Why should you watch Curse of the Golden Flower, a fictional historical period movie with subtitles? First, all of Zhang Yimou’s movies are insanely visually stunning and Curse of the Golden Flower may be his most beautiful movie to date. The kingdom depicted in Curse of the Golden Flower makes Versailles seem like the 99%. Opulence and pageantry! Second, you get to see two of the hottest/best actors in Chinese cinema: Gong Li and Chow Yun-fat, whom I’ve had a crush on for ages, and he still looks good over a decade later. Finally, the story is riveting. Curse of the Golden Flower makes The Lion in Winter seem like a light, feel good holiday movie. At least in Game of Thrones, there is a war among numerous kingdoms. It is like a twisted Hamlet. In the special features, Yimou emphasizes that none of the events depicted in Curse of the Golden Flower could happen now-it is solely in the past, but I think that he is extremely clever to hide political commentary in his criticism of an imperialist regime. Individual stories or revolutionary movements are subsumed and erased by the state, personified by the Emperor. As long as you stay part of the faceless serving masses, you can survive and reap economic rewards as long as the power remains in the hands of the Emperor (Can you say Tiananmen Square and today’s precarious balance between the worst aspects of communism and capitalism). The Emperor’s family is supposed to be the paragon, but instead is a product of a corrupt, ruthless head who will do anything to retain power and destroy anyone who opposes him regardless of the personal consequences. Image and power are prized over individual humanity and relationships. I’m not sure what the Empress symbolizes. Does the Empress symbolize a country’s soul, origins, history? There is a criticism of misogyny and women being forced to accept and cooperate with their destruction, but I think there is another symbolic layer. What does it mean when children are forced to sacrifice their mother in order to survive? The holiday featured in Curse of the Golden Flower can either be a day of great disaster/death or honoring ancestors. Curse of the Golden Flower is simultaneously both. Side note for guys: lots of great cleavage. For the girls: where can I get support like that and how did they avoid wardrobe malfunctions?