Article: Decadent royals demand lavish detail.(V PLUS: EYE ON THE OSCARS: THE LOOK)(Elizabeth II, Marie Antoinette's clothing )

An empress is draped in a 44-pound, lustrous gold brocade-and-sequined robe, emblematic of her determination to instigate an epic battle. A bejeweled and powdered queen parties and gambles in a singular haute-couture gown, in silk-covered private quarters.

Decadent, sumptuous and extravagantly gilt--these are the worlds inhabited by the dissolute royals of both Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" and Zhang Yimou's "Curse of the Golden Flower." While Coppola's court favors youthful, luminous pastels to accompany Versailles' ornate interiors, Zhang's imperial vision reverberates with gold, reaching almost psychedelic heights.

Although both films are ...

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