House of Flying Daggers

No Escape Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers is one of the most visually exciting, beautiful, and emotionally painful films I've ever seen. From his first images, Zhang plunges viewers into this romantic tragedy - a story full of mysterious twists, life and death action, intense color and design, unique use of sound and music, beautifully choreographed action, sensuality, wrenching conflict, passion and devastating loss. The film is set in 850 AD during the Tang dynasty, when all of China was in chaos. Caught in this time of great political instability, three warriors find themselves not only fighting on opposing sides, but unexpectedly tangled in a fatal love triangle. The film begins with a single, bold, bright red brush stroke sweeping diagonally across the bare parchment background. As it disappears, an identical stroke quickly follows from the opposite side, and fades. A drop of blood falls, like a musical note on an empty score. This marks the visual key for Zhang Yimou's drama that is masterfully supported by the film's cinematography, unusual score, and superb acting. As the blood drops, Dai Ya's haunting bamboo flute melody is suddenly overcome by an ominous crescendo of yangqin dulcimers. The film's title appears, center screen, boxed like an official stamp in large, red Chinese characters - House of Flying Daggers. - Zhang turbulent, heart breaking tale. As the story opens, the emperor of China is weak and ineffectual. Corruption and disorder are rampant. The country has split into numerous warring factions. One of the rebel groups fighting the government is the House of Flying Daggers secreted in a forest of timber bamboo. Because they have the support of the people, and their members have an almost magical skill with daggers and in martial arts, The House of Flying Daggers is a major threat to the government. Two local police officers, Leo and Jin, are ordered by their general to find and kill the new leader of the House of Flying Daggers in ten days. Believing that the daughter of the recently assassinated rebel leader is the blind dancer, and rare beauty, hiding at the local brothel, Leo devises a plan for her capture. Jin is to go to the brothel, pretend to be drunk, and order the new girl, Mei, to dance for him. Leo arrives after her dance. He pretends to arrest Jin for drunkenness. To see if the girl is really blind, Leo orders Mei to dance the Echo Game for him before he arrests her. She performs amazingly. This is one of the most extraordinary scenes in the film. At police headquarters Leo threatens Mei with torture if she doesn't reveal the location of the House of Flying Daggers. Later that night as part of the ruse, Jin rescues Mei. He pretends to be tired of war and wants to escape with her. Leo calculates that she will lead Jin to the House of Flying Daggers while government soldiers secretly follow behind. Leo warns Jin not to fall for Mei. She can be deceptive, Leo says. Jin, who has a reputation for seducing women, assures Leo, "I'm a free spirit. I'm always in control." Unconvinced, Leo orders Jin not to turn a game into reality and ruin their plan. War isn't the real story in this film. It's the stage on which the personal dramas of these three characters are played. The war serves to divert, disrupt and endanger Jin and Mei's journey as they are drawn into more devastating personal struggles between loyalty and honor, and the real enemy - unnoticed and unsuspected until too late - true love, the assassin of all good intentions. Once struck, there is no escape. Nature's beauty is as much a character in this film as are the humans. The wild meadow first deep in flower, and at the end, veiled in snow, which hosts choreographed battles for life, love and death. The woods of white birch against fallen red leaves through which Jin on his magnificent horse flies like the wind itself. Forests of ringed, timber bamboo with their hollow song and whispering leaves in which the lovers discover their true identities. Zwang camera is often distracted away from human subjects to the pure graphic beauty of nature. Human characters, dressed in the intricate costumes of the period, appear like exotic blossoms, jewels, within these stunning natural patterns and colors. House of Flying Daggers is also an unusually sensual film where physical attraction turns into something much deeper and with greater consequences. When Leo shows Mei the torture she could face at the jail, his hands caress her face and arms and hands as a love's would. After Mei and Jin escape from jail, she bathes in a pool Jin makes for her. To hide her identity, he seductively dresses her in men's clothing. Later, Mei asks to know what her rescuer "looks" like. She kneels before Jin and runs her fingers delicately up over his hands, then his body to his face, to feel what kind of man he is. When they are captured by the soldiers, Mei reaches through the cage that imprisons them for Jin's hand. Again and again the camera closes in tight on their hands clasped together. Touch, the messenger of love. In the end, it isn't the war that matters most to these warriors, nor their political commitments. It's desire, jealousy and passion that are their real life and death battles.

