Whoa... Jaw-dropping everyting.

Looks amazing, but a fairly dull narrative despite the visuals. The fighting is represented in such a stylised manner that it doesn't have that to provide an alternate attraction to make up for the simplistic plot.

Apart from absolutely outstanding art direction and costume design, Curse of the Golden Flower left me feeling underwhelmed. The ending was also a nice step away from the traditional. Overall though, the film relies too heavily on creating a sense of mystery around the Emperor's family and past, but never coalesces all of the storylines together in a particularly profound way.

Gorkemli Cin Imparatorlugunun sasaali yapisini yansitarak basarili bir gorsel sunuyor. Hikaye olarak ise fena degil.

This film reminds me of a traditional Chinese stage play or Japanese kabuki theater and I believe this is where Yimou Zhang drew a lot of his inspiration for the look and feel of the film. Unfortunately the type of melodramatic acting required for that sort of atmosphere doesn't work as well in a film. I suppose the reality in which the film wants to immerse us in isn't defined well enough. Still beautiful if not unsure of itself.

Beautiful customes and great performance by the actors.

Politics, love and power struggles in 10th century China. Great stuff.

story, director Zhang Yimou, Gong Li!, Chow Y-F

Dear Zhang Yimou: Style does not compensate horrid substance. You used to know this.

Your usual Chinese movie - it's impossible to understand what is going on the screen while all the characters keep dying. Classic.

The beautiful sets and costumes makes this one of the most visual pleasing films I've had the joy to see.The plot kept me engaged and was well done if a little bit slow at times.The acting by all the main characters was very well done and drew me into there characters.The battle scenes while a little unrealistic and a bit jarring with how the rest of the film was done were good.

Garish soap opera which redeems itself slightly in the last act.

What a waste of beautiful flowers and beautiful people

"Zhang Yimou moves ever closer to grand opera with Curse of the Golden Flower, though this garish familial melodrama-cum-action extravaganza plays better in retrospect than it does in the moment." - Keith Uhlich