The Curse of Turandot
图兰朵 魔咒缘起
China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 110 mins.
Director: Zheng Xiaolong 郑晓龙.
Rating: 5/10.
Splashy costume drama looks good but is let down by a very average script and mostly average performances.
STORY
Somewhere in ancient Central Asia. The young princess Turandot (Wulantuoya Duo), whose mother died in childbirth, is the only heir of the powerful Khan (Jiang Wen). At a ceremony where surrounding countries all send tributes to him, the Khan orders the tiny western country of Malvia, a peaceful and prosperous land, to be brought under his sway. He orders his general, Boyan (Hu Jun), to sort it out. Malvia’s king (Vincent Perez) and queen (Sophie Marceau) have a young son, Calaf (Thomas Richard Frank), who for two years has been taught by martial-arts master Zhou Da (Zou Zhaolong), who also taught the younger Boyan. Without any provocation, the ambitious Boyan slaughters Malvia’s royal family, though Calaf escapes with Zhou Da. Next to the bodies of the king of queen Boyan finds three sacred bracelets which, unknown to him, invoked a terrible curse if united on a person’s wrist. Boyan gives them as a birthday present to Turandot and, in front of the whole court, the bracelets weld themselves to her wrist. The Khan’s high priest (Zhang Chunzhong) discovers that, when Turandot is 15, a suitor for her hand will be able to unlock the curse by answering three riddles; meanwhile, as she grows up, the bracelets will suck her blood and make her heart as cold as ice; if no suitor has been successful by the time she’s 18, the curse will swallow her soul and she will turn mad. Meanwhile, Zhou Da returns home to the khanate, bringing Calaf, nicknamed Blue Eyes, with him; the boy grows up with Zhou Da’s young daughter, Liu’er (Chen Sinuo), whose mother died and who’s been looked after by Auntie San (Sun Qian). Some 10 years pass, and both children are now in their mid-teens. The tomboyish Liu’er (Lin Siyi) has grown fond of Blue Eyes (Dylan Sprouse), who has no idea of his own background. Because he has become interested in fireworks – whose production is a closely guarded secret by the Khan’s fireworks master (Lin Wei) – Liu’er sneaks him into underground fireworks workshop, where they’re nearly arrested. Blue Eyes also manages to sneak into the royal gardens where Boyan is tutoring Turandot (Guan Xiaotong) in swordcraft. Blue Eyes protects her and Boyan recognises his swordcraft as that of Zhou Da. When Boyan attacks Blue Eyes, Turandot protects him with her bracelets; when she then takes him on as her tutor, Boyan, who is plotting to marry Turandot and take over the khanate, leaves in a huff. Blue Eyes eventually becomes a royal guard, which gives him easier access to Turandot’s quarters; he spends less time with Liu’er, which saddens her. Several suitors have died trying to solve the three riddles but, as Turandot’s 18th birthday fast approaches, the Khan still hopes to find a husband for her. The latest to arrive is U Tong (Wang Jia), prince of Lamphu kingdom, whose younger brother earlier died in the attempt. After he’s arrested for trying to kill Turandot in revenge, U Tong is sentenced to death unless he can answer the three riddles. Blue Eyes, who’s become U Tong’s sworn brother, offers to take his place.
REVIEW
Though the acting bar isn’t exactly high, veteran Mainland actor Hu Jun 胡军 steals the show as the baddie in The Curse of Turandot 图兰朵 魔咒缘起, a good-looking but extremely average slice of costume whimsy about a young princess, a terrible curse linked to some coloured bracelets, and the young suitor who solves three riddles to unlock said curse. Well-packaged by Beijing-born film-maker Zheng Xiaolong 郑晓龙, 68 – best known for his TVDs and especially costume drama Empresses in the Palace 甄嬛传 (2011) – it lacks any real dramatic heft, has an awkward East-meets-West storyline, and is at least 10-15 minutes too long. Shot during Mar-Jul 2018, the splashy production crashed spectacularly in the Mainland this October, taking a mere RMB18.9 million.
