CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER

I have not always been a fan of martial arts movies, but lately there have been some that have really told a great story along with the martial arts fighting. One of the best I've seen is Curse of the Golden Flower. The story is that of a royal family which dynasty is filled with secrets and lies. The setting is fantastically beautiful in this movie and the battle scenes are extremely well performed. This movie comes stars Chow Yun Fat (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and Gong Li (Memoirs of a Geisha) as the royal couple who are set at odds over the secrets and lies.

The emperor has been secretly poisoning his wife over several years by commanding her to take medicine for her "anemia". The medicine is more than Phentermine, it's a slow working poison that causes the recipient to lose their mind. Little does he know that she realizes what has been happening, and what happened to his first wife and mother of his sons. The expansive set for this film is the largest ever created in China for any movie, and you'll understand this when you watch it.

This 2006 film is rated R for the violence, of course.