New Zhang Yimou : Curse of the Golden Flower

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Trailer : http://www.sonyclassics.com/curseofthegoldenflower/

This one came in under my radar. While I am a fan of both Hero and to a smaller extent House of Flying Daggers, I am also a fan of his "quieter" works, such as Raise the Red Lantern, Happy Times, Walking Alone for Thousands of Miles, etc. But it looks like he's going back to some Wuxia goodness with this one.

Good cast with Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li. Great visuals are guaranteed.

I am slightly disappointed that he isn't using Tan Dun for his score, and is instead using the same composer for the mostly forgettable score to HoFD.

Nevertheless, I am interested.
 
for a second there, I thought it was Curse of the Golden Shower :eek:
 
ill prob buy the dvd from my local anime store.... if i remember
 
I knew i recognized the name! i loved Hero and House of Flying Daggers and this looks beautiful and spectacular,i love the way he uses colour in this time of dark movies plus with the 2 leads the acting should be superb

Chow is rocking that silver goatee:D:up:

BUT!!!! Why do they always put these types of trailer online in crappy lo res formats ? i want Quicktime HD dammit:mad:
 
JackBauer said:
for a second there, I thought it was Curse of the Golden Shower :eek:
Click to expand...
Now that's a curse you can't get rid of without a decent washing.
 
Well I enjoyed Hero a lot, and I loved House of Flying Daggers. Yimou does some truly beautiful looking movies. Plus Chow Yun Fat, can't go wrong with him. Wasn't impressed with the trailer I must admit, but I will be checking this one out for sure.
 
Looks very interesting especially seeing Chow Yun Fat star in a period film in only his 2nd Mandarin speaking role.
 
Great trailer(for what seems to be a teaser judging by the length). I loved Flying Daggers and Hero, and I'm really growing fond of Gong Li.

I can't wait.
 
Can you believe Gong Li is over 40?? She doesn't look over 30 to me! She played a teenage Geisha in the Memoirs of a Geisha, and she did it well. And she's a great actress as well.
 
Yeah, most of the truly beautiful women(as she certainly is)tend to age like fine wine.
 
I agree gentlemen,the only problem i have with her is that she isn't dating me :(
 
I found this HD copy of the trailer but when i watched it i found it's a different trailer with action not in the one originally posted including some awesome Ninja taking out horse riding warriors action :eek: :up:

  • HD 480P
    qtlogo.jpg
    (12.7Mb)
  • HD 720P
    qtlogo.jpg
    (30.1Mb)
  • HD 1080P
    qtlogo.jpg
    (51.4Mb)
 
Looks good, and Gong Li looks hot once again, but I'm still waiting for Walking Alone for Thousands of Miles.
 
JTStarkiller said:
Looks good, and Gong Li looks hot once again, but I'm still waiting for Walking Alone for Thousands of Miles.
Click to expand...

Yeah, its a great little film.
 
Has it already been released where you live, or do you have the DVD?
 
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/indietopnews.php?id=17901

EXCL: Gong Li on Curse of the Golden Flower
Source: Edward Douglas
December 13, 2006



gonglint1.jpg
Actress Gong Li first turned up on these shores at the age of 22 in films like Red Sorghum and Raise the Red Lantern, both directed by Zhang Yimou (Hero, House of Flying Daggers). The duo had a great run of films as they dated between the years of 1987 to 1995, but after their personal relationship ended, so did their film collaborations, ending on a high point with the excellent Shanghai Triad. After that, Gong Li worked with a few other directors, including a recent foray into Hollywood, and Zhang moved onto other young ingénues.

After more than ten years, the duo have reunited for Curse of the Golden Flower, Zhang's third historic martial arts epic with Gong Li playing Empress Phoenix, who is having trouble trusting her husband the emperor (Chow Yun Fat) when she learns that he's secretly been putting poison in her medicine.

ComingSoon.net has this exclusive interview with the actress that many consider to be one of the most beautiful women in the world. And yes, we were very nervous being in her presence, even with her interpreter acting as our chaperone.

ComingSoon.net: Let's start with the reunion between you and Zhang Yimou after ten years. How did he approach you to do another movie with him after all this time?
Gong Li: He had a script, so he gave me a call one day saying that he had a script and a character in the script that I think is just right for you, so he sent me a copy of the script and that's how it all got started.

CS: Did you have any meetings beforehand to discuss working together again?
Gong Li: In fact, it started when I was filming "Miami Vice." He called me from China, and I was in Miami at the time, so after that, he came to the States—he had some other business to take care of—then he took a little time out and came to Miami for a week. During that week, of course, I was filming during the daytime and evenings; after work, I met with him to discuss the script. We went through the script very carefully and discussed some possible changes and ways to develop the thing better, and then he went back and made those revisions. It was not until after the revisions were done that I actually signed the contract and agreed for sure that I would do it.