Better than "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" this story gradually reveals an unexpected love triangle which contains amazing martial arts choreography woven into a stunning visual masterpiece of epic proportions. The unusual love-triangle is heart-stopping ... the fight scene at the conclusion of the film is a gut-wrenching and powerful. The close-up scenes of pure emotions reveal both artistic cinematography as well as superb acting: whether it is desire, bliss, lust, rage, doubt, torment, suffering or other emotions ... the visual effects are absolutely amazing. This film has it all: gorgeous period costumes designed by Emi Wada, spectacular landscapes like delicate water colors and oil paintings on canvas and visually pleasing actors and actresses ... They are fairy-tale like in their magnificence. The mountain scenery is breath-taking as the fall foliage paints a collage of orange, red, fading green and brown leaves which are exceptionally stunning from a distance. The field of wild flowers where Jin and Mei playfully discover the depth of their true feelings for each other is a natural wonder. They express their feelings gently at first and then with passionate abandon ... The martial arts fighting scenes in the bamboo forest where the government soldiers ambush Jin and Mei during their escape is exceptionally creative and well filmed ... This enhanced DVD has a great interview with the director Yimou Zhang who explains that bamboo forests have been symbolic of martial arts in films from long ago and he felt it must be included. Watching the interview, the viewer learns to appreciate the amount of planning and background work which is painstakingly done to perfection to film this artistic masterpiece ... Ziyi Zhang who plays Mei, lived with a blind girl for two months to learn the proper body and head movements in order to play a blind girl accurately. Also, she had studied traditional Chinese dance when a young girl which helped her learn the choreographed dance and martial arts movements in her outstanding performance in the scene for General Leo at the Peony Pavillion. The original music in the film is fantastic, Kathryn Battle sings the theme song which is sung by Mei during her dance performance for Captain Jin. It is a totally heart warming performance that captivates Jin and wins over the viewers ... The story begins in a brothel called "Peony Pavillion" where government officers visit for a tryst with the ladies and to be entertained ... The visual effects of the establishment are extraordinairily authentic, the set design, bright colors, flowers, and weapons on the wall are all extremely balanced and harmonious ... After Mei, the blind dancing girl does a magnificent martial arts and dance performance for General Leo, she is taken prisoner. She is believed to be the blind daughter of the dead leader of a clandestine organization, called "House of Flying Daggers" who are resisting government authority and creating unrest and rebellion against the Tang Dynasty. General Leo's plan is to flush out the covert operatives ... but unexpected emotional relationships develop to confound his plans. How the love triangle is revealed and resolved is the stuff of which great films are made. The story line itself is deceptively simple ... but its execution is thoroughly unequalled. The film expresses how in the short time of three days true feelings of love can develop with unequalled depth and passion. It can grow into becoming one of the most complex human emotions ever put on film. Erika Borsos (pepper flower)

What a stunning film this is-- House of Flying Daggers . There is a beauty so deep, the viewer is mesmerized: characters/actors who play them, scenery/setting, astonishing martial arts movements unlike what the viewer finds in other movies, costumes, the use of colors and light. Director Zhang Yimou assembles the parts to create a whole, a film so deep in beauty that the viewer's focus is a totality in that frame. My breath was whooshed away! The two leads, Ziyi Zhang--she with the delicate face in a powerfully controlled yet delicate body, and Takeshi Kaneshiro--he with his masculine beauty and graceful arrogance, play off each other with consummate skill as actors and martial artists. The third in this inevitable fate-must-play-out film is Andy Lau, a man's man who plays his control until the last second when his passion must out. Watching the interplay of these three give-and-take, back-and-forth is so unsettling. The casting is perfect! The framework for the film is the House of Flying Daggers, a group of female martial artists, who oppose the corrupt Tang government and seek to embarrass it when necessary and opportune. Although this secretive group is the raison d'etre for the story, it is the story of the three characters who absorb our interest. And what is obvious becomes the source of secrets. With the necessity of secret organizations comes the well spring of secrets--one by one, several times, always keeping the viewer a little more off-balance. In a time of corruption, the unusual becomes the norm. Soldiers walking the trees in battle becomes common rather than a seemingly magical skill exerted by only a special few. Every person is a remarkable handler of martial arts instruments. Everyone fights equally well. Who is to win? The final conflict is played out across a meadow in a snowstorm. White has been described in literature as representative of "the inscrutable cosmic mystery." Why these people? Why this battle? Why this ending? I think perhaps I love this film as much as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" for that mystical element that is part of Asian films (in my limited experience), the Taoist belief in accepting things for the way they are and if challenging this, falling subject to one's fate anyway. The film then reflects both the Greek dramatic belief of the inevitability of fate and the Shakespearian technique of mistaken and double identities. "House of Flying Daggers" is a beautiful cinematic experience--mesmerizing, stunning, powerful.

