12-29-2006, 01:52 AM
starring Choy Yun Fat and Gong Li
A dysfunctional family struggles to deal with its many problems.
Of course, when it’s the Imperial family, we’re talking court intrigue.
I’ve heard it said that this is not a martial arts movie. That’s probably true. There’s martial arts in it, but kept to a minimum. The real drama plays out in lavish chambers and hallways of the Imperial Palace as different factions spy on and scheme against others.
This is a dark and depressing movie -- which is director Zhang Zimou’s forte and his weakness. Zimou’s HERO was a great movie, but too dark to make it big in the US. This one makes HERO look like a comedy. By contrast, Ang Lee cashed in big with his tragedy, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, by enlivening it with the youthful exuberance of its two young lovers. Zimou could learn a lot from Ang Lee -- like, lighten up!
But back to the movie at hand.
Things start out mighty grim. Then things darken considerably. To better understand this, close your eyes in a lighted room. Then turn out the lights. That’s how the atmosphere progresses.
The first indication of the divisiveness within the family occurs as Gong Li walks down a hallway and her breasts get into a fistfight. This is not for the faint of heart. It makes Apocalypto look like Sunday school. Soon various family members are scheming against others, and skeletons start popping out of closets. There’s a major subplot involving incest, which isn’t giving much away since it is revealed in the opening scenes.
There’s an awful lot of talking in this movie, but it doesn’t slow things down too bad -- mostly because just when things start to drag, Gong Li’s servant girl takes a stroll down a hallway and her breasts get into a fistfight, or the cook’s wife goes running across the courtyard and her breasts get into a fistfight, or a whole bunch of concubines walk in formation across a chamber with their breasts punching each other.
Gong Li is magnificent. This is a great role for her, complex and full of emotion. Her breasts likewise rise to the occasion, twin gibbous moons playing tag with decency on the true horizon.
Choy Yun Fat is almost unrecognizable as the Emperor. He usually exhibits a wonderful sense of humor, but this role had no room for it. He is cold and calculating, and only shows real emotion in a couple of short scenes.
I think the moral of the movie is that families should stick together. The lesson is taught with a negative example, showing a family cleaved apart in every conceivable way. Indeed, cleavages are busting out in almost every scene, to the point that it’s hard to keep abreast of what’s happening.
I would have to say that the major weakness in the movie is that we never get to see Chow Yun Fat’s cleavage. Had that entered the picture, this would have been a masterpiece.
--cranefly
A dysfunctional family struggles to deal with its many problems.
Of course, when it’s the Imperial family, we’re talking court intrigue.
I’ve heard it said that this is not a martial arts movie. That’s probably true. There’s martial arts in it, but kept to a minimum. The real drama plays out in lavish chambers and hallways of the Imperial Palace as different factions spy on and scheme against others.
This is a dark and depressing movie -- which is director Zhang Zimou’s forte and his weakness. Zimou’s HERO was a great movie, but too dark to make it big in the US. This one makes HERO look like a comedy. By contrast, Ang Lee cashed in big with his tragedy, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, by enlivening it with the youthful exuberance of its two young lovers. Zimou could learn a lot from Ang Lee -- like, lighten up!
But back to the movie at hand.
Things start out mighty grim. Then things darken considerably. To better understand this, close your eyes in a lighted room. Then turn out the lights. That’s how the atmosphere progresses.
The first indication of the divisiveness within the family occurs as Gong Li walks down a hallway and her breasts get into a fistfight. This is not for the faint of heart. It makes Apocalypto look like Sunday school. Soon various family members are scheming against others, and skeletons start popping out of closets. There’s a major subplot involving incest, which isn’t giving much away since it is revealed in the opening scenes.
There’s an awful lot of talking in this movie, but it doesn’t slow things down too bad -- mostly because just when things start to drag, Gong Li’s servant girl takes a stroll down a hallway and her breasts get into a fistfight, or the cook’s wife goes running across the courtyard and her breasts get into a fistfight, or a whole bunch of concubines walk in formation across a chamber with their breasts punching each other.
Gong Li is magnificent. This is a great role for her, complex and full of emotion. Her breasts likewise rise to the occasion, twin gibbous moons playing tag with decency on the true horizon.
Choy Yun Fat is almost unrecognizable as the Emperor. He usually exhibits a wonderful sense of humor, but this role had no room for it. He is cold and calculating, and only shows real emotion in a couple of short scenes.
I think the moral of the movie is that families should stick together. The lesson is taught with a negative example, showing a family cleaved apart in every conceivable way. Indeed, cleavages are busting out in almost every scene, to the point that it’s hard to keep abreast of what’s happening.
I would have to say that the major weakness in the movie is that we never get to see Chow Yun Fat’s cleavage. Had that entered the picture, this would have been a masterpiece.
--cranefly
I'm nobody's pony.
