Curse of the Golden Flower

Yimou Zhang completes his wushu trilogy that started with Hero and House of Flying Daggers with this opulent and extravagant film that manages to be both epic and intimate and even more gorgeous to look at than his previous films. However as a whole I found it less engaging and the soap opera style storyline can sometimes get in the way of believability, leaving it more of a spectacle and leaving you emotionally distant from the characters, not least because most of them are to one degree or another rather unlikeable.

Set in 11th century China the film deals almost exclusively with life within the royal palace. A fortress of unimaginable wealth and luxury the Emperor and his family dwell within the structure preparing for the annual Chrysanthemum festival, which will bring with it the lies and the secrets they all have buried. The start of the film is very unlike Zhang’s other films, there is no epic introduction or captivating sequence, in fact much of the opening of the film goes against expectations introducing the viewers to the daily life at the palace. Whilst the film is quite slow moving the costumes and set design is breathtaking. The palace is bursting with reds and gold’s and the sheer level of detail and use of colour overshadows anything you may have seen before. In fact sometimes it’s almost too much, your eyes straining to take in every detail of excess that lies spread across the screen in front of you. Long time collaborator of Zhang’s Gong Li fills the shoes of the empress Phoenix, and her performance grounds the film. As she comes to realise the terrible truth about her husband we follow her situation from despair to revenge. Zhang’s decision to stay within the palace walls for the first hour of so is a very conscious one and captures Li’s increasing sense of isolation and claustrophobia.

Thankfully before the film slips totally into soap opera style drama we get some good old fashioned ninja fights, as per usual what action in the film is breathtakingly gorgeous despite itself and wonderfully executed. From this one act of violence that shakes you out of the main story we hurtle headfirst to the conclusion, an epic battle of almost unbelievable proportions, the sense of scale hard to comprehend as armies of silver and blue clash in a sea of yellow flowers. By the time the films grinds to its conclusion nobody is spared, the secrets are let loose and yet the blood is tidied away, a potent metaphor for how Zhang sees China the superpower.

Despite the flaws and familiar feel to elements of the film this is still a great film Visually without peer and engrossing and well acted this is a fascinating look into an ancient time and while it may not be as engaging or dramatic as Zhang’s other films it is still worth watching and a real treat for your eyes.

Extravagant, excessive and stunning to look at the slightly stodgy first half is opposed by a brutal and action packed ending. Less engrossing but every bit as stunning to look at as Zhang’s previous films this remains a mark above his many imitators.

Re-Post: Oh no not the R Word

When I was running my old site I had the aim of writing a lot more articles than I ever did, but one that I did write was on the subject of religion, and more importantly the word itself. Well whilst browsing the interweb today I came across this article on the BBC site that seemed in many ways to echo what I wrote about but also a lot of my feelings on the subject of the church at the moment. The article is well worth a read and so that my article does not get lost in the vaults of cyberspace I have decided to republish it below for those who have not read it, I still think it holds up and what with it being Easter tomorrow it even has a kind of context in which to be published.

P.S This is not just laziness because I have nothing new to write. Honest.

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One of the funny things about being a Christian is the very fact that you have a label. In the instant you adopt that moniker you suddenly have 2000 years of history attached to your name, to the person you are. All the connotations in society from that word are now yours – welcome to the family! I used to, and in some ways still do, live slightly in fear of this. It’s not quite up there with walking into a room full of spiders with the lights off, but it’s true that being a Christian is hardly a cool thing these days. But truthfully, it never has. To society if you’re a Christian you are a) boring, b) a hypocrite, c) in a position to judge people and d) religious.

Aha, there we go. That’s the ‘R’ word isn’t it? In fact religion is a very human thing, often entirely separated from God. What colour drapes or robes to wear. Which book the prayers should come from etc. Not very holy. You see I consider myself someone with faith, not religion. To be a Christian one thing counts, to acknowledge Jesus as God’s son and have a relationship. That’s it. You don’t need church, in fact it’s probably a surprise to many that Christians choose church! It should never be a case of duty, but something you want to do! Crazy but true. That doesn’t of course mean that just because you are tired you shouldn’t go, but it does mean that showing up 100 Sundays in a row just for appearances sake, means nothing if you are there for yourself.

The trouble really is people. We, as imperfect beings, do our best in this life but nearly always make the same mistakes. Namely we feel we don’t need God, that his existence isn’t as important as ours and pout ourselves and our selfish needs first. Often even good deeds are tainted by the fact we want people to see us doing them and to look good! All I’m trying to say here is to dispel some of the rumours and opinions about religion. I am not knocking it at all, its flawed yes but means well. The trouble is when it gives people negative views on Christians. Many a time I cringe and feel ashamed to be Christian after seeing opinions or reports of people. I just hope that the message of love and selflessness that Christianity is all about somehow makes it through the views of failure and corruption. Nobody is perfect, least of all Christians but people living with a sense of purpose and unity in their lives in a society so desperately seeking an answer should be admired, not looked down upon as much of today’s media does. Please note I am not aiming this at any particular person or group of people. I am fortunate enough to have not encountered hostility because of my faith or connections with religion and my friends have been very respectful. I am speaking against society’s general impression of Christians – one example being the strict and dull relative. Watching Cold Feet recently there was an episode with a baby’s christening. His Godmother was the mum’s sister, announced as ‘the Christian.’ True enough for her brief appearance she mentioned the Bible all the time and gave a reading damning people to hell. I’m sure it was very funny, and I’m sure such people exist. But really its like announcing the Godfather as being a Football supporter and have them run in, shirt on their head, with a pie in each hand and have then proceed to shout and tear up the church shouting ‘United!’ ‘United!’. This stereotype of Christians is one I must have missed on my visits to many Christian events, where I have met some of my best friends and some of the, hands down, nicest kindest and most inspiring people you could find. It was the experience of being around Christians that convinced me that there must be something too it, that these people had something special, Something that I wanted. That something is God and I saw that. People complain about Christians for being ‘happy clappy’, I’m sorry – is there something wrong with happiness now? Christians suffer the same problems as everyone else, maybe even more but the difference is they have people to support them and a strong faith in a God that will never forsake them. Surely this is what everyone is looking for? It is an up and down journey, tough, confusing and hard. But also joyful and exciting. Being a Christian is just being a person, who knows he is more than just flesh and blood. You may not agree with it, you may object, but at the end of the day it is either true or false. There is either a God or not. Religion is the result of belief, but not a necessary part. I guess at the end of all this what I’m trying to say is don’t let Religion put you off God, because that would be the biggest crime of all.