Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)

Original Title

滿城盡帶黃金甲 Mǎnchéng Jìndài Huángjīnjiǎ

Genre

Drama | Romance

Director

Yimou Zhang

Country

China

Cast

Li Gong, Yun-Fat Chow, Jay Chou, Junjie Qin, Ye Liu, Dahong Ni, Jin Chen, Man Li

Storyline

During China's Tang dynasty, the Emperor (Yun-Fat Chow), the Empress (Li Gong) and their sons are served by a bevy of adoring servants. But, as in any family, secrets are just around the corner, and the Imperial family hides their unspeakable secrets until the day of the Chong Yang Festival, when every plot is unveiled.

Opinion

I haven't seen neither "Hero" nor "House of Flying Daggers", and despite I know they are martial arts oriented films, I wrongly thought this one would have been a little deeper, considering is loosely based on a great play in China. There's basically no martian art, but unfortunately it doesn't have much depth.

Gorgeous to look at, Curse of the Golden Flower is a Shakespearian, flawed period drama with absolutely no soul.

The main problem is the lack of substance. There isn't too much plot involved other than a normal double-crossing story. Despite its simplicity, the story turns complicated when, half way through the film, new characters are introduced to add plot twists, and supposedly drama. What it did instead is ruining the impact of the tragedies. Furthermore the horrendous ending leaves you empty, like you have only wasted time.

The action and fight sequences -- the reason a lot of people have seen this film for -- are not all on the same level. While the ninjas assault is quite good, the others, especially the final battle, are nothing more than the result of a massive CGI use.

On the other side of the coin there's the visual impact, a whole different thing. The cinematography is spectacular. The bright colours, the patterns, the details, the breathtaking scenes and the views of the palace are so beautiful, words are not enough to describe them.

And lastly the acting is strong. Gorgeous and elegant Li Gong gives a powerful performance as the Empress, a woman driven by strong feelings. Charismatic Yun-Fat Chows gives an excellent performances as the cruel Emperor. Finally, Ye Lie does a fine job as the Crown Prince, and Jay Chou is not as good as the others - he is not a professional actor after all - but gets better in the end.

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

The Prestige (2006)

Genre

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Director

Christopher Nolan

Country

USA | UK

Cast

Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Piper Perabo, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, David Bowie, Andy Serkis, Ricky Jay, Roger Rees, W. Morgan Sheppard, Daniel Davis

Storyline

In 1878, two young stage magicians, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), clash in a darkened salon during the course of a fraudulent seance. From this moment on, their lives become webs of deceit and exposure, secrets and revelations, as they feud to outwit and destroy one another. Their rivalry takes them both to the peak of their careers, but with terrible consequences.

Opinion

Besides this, I've only seen other two Nolan's films - Memento and Inception -, and the thing that amazed me the most is their ability to hypnotize the audience.

Although at first I wasn't much into it, The Prestige turned out to be a complex, engaging, thrilling mind-blowing film, as well as an excellent portrait of obsession and competition of magicians. 

Though adapted from Christopher Priest's novel 'The Prestige', the story is a perfect fit for Nolan's direction, as the increasing engagement and twists keeps you wondering like Memento did. Also, he succeeded in having a dream cast.

The narrative structure of the film is very interesting. Nonlinear, the film starts from the end, and builds the story through flashbacks and flashforwards, showing the same episodes from the point of view of both the main characters.

Also, part of the story has a historical confirmation. In fact, besides the invention of a machine capable of teleporting or duplicate matter, the several references to the studies of Nikola Tesla and his rivalry with Thomas Edison are accurate.

The cinematography by Wally Pfister and the scenography by Nathan Crowley and Julie Ochipinti are outstanding, giving the film a magical and mysterious setting.

Hugh Jackman as Robert Angier, Christian Bale as Alfred Borden, and Michael Caine as stage engineer John Cutter all give charismatic, emotional, stunning performances. Rebecca Hall, who plays Borden's wife, provides a great performance. Scarlett Johansson, once again in the mistress's shoes, performs badly. Mention worthy is David Bowie's performance as Nikola Tesla, which despite the small screen time, proves to be a better actor than most of Hollywood's people.

Quotes

Cutter: Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige".

Cutter: Now you're looking for the secret. But you won't find it because of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled.

300 (2006)

Genre

Action | Fantasy | War

Director

Zack Snyder

Country

USA

Cast

Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Giovani Cimmino, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Tom Wisdom, Andrew Pleavin, Andrew Tiernan, Rodrigo Santoro, Stephen McHattie, Michael Fassbender, Peter Mensah, Kelly Craig, Tyler Neitzel, Robert Maillet, Patrick Sabongui, Leon Laderach, Tyrone Benskin

Plot

When the ambitious King Xerxes of Persia (Rodrigo Santoro) invades Greece with his army to extend his vast slave empire, the brave King Leonidas of Sparta (Gerard Butler) brings a force of 300 warriors to defend the passage of Thermopylae, the only way by land to reach Greece.