CS: Mr. Zhang has such a distinct visual style, so does he send you pictures or designs of what he has in mind or is the script enough to convince you to do the movie?
Gong Li: The one thing I know having worked with him for so many years is that is truly one of his strengths, and I trust that the visual style would come out beautifully, as it always does.


gonglint2.jpg
CS: What about the costumes and elaborate headgear? Did you have any input into that and did they show you what they were going to do beforehand or were they experimenting to see what might work?
Gong Li: No, not really. Most of that was done by other people that are really good at it. For example, the costume designer is Yee Chung Man, who's a Hong Kong designer, who's very well established. He's a director himself also, but he has a lot of experience doing this kind of thing, so when Zhang Yimou went to look for him, he said, "Okay, well this time I'll come up and be a costume designer for this production." So he designed most of that stuff himself. I worked with him once before in a film called "A Terra Cotta Warrior," it's also a historical epic film with great expansive costumes. A s far as the hair styles go, we did try a series of different possibilities, different kinds of hair styles, we did discuss some of those, but really, it was what was suitable for the character, it wasn't what was suitable for me, Gong Li.

CS: Since last working with you, Mr. Zhang has switched over to the martial arts genre. Have you kept up with his movies when they come out in China?
Gong Li: Yeah, I've seen all of his films. As far as these recent films, you can think of it as kind of a new, experimental stage for him where he can film one of his dreams, because he, like most Chinese boys and men, they love these martial arts films. Everybody reads these martial arts novels, so everybody has these fantasies or dreams of being a great hero of being able to fly through the air or being invincible against all kinds of weapons and so on. So really, it's the fulfillment of a fantasy.

CS: How was it working with Mr. Zhang again after so many years? Just like old times or was it a little difficult to get back into the rhythm of your previous collaboration?
Gong Li: It was actually easier than before. I didn't have any misgivings in my mind. I didn't have any strange hurdles to get over, and of course, we had this very strong common goal, which was to make a really good film. We were able to work together very professionally, it was easy to communicate with him, and really, it was a wonderful experience.

CS: Is this movie based on real people or events in Chinese history?
Gong Li: Actually, the story itself is based on a famous Chinese stageplay which was written by a writer named Cao Yu back in 1933. It's very, very famous modern drama, which is read and widely performed even to this day, so it's very famous among Chinese people, everybody knows the story. Of course, the writer Cao Yu is long deceased, but his daughter formally gave Zhang Yimou the rights to make an adaptation in this form.

CS: So you were familiar with this play and your character beforehand?
Gong Li: Yes, it is very famous. Back when I was in college, I was in the play when I was a student, I played one of the characters named Siphong, a different character, not the character that is the Empress in this version.


gonglint3.jpg
CS: In your last few movies, you've been playing sort of the baddie, while in the early days, you were always the protagonist. Have you enjoyed switching gears like that?
Gong Li: I don't think it's so easy to characterize my characters as either good or bad, the villain or the good one. A character like this one is very complicated and actually, by the end of the film, you can really sympathize with her, because you've learned and understood why she is the way she is, why she's doing the things she's doing. You realize that it's really because she's trying to get things she wants, and you can really understand that. So it's a really complicated character and that's what I really liked about her, it really gives me a challenge to perform something. I don't have much interest in performing those one-dimensional characters, those who are just laughing, just a pretty face or whatever.

CS: Which was the most difficult scene for you to shoot, if there was one?
Gong Li: Really, every scene was difficult. The whole film required a really strong focus of my attention. Overall, what was really difficult was to understand that by the time we get to this film, she's already been taking this poisoned medicine for quite a while, and it's already having this effect on her. I had to sustain that throughout the film right from the beginning. It required having to imagine and draw on a lot of inner resources, not just psychologically and emotionally, but also from your physical body, because it's having a physical effect on her as well. I really had to work on finding and expressing and channeling that sense of tension and tightness and trembling as this effect is taking hold on her in both body and soul. We tried a lot of different things to try to work this through and we found various things like details about the trembling, sweating and the effect of her having trouble breathing. All these things are designed to really express this kind of tension in her, so really, the whole thing was quite difficult to perform. There were times where I found myself getting a little dizzy from this kind of strain and effort, because I really had to concentrate a lot of energy in myself and also repress it to show that it's not coming out.

CS: Did you stick around to watch any of the big martial arts or war scenes being filmed?
Gong Li: No, I didn't actually see them filming on location while we were doing it. We actually had two units working on this film, and it was mostly the other unit doing that stuff. In fact, the director sort of discouraged us from hanging out on the set to watch the other stuff going on, because they might get distracted or there might be fans hanging around, and they might have trouble concentrating. But of course, we all knew the story so we all knew more or less what was going on, and I did occasionally see a glimpse of things like when they were doing nighttime scenes and all those extras had to come and get ready in costume. Those extras were actually soldiers, so they would come in costume, so I saw a lot of the preparation going on.

CS: I guess you wouldn't want to have 5,000 extras all standing in line to get your autograph either.
Gong Li: (smiles in response--no translation necessary)


gonglint4.jpg
CS: Do you have another Chinese or American movie lined-up after the Hannibal prequel which comes out next year?
Gong Li: Yeah, the one after that will probably also be an American film, but I'm still deciding on that. I've got a couple different possibilities.