Best known, at least in the West, via the 1926 opera by Puccini – who moved the original Persian fable to Imperial China – Curse goes for a vague Central Asian setting closer to the 1762 Italian play by Carlo Gozzi that’s served as a source for later versions. (Puccini’s opera was banned in the PRC until 1998.) The script by Zheng’s wife Wang Xiaoping 王小平, who’s collaborated on many of his films, constructs whole backstories for the leads, as well as subsidiary characters and plotlines, starting with Turandot’s youth and then 
flashforwarding about a decade to the main story set in her mid-late teens. Wang’s elaboration of the original fable reportedly occupied her for eight years, and resulted in a three-volume novel, The Three Bracelets: The Curse of Turandot 三色镯, published in 2020 (see cover, left).
The ambition of Wang and Zheng is apparent from the opening, as an elaborate visual effects shot introduces the audience to the Khan, and the many countries bringing tributes to him, to the East-West storyline in which his troops invade a small European country (“Malvia”) and slaughter its rulers. A curious ending seems to tie the West’s “discovery” of fireworks, and their peaceable effects, to the whole Central Asian story – though, given the number of implausibilities throughout the film, the whole thing is best considered a fairy tale.
As the khan’s ambitious general, Hu quietly starts to steal the movie about halfway through, though he’s run a close second by veteran actor-director Jiang Wen 姜文 as the benignly ruthless Khan himself. The titular leads are pretty but pretty bland, especially former US child star Dylan Sprouse, then in his mid-20s, as the suitor Calaf, aka Blue Eyes. Mainland actress Guan Xiaotong 关晓彤, then 20, and also a child star, is okay as the icy princess but has done much better in supporting roles (A Paper Marriage 一纸婚约, 2017; Shadow 影, 2018). Both are revoiced by professional dubbers, and are comprehensively overshadowed on screen by the lively playing of SNH48 girl-grouper Lin Siyi 林思意, then 24, as Calaf’s tomboyish adoptive sister. Swiss actor Vincent Perez and French actress Sophie Marceau (popular in China, though almost unrecognisable here) appear largely in flashbacks as Calaf’s royal parents, and neither is required to do much acting.
The presence of western actors, as well as the heroic orchestral score by UK composer/synths programmer Simon Franglen (Avatar, 2009) and editing by veteran John Gilbert (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001; Hacksaw Ridge, 2016), all give the film a strangely placeless feel, with a western film-making rhythm. Visual effects are fine, especially for the princess’ gift of rapid movement, and action choreography is okay without being special – rather like the whole film. The Chinese title translates as “Turandot: The Origin of the Spell”.
CREDITS
Presented by Dongyang Le Flower Film & TV (CN), Zhongchuan Jiachang Film & TV Media (CN).
Script: Wang Xiaoping. Novel: Wang Xiaoping. Photography: Wu Qiming. Editing: John Gilbert. Music: Simon Franglen. End-title song: Simon Franglen (music), Cui Shixuan (lyrics), Zhang Liangying. Production design: Taneda Yohei. Art direction: Zhao Xuehao. Styling: Chen Tongxun. Sound: Steve Burgess, Wen Bo. Action: Ma Yucheng. Visual effects: Christian Rajaud, Dennis Jones, Lin Kaiyu (Bangbang Pictures, Rising Sun Pictures, Pixomondo). Choreography: Li Miao. Etiquette instruction: Li Bin.
Cast: Guan Xiaotong (Turandot, princess), Dylan Sprouse (Calaf/Blue Eyes), Hu Jun (Boyan, general), Wang Jia (U Tong, prince of Lamphu kingdom), Zou Zhaolong (Zhou Da), Lin Siyi (Liu’er), Sophie Marceau (Malvia queen), Vincent Perez (Michel, Malvia king), Jiang Wen (Khan), Zhang Chunzhong (high priest), Sun Zhengyu (left lieutenant), Song Yuanfu (Chubby Ball), Li Zhenze (Skinny Camel), Sun Mingming (Arson, U Thong’s attendant), Lin Wei (fireworks master), Sun Qian (Auntie San), Song Jiahun (master of rites), Shao Wen (Khan’s valet), Na Zhidong (Khan’s chief guard), Wulantuoya Duo (young Turandot), Thomas Richard Frank (young Calaf), Chen Sinuo (young Liu’er).
Release: China, 15 Oct 2021.