Wang chao de nu ren: Yang Gui Fei

After reading some these reviews after having already watched the film, I am under the impression that this was based on actual historical events. I had no knowledge of this going into the film and was simply watching it because I enjoy period films.

The plot is that beautiful woman becomes the wife of a prince only to learn that the Emperor wants the girl for himself. The Emperor eventually marries her without her affection with the hopes she will eventually return his love. In the meantime, someone in her family plays a part in an uprising against the emperor causing a call for all members of her family, including her, to be executed for treason.

This was a confusing movie for me. I was reading subtitles and maybe some details were literally lost in translation. I feel like I missed the point. It sorta felt like it was supposed to be an epic romance but there was little romancing going on. Maybe is was supposed to be about treason but there wasn't much explained about why the treason took place. This was really slow paced so it shouldn't be so confusing.

The good thing about this was the costuming and the cinematography. It was a beautiful film to watch even if it was so jumbled. If you watch it, it will be for those things alone. The story is a hot mess.