Went to watch 2 movies last week. One of them was Confession of Pain, while the other was Curse of the Golden Flower.

Confession of Pain



Actually wanted to catch Night at the Museum with Roy but tickets were sold out. Since we were already there, we decided to catch this show instead., and luckily, we did not regret it.

This show is a crime thriller, starring Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung. Takeshi Kaneshiro is an alcoholic private detective, who is still coming to terms with the suicide of his wife some years back, while Tony Leung plays a police officer with the homicide department, who is married to a rich man’s daughter.

The movie starts with Takeshi Kaneshiro returning home after arresting a serial rapist with Tony Leung, only to find that his wife had committed suicide. To make things worse, it was found out that his wife actually had an abortion earlier. Devastated, Takeshi Kaneshiro turned to alcohol (he hated alcohol before) to drown his sorrows. Some years later, Tony Leung (his best friend) got married to a rich man’s daughter. However, the rich man was murdered shortly later and the daughter hired Takeshi to find out the actual cause of the murder, and this is where the movie really kicks off.

It is actually revealed early in the movie that Tong Leung is the killer. What this movie really explores is the motive behind the murders and how Takeshi goes on to solve them. It is a bit weird to see Tong Leung acting as a villain, but he does a really good job. There is a particular scene where he turned scary with murderous intent when Takeshi hinted indirectly that he might be involved in the case. Takeshi, as an alcoholic detective, can always be depended on turning in a good performance. In any case, one can’t really criticise his performance since he always look good in the movies he acts.
This movie explores the theme of revenge and if it really brings satisfaction to those seeking it. With the sad turn of events in the film, it appears that sometimes, it’s better to forgive and forget.

I find that this movie is really good, as both the lead actors are really in their elements here. The supporting cast also puts in a credible performance, especially Chapman To, who can always be counted on draw out the laughers. There is this particular line in the movie that I like personally: "知道为什么酒好喝吗？因为它很难喝…"

Curse of the Golden Flower



Caught this film at Vivo City with Joseph after accompanying him for his TV shopping trip.

Starring Chow Yun Fatt, Gong Li and Jay Chou, this movie is set in the Later Tang Dynasty, during the chaotic 5 Dynasties, 10 Kingdoms period in ancient China. The movie is adapted from Cao Yu’s famous play Thunderstorm (雷雨). All I can say is that the royal family is the most dysfunctional family that I have seen. Chow Yun Fatt, who plays the strict and manipulative emperor, is absolutely superb. Gong Li as the long suffering empress is also quite sick somewhat considering that she had an affair with her stepson, who is the emperor’s first born child by another woman. The Crown Prince, being disgusted by the affair with his step mum, finds true love with the Imperial Doctor’s daughter, who incidentally is the daughter of the Emperor’s first wife, who didn’t die after being put in prison by the Emperor in his pursuit of power, but was saved by the Imperial doctor and married him, which means, the Crown Prince and the daughter are step siblings!! Whew.. that was a mouthful…

Anyway, as this is a Zhang Yimou movie, strong colours are always expected to play a strong part in the movie, and it didn’t disappoint in this aspect. The settings are marvellous and the costumes are a marvel to look at (although the amount of breasts power in the film was a little too much to stomach, even for a normal man like me).

I left the theatre feeling quite sad, as the movie is quite tragic and the ending music is also quite touching. This is a really really good film and an absolute must-see for anyone out there.




It is quite rare for me to be seeing 2 Chinese movies within a short period of time, but I am glad that I’ve managed to catch these 2 good movies!