"Curse of the Golden Flower" - The title refers to the empress' obsession with embroidering chrysanthemums for a coming festival. It is an ambitious, engrossing tale about a dysfunctional royal family of the Tang Dynasty ruling in 10th-century China: the domineering Emperor, the ill adulterous mother and three sons of unequal ambition.

Palace intrigue abounds as the emperor's middle son, Prince Jai, arrives after long service in the military. To honor his arrival, a huge ceremony is planned. In the middle of the night, hundreds of servants, functionaries and others arise and carefully prepare themselves; the scale and precision of the sequences tell me that I’m in for a treat.

But before he can visit the palace, Prince Jai must first pass a test. He and his father, both dressed in impressive armor, battle each other with swords. As I watch the tense fight, I sensed that the sparring match might foreshadow something far more grave.

Inside the impossibly ornate palace, the empress awaits the arrival of Jai, her son. I found out that she has been having an affair with her stepson, Crown Prince Wan, a self-professed weakling who doesn't believe he deserves the throne.

It's also easy to see that the empress is very ill. Her forehead is beaded with sweat and she's wracked with tremors. To combat this, the emperor has ordered the imperial doctor to prepare an herbal potion of the emperor's concoction, but the empress is not convinced of its worth. On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The Emperor returns unexpectedly with his second son, Prince Jai. His pretext is to celebrate the holiday with his family, but given the chilled relations between the Emperor and the ailing Empress, this seems disingenuous.

Meanwhile, Prince Jai, the faithful son, grows worried over the Empress's health and her obsession with golden chrysanthemums. Could she be headed down an ominous path?The Emperor harbors equally clandestine plans; the Imperial Doctor is the only one privy to his machinations.

Amid the glamour and grandeur of the festival, ugly secrets are revealed. As the Imperial Family continues its elaborate charade in a palatial setting, thousands of golden armored warriors charge the palace. Who is behind this brutal rebellion? Where do Prince Jai's loyalties lie? Between love and desire, is there a final winner? There might be - if only the movie has subtitles.

I loved the movie so much but I was also desperate for a conclusion. There must have been at least five million Chinese fighting against each other in this movie. It’s hard to name all of them. But where and when and when who matters where, I manage a decent understanding of all the plots and ploys of the plans. At least these much I understood – I think??

The Imperial household consists of the Emperor, the Empress, the crown prince - Prince Wan, Prince Jai, Prince Song, the imperial doctor, the imperial doctor’s daughter and about two million other Chinese workers.

Prince Wan is the Emperor’s first born from the Emperor’s first wife who was supposed to be dead but is still alive. Prince Jai is the son of the Emperor’s second wife who has an incestuous affair with the Emperor’s first son. Prince Song is the Emperor’s third son from a mother that I know not. He could be anybody’s son for all I care. Chan is the daughter of the imperial doctor whose wife is a mother of his daughter who used to be the Emperor’s first wife who was supposed to be dead but is still alive. The Empress is the second wife of the Emperor who is very much alive but the Emperor wants dead.

For many years, the Empress and Crown Prince Wan, her stepson, have had an illicit liaison. Feeling trapped, Prince Wan dreams of escaping the palace with his secret love, Chan, the Imperial Doctor's daughter. Numerous forces, including the Empress, who is also in love with the Crown Prince, try to keep the lovers apart. It leads them on a dangerous journey where secrets of the royal family are uncovered.

On a night before the chrysanthemum festival, Chan sneaks into Prince Wan’s chamber. There was nothing much to this scene that could leave me salivating for some steamy oriental soft porn. They talk a lot instead.

Chan: “Chan want Wan to know that Wan is Chan one and only one.”
Prince Wan: “ Chan is also Wan one and only one.”
Chan: “Wan think Chan got chan (chance) if Chan want to marry Wan?”
Prince Wan: “ If Chan want chan (chance), Wan will give Chan one chan (chance).”
Chan: “Chan love Wan and Chan want Wan.”
Prince Wan: “Wan love Chan too and Wan want Chan too…”

Bearing in mind that I did not have the benefit of a subtitle, this was what possibly could have transpired when the Emperor finds out about the illicit liaison between mother and son…. I think??

Emperor: “I sent Prince Jai to war and he became a warrior. I sent Prince Song to school and he became a scholar. I wanted to teach you how to fight so that you can become a fighter. Instead you stayed behind with your mother…only to become a MOTHERFUCKER!!!”

Just before the epic adventure on the night of the chrysanthemum festival, the imperial family gathers for a karaoke session.

Emperor: “Song… why don’t you sing us a good song”
Prince Song: “What song do you want Song to sing?”
Emperor: “As long as Song sing a song, we sing with Song and we sing along.”
Prince Song: “If Song sing a song and Song sing a “Thong Song”, will your majesty sing along?”
Emperor: “As long as the “Thong Song” is not a long song, we will sing the song with Song”

And then when the Emperor senses a looming threat, he relocates the doctor's family from the Palace and makes him the new Governor in a remote area of Shuzhoa. While they are en route, mysterious assassins attack them. Chan and her mother are forced back to the palace. Their return sets off a tumultuous sequence of dark surprises. During the hot pursuit, Chan is separated from her mother. Frantic, the poor mother goes screaming for her name in search for Chan.

Mother: “CHAN!!! CHAAAAAAN………!! “CHAAAAaaaaaaaaaaan…..!! “CHAAaaaaaaan ….!!!
“CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!! “Chan Ma Li Chan ketipong payong…………….”

I know that I may not be a 100 percent accurate. But a Chinese movie with no English subtitles - go figure yourself. The End...Phew!!