The latest film directed by Chinese director Zhang Yimou recently hit the screens. The Curse of the Golden Jacket stars Gong Li, Jay Chou and Chow Yun-fat and follows in the footsteps of other big budget rubbish such as The House of Flying Daggers and The Banquet. This morning I read some Chinese-language blogs to see what the reaction to the film has been like:
Chinese blogger Li Chengpeng writes on Sina that the movie is more like the Curse of the Golden Breast. His post was well-written and I didn't really understand all of it, but he seemed to believe that breasts were packed into dresses as tightly as possible. After watching the teaser on TV, this notion is completely understandable because Gong Li's fat breasts were really bouncing out of position. I think it's fair to say that Li Chengpeng is scornful of Zhang Yimou’s latest creation. Link
A breast factory in Curse of the Golden Jacket. Photo taken from Li Chengpeng's blog.
Another blogger called Zi Feiyu also had an adverse reaction to the overload of breasts in Curse of the Golden Jacket. She writes: "Those women running in the palace with bouncy breasts were extremely funny, especially the bitter-faced Gong Li." Zi believes that saying the movie is based on the novel Thunderstorm is desecrating the name of the novel's author Cao Yu. Zi says that unlike the novel, where every character could be sympathised with, only Prince Jie can be sympathised with in Curse of the Golden Jacket. Zi believes the movie is without compassion. Link
Over at Netease, a blog called Sancuo's World of Movies and Sport complains about the unlimited promotional opportunities given to major Chinese films. This is also something that annoys me a lot – every time a new Chinese movie arrives on the scene, those two bimbos on CCTV6 give it non-stop positive coverage. Even if the movie turns out to be a dog, there won't be a word of criticism voiced on China's national movie broadcaster. Sancuo goes on to give an example of a 'movie review', which is actually a sycophantic summary of Zhang Yimou's 'greatness'. LInk
| 