CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (2006), dir. Zhang Yimou

Emperor Ping (Chow Yun-Fat) explains to his family how they are like a circle residing inside of a square, the latter of which represents his will. “Curse of the Golden Flower” shows that, despite a royal decree demanding obedience, trying to fit a round peg into a square hole threatens to tear both family and kingdom apart.

This Chinese-language film, directed by the celebrated Zhang Yimou, takes place around the year 928, as Emperor Ping returns to the imperial palace where Empress Liang (Gong Li) and two of his sons reside. The palace is a labyrinth of vibrant colors, which serve to reflect passions trapped by formality. At the beginning, it’s the sexual tension existing between the Empress and her stepson, the Crown Prince (Liu Ye); later, it will be rage and jealousy.

Adding to the court intrigue is the Empress’ mysterious anemia, which causes uncontrollable trembling throughout her body. We quickly learn that for the last ten days, the emperor has been adding a new ingredient to her medicinal tea – a cup of which she must drink every hour – slowly causing her to lose her mind.

But the Empress gets word of the scheme, and confides to her other son Prince Jai (Jay Chou), who has returned to the palace for the annual Chrysanthemum Festival, that she won’t be going without a fight. What follows are secret alliances, betrayals, some unexpected bloodshed, shots of the beautiful Gong Li looking progressively weaker, and ultimately, the attempted coup itself.

Yimou cast two legendary Chinese actors as his leads, and Yun-Fat and Li are appropriately authoritative and defiant, respectively. However, besides those two actors and the remarkable costumes, one gets the feeling the main draw is supposed to be the climactic battle sequences, which prove Asian cinema has come a long way to catching Hollywood with regards to computer-generated special effects.

Unfortunately, while productions like this can match the scale of big canvas epics like “Troy,” there’s also much of the fakery reputed to have dragged down that film. At one point, endless platoons of soldiers come pouring out of the imperial palace to launch a surprise counterattack. It’s impressive for a moment, but upon further review, defies all logic. How did anyone manage to fit this many soldiers inside without the other side noticing them, and within the short time frame the plot gives?

That single gripe is but a symptom of the larger problem with “Curse of the Golden Flower:” it's overproduced and fatally overdone. It wants to be a court drama as well as a martial arts film, but there are no thrills to be had in the intermittent wire fights, despite choreography by Siu-Tung Ching, who worked on Yimou's superior “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers.” In fact, they seem downright derivative of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and Yimou's better movies.

Finally, “Curse of the Golden Flower” makes the mistake of leaning too heavily on special effects and bloody spectacle as it lurches towards the end. As Fat and Li recede into the background, the audience is left vulnerable to seemingly endless shots of eviscerations, dead extras encased in gold and silver armor, and images of flowers stained with blood. Maybe this movie should have been called “Slumming Actors, Slow-Motion Car Wreck.”

Overall rating: ** (out of ****)