Curse Of The Golden Flower/Fearless/Crouching Tiger, Hidden… Yun-Fat Chow 2008

Triple bill of Chinese epics. In ‘Curse of the Golden Flower’ (2006), during the latter days of the Tang Dynasty in tenth-century China, the Emperor (Chow Yun-Fat) unexpectedly returns home from war along with his son Prince Jai (Jay Chou). But while the Empress (Gong Li) is happy to see her son, her reception of her husband is less cordial – their marriage has been an unhappy one for many years and in the Emperor’s absence she has taken her step-son, Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye), as a lover. In frustration, the Emperor orders the Imperial doctor (Ni Dahong) to secretly drug the Empress and render her insane. But the situation is further complicated by the doctor’s daughter, with whom the Crown Prince secretly wishes to elope. As the royal couple’s entangled motives lead them inevitably towards violence and retribution, their youngest son, Prince Yu (Qin Junjie), struggles to bring peace to the household. ‘Fearless’ (2006) stars Jet Li as Chinese martial artist Huo Yuan Jia, who founded and developed the prestigious Jin Wu Sports Federation in the late 19th century. Rising to the top of the martial arts world from a deprived background, Huo Yuan Jia fought for the honour of his country and for the spirit of martial arts. Finally, in ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ (2000), Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) has been charged with bringing the Green Destiny, a legendary antique sword, to its new owner in the capital. But the sword is stolen by a mysterious black-clad thief whose martial arts expertise outshines even that of Shu Lien herself. Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) soon arrives to help search for the sword, and his suspicions are aroused when he realises that his old enemy Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-Pei) is nearby. Ang Lee’s epic tale of martial arts chivalry broke box office records for foreign language film distribution, received critical acclaim the world over, and won four Oscars (Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Music, and Best Foreign Language Film).