Has anyone seen this fantastic film? I hadn't even heard about it until Caroline mentioned it to me when we were talking about going to see a movie (which I hadn't done in ages). We went to see it on Saturday, and I was so blown away that I haven't even been able to talk about it!
It's the most visually stunning film I've seen in a long time, perhaps even ever. The costumes, the art-direction, the sets, and the beauty of the actors were all unparalleled... I had better see this movie in the Costume and Art Direction categories come Oscar time. And the plot was so wonderfully twisted up! It was like Shakespeare wrote a Mandarin soap-opera!
It was all filmed in the Forbidden City, which was restored (I expect with a lot of help from CGI) to its Tang Dynasty splendor, which was colorful and grand and utterly glistening with gold and gems; the costumes and jewels were ostentatious, complicated, and glamorous beyond comprehension. The battle scenes (for those as like such things) were utterly amazing, but they couldn't hold a candle to the simplest things, like the Empress walking down the hallway with her retinue, or the Emperor flipping back his sleeves for a fight, or the slaves covering up a battle-ground for the Crysanthemum Festival.
If the movie is playing in your neck of the woods, I totally recommend it; if it's not, keep an eye open for the DVD release, and be sure to play it on a really big screen. It's just amazing.
It's the most visually stunning film I've seen in a long time, perhaps even ever. The costumes, the art-direction, the sets, and the beauty of the actors were all unparalleled... I had better see this movie in the Costume and Art Direction categories come Oscar time. And the plot was so wonderfully twisted up! It was like Shakespeare wrote a Mandarin soap-opera!
It was all filmed in the Forbidden City, which was restored (I expect with a lot of help from CGI) to its Tang Dynasty splendor, which was colorful and grand and utterly glistening with gold and gems; the costumes and jewels were ostentatious, complicated, and glamorous beyond comprehension. The battle scenes (for those as like such things) were utterly amazing, but they couldn't hold a candle to the simplest things, like the Empress walking down the hallway with her retinue, or the Emperor flipping back his sleeves for a fight, or the slaves covering up a battle-ground for the Crysanthemum Festival.
If the movie is playing in your neck of the woods, I totally recommend it; if it's not, keep an eye open for the DVD release, and be sure to play it on a really big screen. It's just amazing.