Opinion

300 is a boring and stupid action film, that more than anything looks like a big screen adaptation of Men's Health Magazine. 

The number of historical inaccuracies is so high, labeling the film as fantasy it's the least they could do. The dialogue is a pure joke, and the jokes are awful. Every single scene is filled with over-colour-correction and it feels like sitting in front of a video game demo for two hours.

Now it comes my favorite part: the characters. The warriors look like a group of bodybuilders armed with shields and spears, trying to contend the title of Physique of the Year. The only use for the female character - god-awful played by Lena Headey - in the film is a pointless and ridiculous sex scene. And last, but not least, the emotionally wounded hunchback that sells out the Spartans and makes them all die - as if they had any chances.

Actors are the most useless thing in the film. They could have casted some guys at the gym and still have the same result since pectoral muscles have a way bigger screen time than facial expression, and all the actors do is yelling.

Quotes

King Leonidas: Give them nothing! But take from them everything!

The Lives of Others (2006)

Original Title

Das Leben der Anderen

Genre

Drama | Thriller

Director

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Country

Germany

Cast

Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur, Thomas Thieme, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Volkmar Kleinert, Matthias Brenner, Charly Hübner, Herbert Knaup, Bastian Trost, Marie Gruber, Volker Michalowski

Plot

In 1984 East Germany, Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe), an officer of the secret police, while conducting surveillance on writer Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and his lover Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck), finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.

Opinion

Danke, danke, danke für dieses Meisterstück! The Lives of Others is many things. It is a wonderful film, full of emotions and poetry. It is an example that must be followed by modern cinema, because it is possible to craft a magnificent film without special effects, violence and banalities. It is the kind of film what captures your attention from the first moment, and keeps you interested the whole time.

It is absolutely stunning to witness the process of transformation of Wiesler's character: he goes from being the bad guy, a slave of the system and enemy of freedom, to becoming a hero, a saviour. But why does the change happen? Is it maybe because of the reading of Brecht's poem? Or is it something else?

The music, stunning and heartbreaking, makes the final embrace between Georg, the writer, and his loved Christa-Maria look warm despite the tragic background.

However, the truly amazing part is that this is Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's directorial debut and he manages to build such a fascinating and moving film.

Ulrich Mühe delivers a powerful an emotional performance. He is dramatically contained, as his character requires, but there is a lot in his bright eyes, the only part of Wiesler that's still alive. Martina Gedeck gives a great performance. 

Quotes

Georg Dreyman: You know what Lenin said about Beethoven's Appassionata, 'If I keep listening to it, I won't finish the revolution.' Can anyone who has heard this music, I mean truly heard it, really be a bad person?

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Original Title

El laberinto del fauno

Genre

Drama | Fantasy | War

Director

Guillermo del Toro

Country

Spain | Mexico

Cast

Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Doug Jones, Ariadna Gil, Álex Angulo, Manolo Solo, César Vea, Roger Casamajor, Federico Luppi, Pablo Adán

Plot

In the falangist Spain of 1944, armed with only her imagination, young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) discovers a mysterious labyrinth and meets a faun who sets her on a path to saving herself and her ailing mother.

Opinion

Pan's Labyrinth is an undefined film, a dark fairy tale for grown ups, halfway between the fantasy and the real world, which, in this case, is war. By looking around, I figured this is the main reason why many did not like the film. Having said this, I really liked it.

Guillermo del Toro, which deals with brutality and innocence, has created something different, something special. The continuous alternation between reality and fantasy, lived through a little girl's eyes, has an addictive rhythm.

Sergi López is excellent as the brutal and sadistic falangist Captain Vidal. Ivana Baquero, 11-year-old at that time, delivers a great performance.

Buy on Amazon.com | Buy/Rent on Amazon Instant Video

Quotes

Ofelia: Many, many years ago in a sad, faraway land, there was an enormous mountain made of rough, black stone. At sunset, on top of that mountain, a magic rose blossomed every night that made whoever plucked it immortal. But no one dared go near it because its thorns were full of poison. Men talked amongst themselves about their fear of death, and pain, but never about the promise of eternal life. And every day, the rose wilted, unable to bequeath its gift to anyone... forgotten and lost at the top of that cold, dark mountain, forever alone, until the end of time.

Rating

8.5/10