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Prayers in the Spring,
Retribution in the Autumn;
It's the Hour of the Ninth.
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The DVD of the third international success by one of the best Chinese film-makers (Zhang Yimou) deserves to be watched. Unlike the previous ones ( Hero and House of Flying Daggers) Curse of he Golden Flower is much more a Imperial Court portrait than a martial arts show. In some parts, the characteristic speed of the previous movies still appears, but not for long. There isn't exactly a hero either and no purity at all, as politics rule the plot. But there is a love triangle, a woman fighting for freedom and the colours of Autumn. All traits of the previous films. The story has a sad and realistic ending, but the most important aspect of the movie is the exquisite cinematography with amazing colours throughout. Serious competition for Hollywood from Asia, it seems.
What I liked the most was the importance of the chrysanthemum (literally, golden-flower) in the film. Originally, it was only a yellow flower in China, long before it was adopted as the Imperial flower of Japan. Then, its varieties appeared in many colours. It is the flower of Autumn, connected with the 9th month of the Chinese Calendar, the month of the Dog, mainly October and the beginning of November. That is why in the West the flower is connected with the month of November and with Death, due to the time of death and rebirth in the end of October and the start of November.
In China, it is a flower of honour, very yang, being its festival called the Double Nines (9th day of the 9th month) a most masculine thing, because only the chrysanthemum is strong enough to survive the harsh winds of Autumn. The connection of this symbolic to the film is obvious: the rebel Empress identifies herself with the power of the flower, because her life is controlled against her will by males. Yet, she is doomed to fail (and fall) because the man she loves doesn't love her, and she can't give up on him. However, she doesn't give in without a fight. And that is no small victory, although it's a cursed one: all her loved ones die, but also the Emperor's loved ones do, for they are the same.
The Festival of the Chrysanthemum in China occurs during the Sign of Libra (around the 19th of October). In the West, we connect the flower with the Sign of Scorpio (death and rebirth) but its origins are not European and are connected with beauty and honour against all odds, a very Libralike thing (Libra is a masculine sign, don't forget).
When I was a child, a friend of my father brought me a very sophisticated tea cup from the East. He knew my birthday was in the Autumn, so he bought the cup with chrysanthemums depicted on it and he explained there were four sacred plants, one for each season. None of those chrysanthemums are golden, although the painting on the cup is decorated with gold. It never came to my mind to search for the meaning of those flowers. Until this film came along. And I'm glad it did.
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