I Was Here a Thousand Years Ago

Chinese film-makers seem to have mastered the art of making lavish costume dramas. I recently watched Curse Of The Golden Flower, a film set in 10th century Beijing. It's a wonderfully opulent film at many levels. The plot has more layers than a piece of Bebinca (aside - that's a delicious dessert). The costumes are gorgeously regal, as befits a palace drama. Most of all, the sets are spectacular.

I think I enjoyed the sets most of all. I recently went to Beijing on a holiday and was swept away by the Forbidden City. So it was a special treat to see Zhang Yimou's reconstruction of what it would have looked like in it's heyday. I have no idea whether it was an authentic reconstruction; if anything the one newspaper review I read suggested that Zhang had taken a few liberties with historical accuracy. If so, the result was completely worth any artistic license that he exercised.

Here's a picture I took at the Forbidden City...


And here's how Zhang imagined it to be a thousand years ago...


From start to finish he created a panorama of imperial splendour. The carpets, the tapestries, the screens, the cushions, they were all a kaleidoscope of silken reds and greens and blues and gold. In almost every scene I could recognize the section in the palace where it took place, and recall what it looks like today. It was like having a thoroughly enjoyable deja vu experience (without having to worry about the fact that deja vu is sometimes an early symptom of schizophrenia).

You could criticize the film for having an over-the-top story, some rather credulity-stretching action, and a collection of really twisted characters but that would be missing the point. It was clearly meant to be a spectacle, and as a spectacle it is truly spectacular.