Set during the tulmultous times of the Tang dynasty, Golden Flower focuses on the royal family, which is headed by the Emperor (played by Chow Yun-Fat). Preparing for the return of Prince Jai (Jay Chou) after three years in combat, the family's house seems to be in order. But things are not all they are cracked up to be, as the Empress (Gong Li) is planning to overthrow the Emperor.

As you might expect for a film of this type, Golden Flower's actual story and the way it plays out is much more complicated than the above simple plot description would lead you to believe. Almost immediately, this becomes a problem. Since none of the characters are really fleshed out, their motivations are never very clear. This leads to confusion for the viewer and, I would suspect, boredom for a great portion of the audience, which is kryptonite for a movie like this.

Yes, the movie does look outstanding. The sets and costumes are beyond compare -- simply stunning. But if there's nothing behing the opulence, what does it matter? Don't get me wrong. Golden Flower isn't total filmic mastrabutory fare -- though there are many times when it comes dangerously close to teetering over the edge from an actual movie to a technical demo.

There are a couple of factors which save Golden Flower from falling flat on its' face. The first is the action. Helmed by the legendary Ching Siu-Tung, Golden Flower features some outstanding sequences. Though they have too much CGI and too little blood for my tastes, one still cannot deny the sheer sonic and visual power of these scenes.

Secondly -- and most importantly -- is the acting. Though the actors don't have much to work with, they still manage to create interesting and intriguing (if incomplete) characters. Of particular note is Chow Yun-Fat, who seems to relish being able to eschew his usual "ultra cool" images and create an extremely flawed, yet still powerful, character. Gong Li also does a fine job, and, like every other review of this movie written by a straight male, I must point out how outstanding her cleavage looks.

Ultimately, The Curse of the Golden Flower is a bit underwhelming, but still worth a viewing. True, if the movie didn't have a big budget and didn't look so outstanding, it might have not even eked above the realm of the B-movie. But as it stands, it's a great-looking movie with some solid acting and decent action scenes -- which is all most fans of the genre really want anyway, isn't it?

Emperor Ping (Chow Yun Fat) reigns over a vast Chinese kingdom and an intricate court of concubines, advisors and ambitious offspring. His empress, Phoenix (Gong Li), has fallen out of favour over the years and is now isolated as a mere figure-head used to keep the country's morale buoyant. Phoenix has continued a secret affair with one of her adopted sons, Wan (Liu Ye), but Ping knows more than he appears to show and slips poisonous fungus into her daily medicine to slowly send her insane. Meanwhile one of the sons, Jai (Chou), is being groomed by his father to take over the responsibilities of an emperor in the near future, yet he tries to act as a mediator between the warring parties in his family. As Phoenix begins to realise her fate and the secrets Ping himself harbours, she starts to embroider a golden Chrysanthemum on the robes of her sons and those dear to her. Jai uncovers the meaning of this flowers and sides with his adopted mother in a bid to usurp the increasingly despotic emperor.

Every single frame of every single shot is furnished in the most resplendent array of colours I have ever seen on celluloid. Cinematographer Zhaon Xiaoding and costume designer Chung Man Yee are blessed with eyes for detail that would have Van Gogh himself desperately trying to compete with, the Dutch artist himself being such a good exponent of using vivid colours albeit in a different medium. Many films claim to be works of art, but 'Curse Of The Golden Flower' is truly a production of such breath-taking exquisiteness that it will be appreciated for many years to come for its aesthetic magnificence. Yet 'Curse Of The Golden Flower' is also a relatively involving film with a story that engages and a love of Shakespearean drama that thrills.

Although it still has a cold heart beating in its body, it nevertheless captures the imagination in the way that 'House Of The Flying Daggers' failed to do. Many of the characters are unsympathetic and the treachery of the imperial court impossible to relate to, but the drama is much more involving than Yimou's last foray into the genre. The action may be considerable less impressive, yet the marriage of spectacle and storyline is far stronger than previous attempts. Modern swordplay films are always austere affairs where statuesque characters look into middle distance before bursting into rhetoric and this epic production fails to shake off that nagging sensation - the sheer self-importance of it all cries out for a drunken beggar to amble onto the screen (dubbed of course) or a cackling villain complete with hairy mole to interrupt the pomposity. That obdurateness is the nature of the beast and very much a part of what is expected of this latest wave of arthouse epics. The eyes feast while the heart starves, yet the quality of the film is undeniable.

One of the other pleasures of 'Curse Of The Golden Flower' is the way director Zhang Yimou combines his talents behind the lens with two legends of Asian cinema in front of it. Yimou fashions a number of grandstand scenes for the two grand thespians to battle in and allows each an equal share of the spoils. The direction remains unfussy - ironic given the opulence on offer - and puts the onus on the talent assembled in the cast. Chow Yun Fat is excellent as the dictator manipulating situations around him, but he is matched minute-for-minute by the spellbinding Gong Li. Forever Yimou's great muse, Li is an actress who can portray such a vast spectrum of emotion from her eyes that it almost seems as if the dialogue is redundant. Jay Chou is stretched beyond his usual comfort zone as the naive Jai though he is clearly out of his depth alongside the films two main stars. Liu Ye, one of China's most acclaimed actors, is the most disappointing addition to the cast, too ready to overact considering his heralded talents. Nevertheless, the performances are mostly fitting for a production of such a magnitude.

'Curse Of The Golden Flower' is another sign of the growing confidence of Chinese cinema, the imagination of Zhang Yimou and the iconic status of Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat. Both of the latter banish thoughts of their appearances in Western productions that are often beneath them and remind us how involving first-rate acting can be. Most of all though, this is a triumphant statement of how utterly beguiling cinema can be. It's sheer visual brilliance is what remains etched in the memory when the credits roll - any of the other weakness are subsequently hard to remember.