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"Golden Flower" is a curse all right

I sat back in the movie theater, my senses assaulted by a riot of colors, beautiful people doing interesting things and some juicy court intrigue.
All too soon, my senses were assaulted by a lot of suppressed bawling, a male chauvinist pig on a throne and too soapy drama.

As the minutes ticked by, my hopes dwindled that "Curse of the Golden Flower," a historical Chinese flick, would be worth the highway-robbery price of $10 a ticket I paid at the Georgetown Loews.
I left the theater feeling like I'd been punched in the gut after eating too much pasta at Johnny Carino's, seen a favorite pet run over before my eyes and gotten a notice of an audit from the IRS.
Dang, things were real, real bad several centuries ago for women, even royalty -- at least in that movie they were.
While the empress -- or "Mother" as her stepson/lover calls her -- barely has to lifted a golden spike-tipped finger, she's at the whims of her evil emperor husband who has arranged for her to drink herself to death.
He rules with a mean hand at every turn, and I felt bad for queenie even though she was dallying with her stepson.
I won't spoil the movie for you should you be so foolhardy as to go, but let me warn you, you might need a quick hit of antidepressants afterward.
"Golden" is a real downer, and don't -- under any circumstances -- expect a happy ending.
It just ain't gonna happen.
If you want a good cry, go see this movie.
Oh, and one more thing.
I was all hyped to see some crazy-cool martial arts as in the outstanding "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
But by the time the airborne kicking, punching and twirling started, it was already half past melancholy.

Posted by Trish Choate at 06:44 PM | Permalink