This is an original storyline for me.The espionage,mystery and love interest was very well hidden,the end was totally unexpected! I love a story with multiple twist and turns in the plot,a tremendous buy for me!

A STORY OF BETRAYAL AND LOVE.

I have been a lifetime student of the martial arts and Asian action movies most of my adult life. My all time favorite one is "Crouching tiger, Hidden Dragon." However, this movie (House of Flying Daggers) is a very close second on my list of great action martial art movies. You can see the professionalism in this fantastic film because it was made by the same Director of Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon. This gem has everything you might desire in an Asian martial arts movie. The cast is absolutely wonderful (Ziyi Zhang, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau). The dance scene at the beginning of this film is one of the most beautiful parts of the film. The fight scenes are nothing short of fantastic. The story moves along at a fast pace and this is a movie that I have watched several times(twice at the show and twice after buying the DVD) because it is that good. In conclusion, there is nothing more that I can add that has not already been written about from other reviewers; nevertheless, this movie is so fantastic that I just had to also comment on it with this short review. This is a movie for anyone who loves martial arts films. I am glad I have it in my personal DVD library. Rating: 5 Stars Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Haiku Moments: How to read, write and enjoy haiku)

This is a genuinely unique experience that tones down the magical acrobatics typical of most wuxia films and grounds the action in nature. Example: at no point, except maybe one shot near the beginning, do people appear to simply fly through the air supported only by wind. Instead, there is an absolutely brilliant scene in a vivid-green bamboo forest, where enemies traverse the treetops in pursuit of our heroes. Of course, such action is probably as impossible as the typical aerial acrobatics I mentioned, but we don't care because the bamboo forest and costumes are so gorgeous to look at! Nature is everywhere here. Stunning forests, vivid five-element costuming, fields of flowers... This film looks wonderful and sounds wonderful. That alone, regardless of the story, is enough to give this a watch. Believe it or not, though, the story is great as well! It is essentially a love story about freedom versus obligation, and you truly come to care about the characters. As I said above, the movie is all about aesthetics. To some, a certain aspect of the ending (hint: the weather) might seem ridiculous, but it makes sense given the film's style and values (ex: daggers that appear to have lives of their own), even if it doesn't make the slightest bit of sense on any other level. Personally, I loved the ending, and I think you will too.

amazing film 10/10

Todo un clásico del cine moderno chino. Con todo el encanto para el que guste de ello. El precio magnífico.

