China takes 'Curse' to its bosom
Movie features revealing Tang dynasty costumes
But what's getting a lot of critics and webizens revved up are the pic's revealing Tang dynasty costumes, which have led to the $45-million epic being nicknamed "Curse of the Golden Corset."
Gong Li's "breasts are so tightly wrapped that they appear ready to pop out of her costume," enthused the official Xinhua news agency. "Even the concubines and maids in the movie wear similarly revealing costumes," said Xinhua.
The expression for "golden flower" sounds similar to "golden corset" in Chinese, although they are written differently.
There is even an online spoof of the movie, which casts helmer Zhang Yimou as the principal of a breast enlargement school.
Gong defended the costumes, which she said merely showed the beauty of a woman's curves. "There was no feeling of awkwardness or danger for us wearing the costumes," she said, without revealing exactly what kind of danger such costumes can pose.
Perhaps it's the danger of overexposure. One net scribe, whose moniker is Bond, wrote in his review: "What I remember is not the fighting scenes or the acting, but the shiny white flesh."
"Curse" set a record in its opening weekend, bringing in $12.5 million B.O. nationwide.
"While it's too early to tell if the producers' boast of breaking China's all-time box office record will come true, it seems unlikely they will go bust," quipped Xinhua.
