The Curse of the Golden Flower

This is a pretty film. Great acting, great scenery, fairly juicy plot, flashy martial arts.

But the ending? I sat through the most pointless climactic battle in the universe for that?

I feel so cheated.

...You know, there's probably a PhD or three in analysing the way Chinese films follow different narrative conventions from American and/or British ones. Because I don't know if that ending purely sucked, or if Chinese directors have entirely different ideas of narrative catharsis than I do.

Also, great use of film in support of ideology. Challenging authority can only end in tragedy, yay!

The Curse of the Golden Flower

This is a pretty film. Great acting, great scenery, fairly juicy plot, flashy martial arts.

But the ending? I sat through the most pointless climactic battle in the universe for that?

I feel so cheated.

...You know, there's probably a PhD or three in analysing the way Chinese films follow different narrative conventions from American and/or British ones. Because I don't know if that ending purely sucked, or if Chinese directors have entirely different ideas of narrative catharsis than I do.

Also, great use of film in support of ideology. Challenging authority can only end in tragedy, yay!