"CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER" ("Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia," 2006, in Mandarin with English subtitles) ..... B .. Famed director Zhang Yimou once again teams with the beautiful Gong Li, his former mistress and muse, in this colorful tale about palace intrigue. This story replicates a Chinese version of Shakespeare's "King Lear" in its depiction of a severely dysfunctional Tang Dynasty governing family doomed by inner turmoil during the celebration of the Chong Yang (Chrysanthemum) Festival.

Thanks to cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding, this movie is a sumptuous visual feast for the eyes as well as the senses with scenes that are almost breathtaking in their scope and complexity. The overwhelming luxury and the ostentatious display of the wealth of that era, if historically accurate, make the Versailles court of Louis XIV look like a log cabin filled with a bunch of impoverished country bumpkins. Mere words simply cannot describe the luxury of the Forbidden City. I might add here that these scenes of luxury are similar to Yimou's other recent films like "Hero" in 2002 and "The House of Flying Daggers" in 2004.

Unfortunately, what this film lacks is a heart, a warm center of normalcy to which the rest of us can relate. This lack of warmth creates an emotional distance between us and the characters in the story, all of whom are so flawed as to be closer to lunacy than normalcy. My eyes were richly rewarded by the imagery and my intellect was entranced by the story. However, my heart was left untouched and unscathed because this film ended up being little more than a high class, bodice-ripping soap opera filled with heaving décolletage by wives, lovers and courtesans in a continuing display just tasteful enough to pass the Chinese censors.

This is in spite of the powerful acting by Chow Yun-Fat as the Emperor and the overwhelming performance by Gong Li as his estranged second wife. These two roles are cast to perfection. Chun Yun-Fat easily has the presence to command our respect as an emperor or in his earlier role as a martial arts master in the 2000 epic, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Gong Li, certainly one of the most beautiful women in the world, once again fills her role with such anger and passion as to be almost overwhelming in her decent into madness similar to that which she took in Yimou's 1991 masterpiece, "Raise the Red Lantern."

Emperor Ping (Chow Yun-Fat, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") leaves the Forbidden City to meet his second son, Prince Jie (Chou Jay), to ascertain his loyalty and to promise much with his guarded statement, "What I do not give, you must never take by force." Back home, the reason for the loyalty test becomes clear when Prince Jie finds out that his father has been slowly poisoning his stepmother, Empress Phoenix (Gong Li, "Memoirs of a Geisha"), with a black Persian fungus guaranteed to bring on insanity in a few weeks.

The three sons had been born to Ping's first wife, who is now deeply revered in death. The Empress had earlier taken her eldest stepson, Crown Prince Xiang (Liu Ye), as a lover, but lately Xiang has been resisting the shame of this illicit relationship. Ping had married the Empress, a member of another royal family, in a calculated political move to establish his dynasty. Now they go through the motions of a marriage in name only. Left on the sidelines is the youngest of the three brothers, Prince Cheng (Junjie Qin), who claims to have no political aspirations of his own.

Hiding in the background is the Imperial Physician Jiang (Ni Dahong), who has had his daughter, Chan Jiang (Li Man), secrete the poison into the medicine that the Empress must take every two hours. That his daughter has become deeply involved with the Crown Prince is considered to be further good fortune by the doctor, as it is an insurance policy in case his efforts to poison the Empress come to light.

Chow Yun-Fat comes the closest to being an anchor and a man of honor in this film, but his constant machinations make him suspect. Furthermore, the motives underlying his actions can only be guessed at. Since his absolute power by definition must corrupt absolutely, he comes off as a cold and calculating personage who will allow no one to question his authority.

This Yimou film has much to recommend it, but my suggestion would be instead to rent his masterpiece, "Raise the Red Lantern," which also stars Gong Li. Or go rent the 2000 martial arts masterpiece, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," which stars Chow Yun-Fat. 114 minutes, R for violence.