Zhang Yimou is a very popular Chinese director that has produced many films and won tons of awards. There’s a good chance that you’ve at least heard, if not seen, one of these films.
If you’ve never seen a Zhang Yimou scene then your in for a surprise at how visually stunning they are. They’re classic kung fu martial arts films filled with action and in depth story lines.
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)
Language: Mandarin
Rating: R
This film is all about the dirty secrets of a royal family. It’s centered around a emperor whose second marriage is seeming to fall apart. His first wife is said to have died during child birth and he has three sons, the eldest from his past wife and two others from his second marriage. The second wife, the empress, has become ill since she started taking a new medicine and suspects poisoning. 
The empress, no longer trusting her husband, has found that his previous wife never died during childbirth and actually has been exiled. The first wife has remarried the palace doctor and her daughter works as a maid in the palace. The middle son of the family has fallen in love with that maid, having no idea that she is his half sister.
I thought the storyline was a lot to follow and maybe there were a few points that didn’t add up for me but I definitely enjoyed it. The overall look of the film was amazing, like something out of a painting. It’s a film that keeps you on your toes.
Language: Mandarin
Rating: PG – 13
This film stars the well known, Jet Li as Nameless, a warrior who comes to the palace to tell the king he has killed the three assassins who attempted to assassinate him in the past. It’s based on the actual assassination attempt on the King of Qin in 227 BC. So the film is presented as a sort of story telling.
House of Flying Daggers (2004)
Language: Mandarin
Rating: PG-13
This film starts at the decline of the Tang dynasty. The country is in an uproar and there are rebel groups forming all over, one of which is the House of Flying Daggers. The leader of this group has been killed and his blind daughter,Mei , goes undercover as a dancer in an attempt to kill a police captain. She fails and is held in jail by Jin and Liu, two police captains. They devise a plan where Jin would pretend to be a warrior that frees her in order for him to be lead back to her base but the plan falls apart when the two of them fall in love.
Although I don’t really like lover stories, this one was really interesting. There’s a lot of action and fighting going on in the film as well as deception. It’s far from being one of your sappy love stories where everyone falls in love and lives happily ever after.
FarAwayForeignFilms 