Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia (2006)

Director:

Yimou Zhang

Writers:

Yu Cao (play)
Yimou Zhang (writer)

Release Date:

12 January 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Unspeakable secrets are hidden within the Forbidden City.

Plot:

During China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself.

Plot Keywords:

Emperor | Prince | China | Empress | Crown Prince

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 10 wins & 18 nominations

Cast

Yun-Fat Chow	...	Emperor Ping
Li Gong	...	Empress Phoenix
Jay Chou	...	Prince Jai
Ye Liu	...	Crown Prince Wan
Dahong Ni	...	Imperial Physician Jiang
Junjie Qin	...	Prince Yu
Man Li	...	Jiang Chan
Jin Chen	...	Mrs. Jiang

Also Known As:

Autumn Remembrance (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
Curse of the Golden Flower (International: English title)
The City of Golden Armor (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

USA:114 min | Hong Kong:111 min | Argentina:114 min

Country:

Hong Kong | China

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:PG | Hong Kong:IIB | Malaysia:U | Australia:M | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Netherlands:12 | Ireland:15A | UK:15 (cut) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Germany:12 | South Korea:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:13 | Norway:15 | Brazil:14 | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | South Korea:15 (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

China

Company:

Beijing New Picture Film Co.

Trivia:

The largest set ever built for a movie in China.

Goofs:

Plot holes: Given Chan leaves the inn almost immediately after Wan does, why does it take so long for her to reach the palace? (Consider everything that happens to Wan after he arrives back but before Chan arrives.)

Quotes:

Emperor Ping: What I do not give, you must never take by force.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Juhua Tai

A decent movie if you got your expectation right

First of all, this is a commercial movie of period drama with some sort of martial arts in it. If you're looking for anything deeper, then it's not for you although the movie is loosely based on a masterpiece of play in China.

That being said, I think it's actually a nice movie.

Story: B The story line is nothing amazing but flows well although not devoid of a few confusions or loopholes. For the people who're not familiar with all the power struggle, backstabbing stories of Chinese royal families, some relationships and emotions may seem a bit too much. And it did actually get a bit overheated at certain point possibly for theatrical tensions. But overall, it made sense to me. My major complaint is that he could have cut out some of the side stories while allowing the major line to a fuller development.

Acting: B+ This movie focuses on Gong Li and she's a good actress. So, yes, she did a great job even though I wish it could have been toned down a bit. Chow Yun-fat is also good but his role is not as rich as hers. Liu Ye (crown prince) is adequate for his role and the character also has a limited range. Jay Zhou (the second son)is not quite up to par with the others (after all, he's not a professional actor). But he got better in the end.

Visuals: A- Actually, I wanted to give it a B+ but I awarded it a higher mark for being so daring. It does have tons of colors and shades in it. Most of time, they actually work out cool, at least for me. But I totally understand if someone finds it way over-the-top. I actually like the fact that ZYM used bright colors, only if he had used fewer kinds of them. Those fighting scenes didn't quite catch my attention not because they're no good. Actually they're proper and effective. But since I've seem so many martial arts movies, they did not bring any surprises to me

Overall, it's an entertaining movie with an understandable story and believable characters.