Dank Ang Lee's Tiger & Dragon werden Wuxia-Filme mit ganz anderen Augen in der westl. Welt gesehen. Dass ist der erste Film aus diesem Genre, welcher auf der ganzen Welt ein großes Publikum begeistern konnte. Zhang Yimou machte dort weiter, wo Ang Lee aufhörte und brachte mit Hero seinen eigenen Wuxia-Film dem westl. Publikum näher. Sowohl Ang Lee als auch Zhang Yimou wurden durch Dramen berühmt und hier sind sie Experten ihres Faches. Genau dieses Können wurde gebraucht um das verstaubte und exotische Genre aus dem Tief zu holen. Selten hatten Wuxia-Filme eine gute Story, Dramatik oder Romantik. Die Action war schon immer sehr gut aber die Handlung ließ halt immer zu Wünschen übrig. Zum Glück gibt es das Wort Perfekt bei Zhang Yimou nicht. Mit House of Flying Daggers hat es der berühmte chin. Regisseur meiner Meinung nach fast bis zur Perfektion der Filmkunst gebracht. Egal ob Romantik, Drama, Action, Fantasy, Komödie oder Musical, dieser Film hat alles. Hier benutzt der Regisseur die unglaublichten Kamerafahrten, die ich so noch nie auf der großen Leinwand gesehen habe. Durch CGI und Slow-Motion gewinnen einzelne Aufnahmen an Einzigartigkeit und stechen aus der Menge hervor. Dieser Film ist kein Actionfilm, sondern eher ein romantisches Drama mit den schönsten Action- und Tanzelementen der Eastern-Filmgeschichte. Der Film spielt in der Tang Dynastie im Jahr 859 v. Chr. und genau deswegen ist der Film so einzigartig. Über 80% des Films finden in der Natur statt. Nur am Anfang sehen wir ein bisschen vom Peony Pavillon und dem Gefängnis. Der Rest findet hauptsächlich in Wäldern oder auf großen Wiesen statt. Zhang Yimou etabliert mit House of Flying Daggers seine eigene Version des Wuxia und wird damit bestimmt noch mehr Anklang beim Publikum finden als mit Hero. Hier spielen die Farben wieder eine große Rolle. Egal ob im Bambuswald mit den wunderschönen grünen Kostümen oder im Bordell beim Echo-Spiel mit dem einzigartigen Kimono von Zhang Ziyi. Mit der Figur Mei, hat der Regisseur ein Mädchen erschaffen, das zwar blind ist, aber dennoch kämpfen, romantisch, lustig und melodramatisch sein kann. Zhang Ziyi, die bereits in Hero in einer Nebenrolle als Moon zu sehen war, verkörpert Mei und hält mit den beiden Superstars Asiens Andy Lau und Takeshi Kaneshiro locker mit. Andy Lau als Captain Leo spielt am Anfang sehr zurückhaltend aber zum Ende des Films wird er immer besser und verleiht seinem Charakter sehr viel Charisma. Takeshi Kaneshiro spielt den jungen Captain Jin, welcher eher ein Playboy und nicht ein Hauptmann der chin. Regierung ist. Sein Charakter ist nicht nur sympathisch, sondern auch humorvoll. Er bringt dem Film sehr viel Witz und genau das ist der große Unterschied zu Filmen wie Hero oder Tiger & Dragon. Diesen Filmen hat ein hübscher und charismatischer Kerl wie Takeshi Kaneshiro gefehlt und House of Flying Daggers hat ihn. Dass der Film eine Liebesgeschichte zwischen Jin und Mei beinhaltet und diese sehr gut und verständlich umgesetzt wurde, könnte der Film auch ein zahlreiches weibliches Publikum ins Kino locken. Der Film vermittelt uns die Botschaft, was man für die Liebe zu einer Frau oder einem Mann tun und opfern würde. Am Ende wird es uns bewusst, wenn der Regisseur mit rotem Blut auf weißen Schnee auch uns dazu bewegt, für die Liebe die größten Opfer zu bringen und gegen jedes Gesetz was wir unser Leben lang befolgt haben ebenfalls zu verstoßen. Wenn man eine Emotion und ein Gefühl im Leben nicht unterdrücken kann, dann ist es die Liebe. Zhang Yimou knallt uns diese Botschaft mit unglaublich emotionalen Bildern und genialer Musik direkt ins Hirn. Zu Beginn des Films verzaubert und Zhang Ziyi mit einer atemberaubenden und minutenlangen Tanzperformance. Die Echo-Spiel Sequenz wird fast jedem nach dem Kinobesuch in Erinnerung bleiben und nicht so schnell loslassen. Der Film beinhaltet Kampfszenen zu Pferd, zu Fuß und auch in den Bäumen. Jede Kampfsequenz wurde wie der gesamte Film extrem aufwendig gestaltet. Die Stunts mit den Pferden müssen sehr schwierig und gefährlich gewesen sein aber der Aufwand wurde auf der großen Leinwand belohnt. Es wurde viel mit CGI gearbeitet und obwohl man weiß, dass es CGI ist, stört es kaum. So sehen wir Bohnen, Dolche, Pfeile, Steine usw. in Slow-Motion oder verfolgen sie im Flug mit der Kamera. Die Action war im Gegensatz zu den modernen Wuxia-Filmen um einiges brutaler. Dass tut dem Film aber sehr gut, weil wir damit viel mehr für die einzelnen Charaktere empfinden und auch Angst um sie haben. Es gibt durchgeschnittene Kehlen, Pfeile und Dolche in allen möglichen Körperteilen. Dennoch wird es in keiner einzigen Szene geschmacklos oder übertrieben, es wirkt sehr realistisch. Die Musik von Shigeru Umebayashi war in jeder Szene zur richtigen Zeit am richtigen Ort und trug sehr zu der einzigartigen Atmosphäre bei. Die Kostüme von Oscar-Preisträgerin Emi Wada (RAN) waren perfekt auf den Film abgestimmt und sahen sehr authentisch aus. Besonders die grünen Kostüme im Bambuswald waren eine Augenweide. Die anfänglich durchschaubar wirkende Handlung entwickelt sich spätestens im letzten Drittel zum fintenreichen Irrgarten, voller Verwicklungen und fataler Hinterhalte. Es wird sicherlich einige Kinobesucher verärgern bzw. verwirren, weil der Film ständig mit neuen Wendungen und Geheimnissen den Zuschauer konfrontiert aber genau das macht diesen Film aus. Dass der finale Kampf lange dauert und es sogar mittendrin anfängt zu schneien, ist nicht wie viele denken werden ein digitaler Effekt. Es ist ein real geschehener Schneeeinbruch am Filmset. Zhang Yimou wäre nicht einer der innovativsten Regisseure der Welt, wenn er nicht das Beste aus der aussichtslosen Situation machen würde. So baute er den Schnee einfach in die letzten Kampfszenen im Film ein und erreichte damit einen perfekten Abschluss dieses Meisterwerks. Es wirkt nichts emotionaler auf großer Leinwand als rotes Blut auf frischem weißen Schnee. Fazit: Ist es Romantik, Drama, Action, Fantasy, Komödie, Musical oder ein Kostümfilm? Nein, es ist House of Flying Daggers von Zhang Yimou. Ein Meisterwerk wie dieses bekommt man nur alle paar Jahre auf der großen Leinwand zu sehen. Wer diesen Film im Kino verpasst, verpasst etwas ganz großes. Lasst euch fallen und genießt dieses Meisterwerk aber Achtung, verliebt euch nicht in Zhang Ziyi sondern in den Film! 9/10 Punkten *********

