Curse of the Golden Flower

Had watched it with my parents, as I mentioned earlier. Think it's a very good movie, actually, in terms of symbolism and depth, and particularly, the narrative with the interestingly ambiguous ending of the cup of poisonous medicine splattering on the chrysanthemum symbol. And the cinematography and characterisation was very good, especially the Emperor's barely perceptible quivering pause of his chopsticks when his last surviving son committed suicide, despite his non-chalant expression.

Think something that saddened me a lot was the tragedy that befell the entire royal family, and so many men slaughtered... all because of the scheming and plotting of the Emperor who had used backhanded means and deception to get the throne for himself so many years ago. And he ended up getting back more than what he had expected.

Another thing that struck me was the unspoken visual commentary on the pagentry and pomp of the royal palace, and how all this beautiful visuals (including Tang Dynasty fireworks!) served as a mere veneer for the politics and intrigue and deceit and backstabbing that so went on.

One of the darkest scenes that showed the cheapness of human lives was how, after the ruthless and efficient slaughter of the rebel troops in the courtyard, the palace servants dragged the thousand of dead bodies aside, swept the place clean and washed the blood away - all highlighted in vivid detail and colour. For a moment, the slain troops looked to me like dead honeybees on the smashed crysanthemum flowers - a silent commentary to the fleeting evanescence of men's lives under a brutal system?

Some interesting cinematographic aspects and themese that I picked up from the film - learnt this from Claramae! :)
Repetition: The constant use of repetitive patterns inscribed into every level of the film narrative lend themselves to a powerful motif of royal splendour and grandeur, while simultaneously accenting the repetitive and bland nature of life in the royal palace itself. Also, the repetitive sounds in the music lend themselves very well to the overall tone and mood of the film.

Contrast: The warm informal banter, playful even, and the visibly emotional anguish later of the Imperial Doctor and his family (all non-royal), and Chan, the Doctor's daughter, when she is playfully being caressed by her lover, the First Crown Prince, are a vivid contrast in tone to the stilted, formal dialogue between the royal family members themselves. The cold, self-serving nature of the royal family is a drastic contrast to the passionate, sacrificial love that the non-royal family shows one another - e.g. the Imperial Doctor sacrificing his life for his wife, his wife willing to risk her life to rescue her daughter...

Close-ups: The director has made very skilful use of the close-ups e.g. the preparation of the medicine, the chopsticks, etc.

Symbolisms

Props

Yup, think quite a bit haha...