House of Flying Daggers (2004)
Directed by Zhang Yimou
In 9th century China, a corrupt government wages war against a rebel army called the Flying Daggers. A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful rebel out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.
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18 films that influenced House of Flying Daggers
What critics say influenced House of Flying Daggers
As the 53-year-old filmmaker moves into martial arts and swordplay (wuxia) films, with Hero and now House, he brings with him the grand themes and precise details that made his much-revered arthouse films so distinctive -- the gorgeous billowing of fabrics (Ju dou [1990]), the building effects of diurnal niceties (The Story of Qiu Ju/Qiu Ju da guan si [1992]), the gentle breezes alongside the incessant force of destiny (The Road Home/Wo de fu qin mu qin [1999]).
Among our favorites are the historical dramas, Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou, and the touching tales of peasants Not One Less and The Road Home.
Shackled with these jaded preconceptions and a mountain of advance hype (aided by a maddeningly peekaboo release schedule), the critical and popular success of director Yimou Zhang's Hero came as a welcome shock; an unexpectedly deep Goliath which married the emotional precision of his earlier films (such as Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou) with a newfound gargantuan energy and scope--the glee of a small-scale model expert who suddenly discovers a giant robot revving up in his backyard.
FLYING DAGGERS is the most seamless piece of sensuous expressionism Zhang has created since Ju Dou (1990).
It is difficult to imagine that this is the same filmmaker who fashioned anti-authoritarian tracts like Ju Dou or To Live giving Chinese government officials conniptions.
House of Flying Daggers (its title in Chinese the loaded "Ambush from Ten Directions"--essentially an ambush from everywhere) is at its essence an allegory for rape and the Chinese tradition of concubinage that Zhang has already explored to varying degrees in Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Dou, Shanghai Triad, and, of course, Red Sorghum, in which a young woman played by Gong Li (Ziyi's predecessor as Zhang's muse) is saved from rape by a young man with whom she later runs a winery.
Though the new film is set in a visually striking bamboo forest -- like King Hu's vastly superior A Touch of Zen (1969) -- this film fails to create any visual depth or emotional menace.
Here's a poetic version of the battle in a bamboo forest found in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers.
How the same talented director (Zhang Yimou of "The Road Home" and "Raise the Red Lantern"), working with the same talented actress (lovely Zhang Ziyi of "The Road Home" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" ) could turn out one of the year's best movies and one its worst -- in the same genre no less -- is a complete mystery.
Iâm embarrassed to admit Iâve only recently come to appreciate the gorgeous operatics of Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou â Hero was the first of his films Iâd ever seen â but Iâve been cramming him and his 20-year oeuvre (Ju-Dou, Raise the Red Lantern) ever since.
The director is Zhang Yimou, who last tried for a big action hit with this summer's "Hero," an opulent production starring Jet Li that some, myself included, saw as an apologia for Mao, surprising coming from Zhang, who'd stood for opposition to the regime in many of his earlier, brilliant pictures, such as "Red Sorghum" and "Raise the Red Lantern."
Among our favorites are the historical dramas, Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou, and the touching tales of peasants Not One Less and The Road Home.
The same rule comes into play with House Of Flying Daggers, a follow-up that takes baby steps toward merging the emotional force of early Zhang classics like Raise The Red Lantern with his current style of choice.
Shackled with these jaded preconceptions and a mountain of advance hype (aided by a maddeningly peekaboo release schedule), the critical and popular success of director Yimou Zhang's Hero came as a welcome shock; an unexpectedly deep Goliath which married the emotional precision of his earlier films (such as Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou) with a newfound gargantuan energy and scope--the glee of a small-scale model expert who suddenly discovers a giant robot revving up in his backyard.
The score, by Shigeru Umebayashi (In The Mood For Love), is delightful, with motifs that knowingly reference Nina Rota's themes for The Godfather and Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet.
The breathtaking imagery is given a highly romanticized score by composer Shigeru Umebayashi ("In the Mood for Love") with a theme sung by opera star Kathleen Battle.
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The plot is almost secondary to the glorious action, until the last act, which reminded me a little of the love triangle in Hitchcock's " Notorious " (1946).
Last summer's "Hero," starring Jet Li as an assassin locked in unblinking intellectual combat with the king he's come to kill, is an imaginatively allegorical, action-packed but understated, brilliant historical epic (in which Zhang Ziyi plays another assassin's apprentice).
One of the giants of world cinema, Yimou has only recently turned his hand to action/adventure (Flying Daggers is his follow-up to Hero), and he brings more attention to detail and storytelling sense than some of the genre's other practitioners.
Iâm embarrassed to admit Iâve only recently come to appreciate the gorgeous operatics of Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou â Hero was the first of his films Iâd ever seen â but Iâve been cramming him and his 20-year oeuvre (Ju-Dou, Raise the Red Lantern) ever since.
The young actress, of course, stole ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000) from Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat, and she served as headstrong support in Zhang Yimou's last film, ''Hero" (2002), but she has a full-on romantic lead role here, and she wears it with a quality that can only be described as serene excitability.
The director is Zhang Yimou, who last tried for a big action hit with this summer's "Hero," an opulent production starring Jet Li that some, myself included, saw as an apologia for Mao, surprising coming from Zhang, who'd stood for opposition to the regime in many of his earlier, brilliant pictures, such as "Red Sorghum" and "Raise the Red Lantern."
How the same talented director (Zhang Yimou of "The Road Home" and "Raise the Red Lantern"), working with the same talented actress (lovely Zhang Ziyi of "The Road Home" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" ) could turn out one of the year's best movies and one its worst -- in the same genre no less -- is a complete mystery.
As the 53-year-old filmmaker moves into martial arts and swordplay (wuxia) films, with Hero and now House, he brings with him the grand themes and precise details that made his much-revered arthouse films so distinctive -- the gorgeous billowing of fabrics (Ju dou [1990]), the building effects of diurnal niceties (The Story of Qiu Ju/Qiu Ju da guan si [1992]), the gentle breezes alongside the incessant force of destiny (The Road Home/Wo de fu qin mu qin [1999]).
Among our favorites are the historical dramas, Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou, and the touching tales of peasants Not One Less and The Road Home.
Although there's nothing deep or intellectual about this, it's far more fun to watch than the dull dramas ("The Road Home," "Not One Less") that Zhang directed in the late 1990s.
Yimou went from a beautifully quiet character piece in 1999, " The Road Home " (starring Zhang Ziyi!) to the exciting flashes of genius in the currently running " Hero ."
These two Hong Kong action pics have given Zhang a reprieve, in his sullied postâGong Li period, after the last few sentimental neo-realism middle-brow works ("Not One Less"/"The Road Home") have put a sizable dent into his growing rep as an international artiste.
Cinematographer Xiaoding Zhao, graduating from "Hero's" cameraman, finds Mei in the snow so magically, it recalls the poppy scene from "The Wizard of Oz."
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The score, by Shigeru Umebayashi (In The Mood For Love), is delightful, with motifs that knowingly reference Nina Rota's themes for The Godfather and Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet.
The plot is excellent, although at times it seems like Infernal Affairs meets Romeo and Juliet.