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Curse of the Golden Flower
Curse of the Golden Flower Image
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Metascore
70 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.2 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 80 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Starring: Jay Chou, Li Gong, Yun-Fat Chow
  • Summary: Set in 10th century China, the film portrays the imperial Chinese family rapidly losing internal strength due to a power struggle between the emperor (Yun-Fat), the empress (Li), and the couple's three sons.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 32
  3. Negative: 1 out of 32
  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    100
    It's a work by cinematic geniuses that reveals beauty and terror in a long-ago time with a virtuoso intensity. You won't soon forget its mad, lovely sights and sounds.
  2. Empire
    Reviewed by: Ian Nathan
    60
    Imagine "The Lion In Winter" set at a Kylie gig. You can have too much of a good thing, but it is a good thing.
  3. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Phil Hall
    30
    Zhang Yimou is seriously off his game with the utterly ridiculous Curse of the Golden Flower, a new epic that feels like "Hero" meets "The Lion in Winter" meets "Peyton Place." The film is worthless as a serious work of art, but it may offer the jaded viewer a surplus source of MST3K-inspired wisecracks.

See all 32 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 39
  3. Negative: 6 out of 39
  1. JW
    10
    Visually spectacular and drenched in symbolism. Interesting that a lot of reviewers have a problem with the ending. If you are accustomed to Chinese cinema or television then I guess you won't have such a problem. I can only surmise that it's a Western trait, that films normally end with a 'happy ending'.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. BillG
    5
    Somewhat boring and superficial film; doesn't come close to other similar genre stuff. Relationships don't seem credible, and there are too few of the fantasy choreographed fight scenes to keep interest.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. Schuback
    3
    I could've sworn tears were coming out of my eyes when I was watching this. Tears of embarrassment to be precise! While the costumes in the film are pretty, the acting is terrible and the story is very, very lame! But the worst part was the fighting scene between the King's army and Prince's army. At that point the embarrassment has escalated to severe goosebumps. It is utterly humiliating because this film was shown internationally.. WHY?!! It's an awful piece of work by Zhang Yimou.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 39 User Reviews

Trailers

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