House of Flying Daggers

House of Flying Daggers

Since Crouching Tiger, Zhang Yimou has made two attempts at cashing-in. What was wrong with his previous work such as Happy Times, The Road Home and Raise the Red Lantern to force such a radical digression? Oh, yes, silly me – the money, of course. The House of Flying Daggers is better than Zhang's previous attempt at bastardisation, but not much. Like Hero, it has an interesting set up, but fails in the execution, due to a now-familiar obsession with style over substance. Two government retainers plot to ambush a rebel group (House of Flying Daggers). They organise an escape for a Flying Dagger prisoner (the beautiful Zhang Ziyi), and one of their number (the beautiful Takeshi Kaneshiro) accompanies her "back to base" as her rescuer. En route, he falls for her, leading to conflict with his compatriot (the menacing Andy Lau) who harbours a great secret. There is lots and lots of fighting, some frolicking and, if you're into that kind of thing (I know I am) Zhang Ziyi gets ravished at least four times. In truth, this potted summary does little justice to a plot that twists and turns like a conger eel, desperately pointing out to the head chef that its tank mates are both healthier and fatter. And, indeed, there do appear to be bigger fish in the sea. The film looks lush all right (I hesitate to use the word beautiful, because it has an over-ripe quality which grates after a while). The colours are rich, the movements graceful, and the people are beautiful. Is this soft * (without the sex) or Wu Xia? Like soft *, for about the first hour, the audience is left tantalised with the prospect of actually seeing something happening. Unlike * (or Hero), there's some character development, and the chemistry between the two lead actors is, well, there. Oh, and Andy Lau frowns a lot. He's very good at it. Much better than Jet Li in fact - and he has a much better reason, given that Jet only had that misunderstanding between the emperor, his mum and dad and a squad of heavily-armed Imperial soldiers to worry about, whereas Andy had Zhang Ziyi. Aiyah! It might have been good, it really might – there was no nauseating bow-down-and-worship-the-emperor-he-knows-best nonsense we got in Hero, there were good characters, there was an engaging, if not terribly original plot. But why were there so many moments when suspending disbelief was frankly impossible for anyone with more than a rodent intellect? Firstly, everyone (everyone) had super powers. I'm not kidding; the guy cleaning the squat loo was capable of balancing on top of a bamboo while simultaneously juggling five swords, singing the Red Flag and making a cup of Chah. As for the soldiers, well, phewee! These cats could formation shin down a bamboo while letting off a volley of arrows. They could fly, make a cage out of shot arrows and, well, anything they damn well liked. They probably had explosive poo if the need ever arose. Surely the point of Super Powers (even in Wu Xia) is that only heroes have them. As has been observed on The Incredibles, if everyone is super, then no one is. Oh well, let's cut out the line by line analysis and move straight to the stinking dénouement. I'll not spoil it for those wishing to see it. But suffice to say that it remains the only tragic ending to a film I have seen in which the audience was rocking in the aisles in not-so-silent hilarity. Operas have been known to have less preposterous endings than this. Shakespeare comedies have more believable ones. I mean it; even the really, really stupid ones. It's like Yimou is playing poker with Ang and saying "I'll match your tragic death scene, and raise it to by another tragic death scene". Promising, but ultimately pointless. 4/10

Just like any Zhang Yimou film, the first thing that I noticed is the use of vibrant colours in the film. From the first scene down to the last Yimou was able to paint a fabulous picture on the screen. This certainly added to the already impressive settings on the film. I also thought that the costumes were very beautiful and added to the beauty of the film. The mood was also set by the amazing scoring. I thought the performances of all the actors were very good especially by Zhang Zhiyi. I have always admired actors who portray roles which are very unique and not normally done. The story was also pretty solid. A little slow in the start but it slowly picked up in a climax which was worthy of this film. It didn't have as much impact as Hero but it was nonetheless a good effort. All these aspects have combined to deliver a masterpiece of a film which soothed all of my senses. An good mix of action and drama which made this film a good one.