CS: Now that you've done a few American films, do you feel more comfortable doing them?
Gong Li: No, it's not a big difference overall. I'm not too worried as long as I know that the director is a good director with a good script and that I can trust he will do a good job with that. I do hope that before I agree to do a film, I'll have a chance to really communicate with the director and get to know him and really see what he's going to be doing. I trust that he'll do a good job.

CS: Do they usually translate the scripts when they give them to you?
Gong Li: Yeah, they'll also give me a Chinese translation of it that's already finished.

CS: How do you feel about all the Oscar talk and awards buzz which come around every time you do a movie? Are you aware that it's all going on or do you just not pay attention to it?
Gong Li: It's good in a sense that people are very interested in Oscars and they like to pay attention to those things, but you know, really what's important for me is if people know who I am, if they like my films, they think, "Oh, she's a pretty good actress and did a pretty good job." If people like that, then that's my real Oscar. I don't really need the real Oscar itself. It's good enough that people like my films.

Curse of the Golden Flower opens in select cities on Thursday, December 21.

Thanks to Albert Chiang of TrueMovie.com, a great Chinese movie site, for his help with this piece.
 
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30988

Moriarty’s Review Of Chow Yun-Fat And Gong Li In Zhang Yimou’s CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER!


Now that I’ve finally reviewed the rest of the films I saw at the AFI Fest, I want to reflect on one film in particular, the closing-night gala screening, the world premiere of Zhang Yimou’s CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER. Hats off to the festival programmers. If you’re going to close a fest, this is how you do it. Zhang Yimou was actually at the screening at the Cinerama Dome, along with his two stars, Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li, and they came to the afterparty on the roof of the Arclight afterwards. I’ve met a lot of movie stars over the years, but there’s a whole different charge to seeing Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li in person for me. There’s something about the way they carry themselves that reminds me of Old Hollywood, when we used to build our movie stars bigger than life.


The film itself is a sumptuous beautiful epic on the surface, but at heart, it’s an intimate story about a family gone sour, rotting from the inside due to ambition and mistrust. It’s Zhang Yimou successfully marrying the sensibilities of his early films like RAISE THE RED LANTERN or FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE to his recent epic interests in films like HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS. There’s a strong vibe here of Shakespeare via Kurosawa, a la THRONE OF BLOOD or RED BEARD, and everything’s played at a sort of heightened theatrical pitch that I found engrossing.


So why have reviewers in publications like VARIETY and THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER rejected the film so completely in their reviews? Why is it running a 43% on Rotten Tomatoes right now? Beats me, but it’s like we saw completely different films. I was drawn into this world from the very first frame, and I think it’s the most rewarding of Yimou’s recent films. The soul of this royal family is split right down the middle between Emperor Ping (Chow Yun-Fat) and Empress Phoenix (Gong Li), and these two performers bring the full weight of their respective careers to bear on these roles. Although the characterizations aren’t simple, it’s safe to call Chow Yun-Fat the villain of the piece, an uncommon occurrence in his career. He’s not some moustache-twirling cartoon, though. He’s determined to exert his will, no matter what, for the sheer sake of exerting it, and that drives him to the most terrible and arbitrary lengths in his dealings with his Empress.


Gong Li has aged beautifully over the years in front of the camera, and she taps into a deep sadness for her work in this film. From the very beginning, she’s crushed under the thumb of her husband, forced to take regular doses of a medicine that he personally formulates for her. She’s been taking it for years, and her “condition,” which remains unnamed for the full running time, seems to stay the same no matter what, never improving but also never getting worse. For this Empress, royal life is a prison, and the palace is a claustrophobic hallucination. This really doesn’t look like either of the director’s recent martial arts epics. It’s far more stark. There’s an ugly undercurrent running from the very start of the film, always threatening to shift from subtext to text. Something’s changed. Suddenly, Gong Li is dying. She can feel the change, knows that her husband has finally decided to kill her. She sees no choice but to put things in order, finally dragging everything, every awful secret, out into the light of day for the entire family to see.


That’s the ticking clock of this battle of wills, a husband and a wife bound by secrets and sorrow as much as by anything resembling love, head to head with each other as the pain finally becomes too much to bear. There are other people involved, of course. The Emperor and Empress have three sons, and all three of them have complicated relationships of their own with their parents. One has been away, banished for a time. One is the baby of the family, coddled and spoiled. One is the eldest, facing up to the fact that he is not worthy to be his father’s heir. There’s a savage beauty to the way this family tears itself apart, and Zhang Yimou’s adaptation of Cao Yu’s play is pointed, prickly, difficult by intent right down to its devastating final image. So often, costume epics are cinematic sleeping pills by design. They’re meant to be like a ride through a wax museum, and the last thing they do is provoke or challenge. Not true here. Zhang Yimou delivers on the big action beats that make this a true epic, and he got my pulse pounding every time.


But what haunts me about this movie, even a month after I saw it, is Gong Li, finally reunited with the filmmaker who made her a star in the first place, tearing into this role with a regal presence that masks a warrior’s spirit. Her work elevates a juicy melodrama into something akin to art, and it's her work that will bring me back to this film as soon as I can see it again.


Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
 
JTStarkiller said:
Has it already been released where you live, or do you have the DVD?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I had to acquire it through other means. :csad:
 
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