Last week when I had lunch with an old friend, we talked about the film "Curse of the Golden Flower". We both admired the film in some way. The latter part of the conversation turned to the topic of whether films should be treated as art and entertainment that is not bound by laws in the reality, or as a representation of reality. I was so interested in this conversation that I decided to write another article on this film.

Why we suddenly had that kind of conversation in the discussion of the film? In the film, there are a lot of grand scenes which are visually pleasing but everybody understands that even if the story is real, it would not have happened like what the film describes. For example, in the killing attempt of the chief doctor of the palace, so many assassinators jumped off the mountain to make the scene a powerful one. If the story does happen, the assassinators would probably just enter the doctor's home riding horses. And when they entered, the servants of the doctor risked their lives to protect the doctor. This act is admirable, but I would question why they would be so loyal that they stayed to be killed. What is their motivation? Their employer is just a doctor, not royal at all. Some may want to protect him, but I am sure some of them would want to leave the scene to protect their own lives. Do they not have any other people that they love more than the doctor so that they want to live? None of them left the scene in the film. So, it is not a representation of reality. But if they are filmed to be cowards, what would it mean to the film? I am not sure.

The same applies to the battle towards the end of the film. The soldiers led by Prince Jie (Jay Chou) fought so hard and all of them were killed. All the soldier were running so fast into the palace that they looked as if they do not know they have their own lives to protect. Why did they not leave the scene when their side was beginning to lose? How come they were so loyal to Empress Phoenix (Li Gong) and not Emperor Ping (Yun Fat Chow), and they were willing to die for Empress Phoenix and Prince Jie? And towards the end of the battle, when Emperor's soldiers wanted to catch Prince Jie, why were some of them so stupid to go to the front when Prince Jie started to kill them one by one?

So, my friend and I spent perhaps 20 minutes on this topic. Of course, we do not have any conclusion. Perhaps the fact that there is no answer that makes watching films so much fun.