It must be hard being Zhang Yimou. He's done such amazing film-work, people get a bit used to wonders and miracles. Then they notice flaws. There are things about the film that are not how I would have done it! But I'd rather focus on what's on offer. There is so much to enjoy in this film, at so many levels. The dance scenes, the stunning set designs at the beginning. The ravishing forest scenes. The gorgeous costumes. The delicately handled relational issues. The story is a complex study in ambiguity and divided, shifting loyalties. So many of the scenes are not what they seem. This complexity makes for a very satisfying second viewing. As in Hero, the use of colour is quite wonderful. Every shot makes you want to look and look. The use of sound is so detailed, so rich it adds a whole layer of emotion. Especially in the intimate scenes, sound carries much of the visceral emotion. And that's quite apart from the music, which is very special. The way the story begins as a political plot, the battle between the Tang dynasty and a revolutionary group - but ends as a quite different story. Gradually the politics has drained out along the way, until the point where Mei is told to execute her lover. At that point, they leave the main plot behind, it never concludes, and their story is just their own. This is kind of cool. People complain about the final scene - I loved it. The snow, the resolution of the rivalry over Mei, the palpable hatred in the fight scene - makes for a very exciting final act. Also the way so many elements of the film come together here: the role the dagger plays, the return of the folk song, the final clarification of loyalties from both lovers. If you don't think Mei's revival is realistic, well, guys, it's wuxia - folks fly around in the tree tops. Get over it. Did I mention Ziyi Zhang? Is this her best film? Certainly her most impressive role. See her sing (it's her voice), dance classical chinese style, fight, ride a horse, act blind, and so on and so on. She is triumphant. As well as stunningly beautiful, of course. Also, the woman can act. Could anyone else in Asia have pulled this off? No, it's a gem. Worth watching over a few times. Each year! 4 and a half stars.

Crap the english sub titles was not all there, shame on the dvds. Very bad. So disappointed.

Absolutely outstanding movie!!! I am new to this genre, but have found one of the most imaginative directors ever!! I love his use of color as well as his storytelling ability, fantastic!!!!!