It has been a while since I've placed a review or two on the blog. I watched "The Curse of the Golden Flower" (very similar in vein to "The House of Flying Daggers" and "Hero"). over the weekend. It was less action packed than two films mentioned, however what really grabbed my attention was the fact Chinese women actually have bosoms. Sorry, I know that was probably quite lewd, but my eyes were captivated by the amount of oriental cleavage that was being shown (tastefully I hasten to add!).
The film, however wasn't all about heaving bosoms, though given the chance I could probably write a fairly lengthy tome on that topic :) Typical of Yimou Zhang's two previous movies, "The Curse of the Golden Flower" is a visual treat, at times the kaleidoscope of colours threatens to overwhelm the senses. The customes, and the set pieces are all tremendously done and I'm surprised the film didn't grab more headlines in this regard.
Unlike the previous movies, there's less emphasis on the martial arts and more thought given in to the plot. The details of which can be surmised as fucked up royal family back stab each other to the death (I don't mean to insult nor trivialise the film's plot - except, that was the quickest way I could condense the film's 95 mins into a sentence or two).
Apart from the drama, when the martial sequences begin, they do not fail to impress. The dramatic Wu Shu stylised combat is maintained, and no matter how over the top the violence is. It manages to captivate and enthrall. Some would argue that the fighting seems preipheral, almost added on.
Do I recommend it? Yes, and not from just from a guy's perspective (the heaving bosoms!) - but as a movie buff.
The other movie that I managed to watch was 300, based on Frank Millers graphic novel of the same name. Now this movie is on the complete opposite pole in terms of spectrum. Unlike The Curse of the Golden Flower, 300 revels in it's display of blood and gore, admittedly it does have more than it's fair share of heaving bodies (male and female) on display. Though I must add, the bodies on display on the whole, were that of "8 packed" blokes wearing black leather Speedos (doesn't quite have the same impact as heaving bosoms!).
Unlike The Curse of the Golden Flower, this one didn't have much of a plot. That's not too say it's terrible, far from it. What we got, and anyone's who's read or seen Sin City will acknowledge this as pure unadulterated hack and slash. The scenes are quite stunning, especially considering that very few of the scenes are actually "real". Most of the film is rendered CGI just as Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was.
So what's the plot? It centres on the battle between Spartans and Persians, the Persians having cast their avarice eyes over Greece, decided to invade. Of course the Greeks, weren't going to quite let the Persians walk in. So a small task force of 300 Spartans were dispatched to challenge the Persians, as a preliminary force, while the Greeks assembled. As with most films that have a historical background. A lot of liberties have been taken with the re-telling of the events. Though, it's a moot point and one that I shan't use to deconstruct the movie.
I will end by saying that it's an awesome visual experience, one for your eyes to savour and not for the brain to engage!
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