Exploring the city of golden armor
BEIJING, Dec. 4 -- "Curse of The Golden
Flower" is roughly adapted from "Thunderstorm", one of the best known works by
writer Cao Yu. But the screen version doesn't stay too faithful to the original.
The story is set in an undefined period of the Tang Dynasty, about a thousand
years ago. And there are several pivotal factors within the plot.
Traditional Chinese Medicine is the foremost factor.
A royal pharmacy was re-created according to careful research. And pharmacists
were brought in from Tong Ren Tang, a renowned maker of herbal remedies for over
300 years. The emperor, played by Chow Yun-fat, is quite enthralled with the
process of crushing and grinding herbs.
Zhang said:"If the emperor behaves too well, he'll
be ignored by the audience. As for his personality: Well, he'd love to stay in
the royal pharmacy all the time. He's a drug freak. That's how his character is
developed and expanded upon. He's just so into the drug."
His addiction has an affect on all the main
characters, and serves to reflect the culture as a whole.
We see the drug become a symbol, around which conflict is revealed.
