Lady of the Dynasty
Director:Cheng Shi-qing
Year: 2015
Rating: 5.5
Based on the
life of one of the Four Beauties of Chinese history, Yang Guifei. It takes
place during the Tang dynasty in the 8th century. For me it is another video
building block in the vastly complicated history of China. This takes place
after the death of Empress Wu (Empress Wu, 1963; Detective Dee, 2010) in
705 and the ascension to the throne by Emperor Xuanzong in 712. By the time
this film begins he has been emperor for many years and has had some eighteen
sons, who all have their eye on the throne. The Tang Empire is at its height
of power and influence and then into this situation comes Yang Guifei, a
commoner of exceptional beauty and charm. As with most of these Mainland
epic historical films it is loaded down with ornate and over the top sets,
costumes and ritual. Not to mention court intrigue. It is visually stunning
- nothing more so than Fan Bingbing as Yang. Director Cheng Shi-qing luxuriates
in her image - the ghostly white skin and the fabulously stunning outfits
she wears. She is center-stage throughout the two-hour film with the camera
fawning over her like a precious jewel. Credited along with Cheng is Zhang
Yimou as an advisor and that may explain the gorgeous style of the film.
The film is a big opulent royal romance
and tragedy that looks wonderful, but often plods along from scene to scene
with little zest. It is a fascinating true story but it is weighted down
by giving it no room to breathe. It is stuck in its beauty like a moth in
amber. But damn, it/she looks so good I stuck with it, even knowing how it
must end if it stayed true to history. Narrating the events at times is a
Byzantine envoy in English - which seems an odd choice - and seems more than
anything to be PR for the Tang dynasty. He tells of how Yang came to the
attention of the royal family. She has a dance performance bathed in blood
red attire before the Emperor (Leon Lai) and Consort Wu (Joan Chen). Wu has
been the Emperor's favorite for years and has given him one son, Prince Mao
(Wu Chun) who is far down the line of succession. Not that this ever stops
an ambitious mother in these films. Reading about this period and the many
suspicious deaths or exiles of royalty, you realize what a snake pit it was.
I would be afraid to eat. At one point, the Emperor confides to Yang that
all of his uncles were murdered in their sleep and it makes him terrified
to do so.
Consort Wu seeing the clear interest on
the face of the Emperor as he watches Yang dance, tells him that she has
chosen her to be the wife of her son. Lucky Mao. But Emperor's will be Emperor's.
They are used to getting their way. I have to say that Leon brings the energy
of a wet stone to his role. Meanwhile, the conniving mother plots to have
the 18 sons reduced by framing some of them as conspirators. Mao realizes
his father has an itch for Yang and so tries to poison her. Yang as portrayed
here is just a sweetie pie. She likes to dance and play her string instrument
- and clearly spends a lot of time in looking her best. She decides to become
a nun and goes away but she has gotten under his skin and the Emperor comes
to claim her. The Emperor is a nice guy too - for an Emperor - who executed
three of his sons - and he romances her like a school boy. But it inevitably
lurches towards the famous tragic ending which the director attempts to wring
out every tear that the audience has but it is so absurd that I stared at
the screen in disbelief. Seriously, just go to the last ten minutes
for this. It is weird and wonderfully bad. A double climax.
Apparently, the Chinese audience wasn't
enthralled with the film and it bombed and the director has not been heard
from since. Princess Yang has been depicted in a few other films - Princess
Yang Kwei-fei (1955) from director Kenji Mizoguchi, The Magnificent Concubine
(1962) from director Li Han-hsiang and in numerous TV shows - one starring
Fan Bingbing as Yang. How one gets consideration for being one of the Four
Beauties I don't know. Was there a vote? If we did that today my votes would
be for Brigitte Lin, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung and Joey Wong.
