House of Flying Daggers

At the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, House of Flying Daggers reportedly received a 20 minute standing ovation. From big time director Zhang Yimou and starring the beautiful and talented Zhang Ziyi it's no wonder it got so much hype. But what is it all about?

Set in China 859 AD we see the decline of the Tang dynasty. Government is losing control as rebel groups spring up across the country. Most prominently, the House of Flying Daggers, an elusive group who steal from the rich and give to the poor. They've devised a scheme to wipe out the generals best men using Mei (Zhang Ziyi). When police officers Jin and Liu hear that the new dancer may be a member of the Flying Daggers which they've been ordered to annihilate! So Jin is sent to investigate and when he discovers that Mei is blind and shows hatred towards government officials he's lead to believe that she is the daughter of the old leader and a prominent figure to the group. They decide to use this information to track down the Flying Daggers and hopefully slay their leader. Jin is sent undercover as 'Wind' to 'rescue' Mei from prison and have her lead him to the House of Flying Daggers. But on their journey Jin is seduced by Mei's beauty and Mei finds herself falling for Jin's valour and courage. There could be a happy ending for these two lovers, however things are not always as they appear to be...

But what is the big plan of the House of Flying Daggers anyway? Well, unfortunately,we never get to know! I found this really rather irritating because in reality the movie is just 2 hours of preparing for some master plan that is never explained. The film already has a lot of plot holes, I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to just fill in this one! However! The twists and turns of this plot are carefully planned and that means the film definitly has replay quality. I've already watched it 3 times actually and every time I've picked up on slight expressions camera shot and the such like which foreshadow the films stunning conclusion. It's interesting enough for me to forget about the plot holes (which I can't explain with out spoiling the plot).
Alas, what gave the film a 20 minute ovation was not the debatable state of the plot but everything else that makes a film. Starting with costumes. Zhang Yimou perfectly combines historical context with with fantasy ideas to create stunning costumes. Mei's dance clothes are a perfect way to introduce such a beauty whilst the police officers are given very historical looking outfits. But my personal favourite without a doubt would be the gorgeous flowing gowns that the House of Flying Dagger members wear. There's also some sensational scenery! Zhang Yimou is quite clever in his use of colour and the whole film is saturated in exactly the colours he wants. There's scenes in a bamboo forest which are filled with vivid green and a fight scene in a blizzard which utilises the dazzling contrast between blood red and snow white. Everything seems so... symbolic!
It's also full of epic camera work. In fact, it won several awards for it's cinematography! Especially during those all important fight scenes. Being as this is a martial arts film and starring a martial artist as skilled as Zhang Ziyi it's no surprise that the fight scenes are at an outlandishly high standard. I would go as far as too say some scenes were laughable but most remained skillful and enchanting to watch. Many of the fight scenes flowed like a dance routines but all were most spectacular! For most people, this was the highlight of the film.
But let's not overlook the skill of the actors! Like I said previously, when re-watching the movie I could see lots of subtle looks that held so much meaning. I think every actor in the film fully understood their character and truely became one with them, it's either perfect casting, stupendous acting or some mixture of the two because every one did their job perfectly. Did you know that to act like a blind girl confidently Zhang Ziyi spent two months living with a girl who had spent most her life blind? There's some trivia for you! But in all seriousness that level of devotion and passion really paid off! With a movie that's full of lies, being able to act through it is especially amazing.
With a two hour film there is a distinct lack of plot but story is forsaken in exchange for some totally awesome fight scenes with slow motion and I can't say I depreciate that. I'm not usually one for martial arts films but with plenty of creativity and a touch of romance I must say I adored House of Flying Daggers and will say that it's a beauty well worth a watch!

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