The film packs a lot of content, with beautiful traditional costume, decor, achitecture, storytelling, song, allusions to BeiJing Opera, and history and cultural practices of many sorts. And Gong Li is always a treat, even in this dated movie. I can only give 6 stars as the story about the corruption and intrigues at the Qing court doesn't make any sense in the poor english translation and I don't speak Mandarin.
Review of The Empress Dowager
