a psychological horror film. Yet it displays some of most garish, sumptuous ancient Chinese palace colors you can think of (red, yellow, rainbow bright), as well as enough cast members to rival 1950s Ben Hur. Terribly ornate and bitterly cruel, this film gives much to think even as it upsets and gives little characters for whom to root for.
If this movie is Shakespearean it's definitely a tragedy, and closer to the Greek tragedies which Shakespeare enjoyed and took inspiration from. Incest, betrayal, murder, war, and family ruin, all swept up in the end with chilling and industrious apathy, and covered in flowers.
Not one to watch for any inspiring message, but as a cautionary tale. What is keeping up appearances worth, and what if there are no heroes, who or what do you root for?
If this movie is Shakespearean it's definitely a tragedy, and closer to the Greek tragedies which Shakespeare enjoyed and took inspiration from. Incest, betrayal, murder, war, and family ruin, all swept up in the end with chilling and industrious apathy, and covered in flowers.
Not one to watch for any inspiring message, but as a cautionary tale. What is keeping up appearances worth, and what if there are no heroes, who or what do you root for?