House Of Flying Daggers: Reviews

Director Zhang Yimou's career has taken an interesting turn lately. After decades building a reputation for carefully-observed, politically-minded character dramas, his last two pictures in a row have been big-budget martial arts epics. It's an unexpected change of pace that not everyone has been comfortable with. Although both Hero and now House of Flying Daggers were huge box-office hits in his native China, and Hero also opened fairly big in the United States, some of the filmmaker's older fans have accused him of selling out for mainstream success. Is that a fair criticism? Perhaps. Then again, maybe the poor guy was just tired of seeing all of his movies banned in his homeland and wanted to make something fun and beautiful to look at. Who can fault him for that?

In late 9th Century China, a Robin Hood-like society of revolutionaries has been stealing from the corrupt government to give to the poor. Local military captains Leo and Jin are ordered to capture the faction's leader within 10 days. To accomplish this, Jin goes undercover as a bandit calling himself "Wind" and attempts to woo a blind girl (Zhang ZiYi) suspected to be the leader's daughter, a plan that works all too well. As they escape from a series of traps that he and Leo contrived, Jin develops real feelings for the girl, and soon must inadvertently become a real criminal in order to keep his cover and protect her. Complications ensue, followed by not just one but two major plot twists, at least one of which is frankly pretty obvious early on.

Like Hero, House of Flying Daggers is a visual tour-de-force featuring vibrant, painterly photographic compositions and stunningly choreographed fight scenes. The use of visual effects and CGI are even better integrated in this one, seamlessly creating a fantasy world where warriors can fly through the air and a thrown blade can dodge and weave to a target at its master's will. The storyline, though complex on a basic plot level (the twists and turns are intricately structured, if not necessarily surprising), is a bit simplistic as a narrative, unfortunately, yet is still satisfyingly grounded in the rich emotions of its characters. Yimou remains a gifted storyteller even when, in cases like these last two films, his focus has shifted toward telling his stories through images and action rather than plot and dialogue.

House of Flying Daggers is a smaller, less epic film than Hero, with more emphasis on character and less on action. Nonetheless, it similarly contains some truly breathtaking scenes such as the early brothel sequence or the bamboo forest battle, and climaxes with a gorgeous finale (both visually and emotionally). It's more art film than action movie and won't be to everyone's liking (nor was Hero), but is a beautiful piece of work from a major filmmaking artist.

HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS is Zhang Yimou's follow up to the immensely popular HERO. In comparison, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS is a much smaller movie. The relationships of the characters are the central focus and the political climate is but a backdrop. While the story itself isn't groundbreaking, it is very well executed with some unexpected plot twists.

Leo (Andy Lau) and Jun (Takeshi Kaneshiro) are government deputies and find the new leader of The House of Flying Daggers, a militia group sworn to fight the corrupt government. Leo sends Jun on a mission to befriend the blind daughter of the former leader of the group. This takes Leo to a brothel where the daughter, Mei (Zhang Ziyi) works. While Jun gets drunk and disorderly, Leo shows up and arrests both him and Mei. Mei is quickly exposed as a member of the House of Flying Daggers.

Mei is threatened with torture if she doesn't disclose the location and leader of the House of Flying Daggers. She is left bound in a cell. During the night she is rescued by Jun and they are off to see what he assumes will be the new leader of The House of Flying Daggers.

Jun and Mei encounter government troops early on but this is only to convince Mei that Jun is for real. The coming battles turn real but Leo is powerless to help because it has been ordered by the General. Jun's feelings for Mei grow even though during his preparation for this mission he was warned that he would only be acting a part. Jun wants to quit the mission but it doesn't stop the troops from hunting him and Mei...

I really enjoyed HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS and recommend it. Andy Lau puts in a great performance as Leo. He really nails the character. Takeshi Kaneshiro is also very good but I am used to him being in movies set in the present so it was odd at first to see him in a period film. I always am reminded of his characters in FALLEN ANGELS and CHUNGKING EXPRESS. Zhang Ziyi also gives a great effort as Mei. For those who were disappointed that she had little screen time in HERO will be happy to know she is in this movie a lot more.

There is a liberal amount of computer effects but they are very well done and really enhance the movie. They hold up after repeat viewing. There are some action scenes that are very creative and couldn't be done any other way.

I actually recommend that this is watched twice because after seeing it once you really pick up on things the second time around. It's almost a different movie.