Zhang Yimou, for better or worse, has made another wuxia film. His sophomore effort at the genre is surprisingly lacking compared to his first kung fu movie, the almost perfectly executed "Hero". Thinking that what audiences need is better cgi and even more fighting, he goes about making "House of Flying Daggers". I'm just wishing that he threw a good script into that equation. Not to say that it's horrible, but it's just that there is nothing complex going on underneath the surface, unlike it's predecessor. Fortunately Zhang Ziyi would not understand it anyway. Once the lovely Zhang's extremely good looks and those high kicks of hers wear off, i doubt we'll see much more of her. Despite the role of a blind girl sounding like it requires something more than just staring blankly all the time, Zhang unwittingly proves us wrong. As for the male leads, Kaneshiro is serviceable while Lau is completely wasted. They do earn their large salaries with the dramatic end fight, which is amazing with a truly epic feel. It was scenes like that which made me completely forget any frustrations I had with the script and acting, and just bask in Yimou's eye candy. Is it enough for a kung fu movie to just be completely beautiful and have great fight scenes? Yes, yes it is. So sue me, I'm vain. 7/10

China 859 AD,the once-mighty Tang dynasty is in decline.His corrupt government no longer controls the land,unrest sweeps the country.Village by village an underground alliance forms the ¨House of flying daggers¨.Based near the imperial capital ¨ The House¨ moves in the shadows.Stealing from the rich to give to the poor,they earn the support of the people.At the same time they are feared and hated by their bitter rivals,the local deputies. Mei(Zhang Zyi) is a gorgeous ,exotic, and rare beauty dancer, she's an intrepid and blind warrior(as Zaitochi,the blind samurai).She's suspicious of pertaining to revolutionary group.Two officials(Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau) are assigned their deadly mission : capture her and inquire where the band is hidden. Now the protagonists pull off a dangerous journey and they'll fight against warriors grasped to trees,impressive combats and battles of incredible scenarios. The same director¨Hero¨,Zhang Yimou, and the starring of¨Hero¨and ¨Crouching Tiger and hidden dragon¨,Zhang Zyi(memories of a geisha),bring us a new exciting film. Zhang Yimou makes the ultimate martial arts masterpiece.Spellbound struggles images illuminate the full-blown adventures of trio protagonist. Colorful chop-socky big budget with battles stunningly staged and groundbreaking production design. Eye-popping cinematography is specially reflected on breathtaking outdoors and luxurious interiors and overwhelming costumes. Fascinating gowns by Japan designer Emi Wada based on Tang dynasty. Riveting and atmospheric score with oriental sounds by Umebayashi. The motion picture was nominated to Academy award 2005 to the best cinematography and nominated to Golden Globe to the best foreigner film. The film is dedicated to the memory of Anita Moui. Rating :Astounding and awesome.

As someone who was staggered at the incredible visuals of "Hero," I was anxious to see this film which was billed as being along the same lines, but better. It also featured an actress I like: Ziyi Zhang. Well, I was disappointed on both counts. I bought the DVD of this film sight-unseen, and that was a mistake. It was not better. I realize these flying-through-the-air martial arts films are pure fantasy but this story is stretched so far past anything remotely believable it just made me shake my head in disappointing disbelief. A blind woman defeating hundreds of opponents? Sorry, that's going a little far. Also, the major male character 'Jin" (Takeshi Kaneshiro) was so annoying with his dialog, stupid look on his face and stupid laugh, that he ruined the film, too. Despite the wonderful colors and amazing action scenes, this story - to me - just didn't have an appeal to make it a movie worth owning. This film is no "Hero" of mine!

In the Ninth Century, the Tang Dinasty in China is weak and corrupt, and an army of rebels called "The House of the Flying Daggers" fights against the government military forces, and steals from the rich to give to the poor people. Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro), two captains of the government army, plot a scheme against the rebels using the blind dancer Mei (Zhang Ziyi) to approach their leaders, but their love for Mei leads them to a tragedy. "Shi mian mai fu" is a beautiful romantic adventure, with amazing clothing, cinematography, colors, music score, fight and martial arts choreography and special effects. The story begins like an action movie, and ends like a tragic romance. Visually, it is an impressive masterpiece, the story is also very nice, Zhang Ziyi is amazingly gorgeous and I really liked this movie a lot. My vote is nine. Title (Brazil): "O Clã das Adagas Voadoras"("The Clan of the Flying Daggers")

I was very surprised how bad this movie was. Nice cinematography and beautiful landscapes can only take the movie so far. I was hoping for a rerun of Hero, but this is much, much worse. This movie is why kung fu movies got a bad reputation in the first place. No believable characters (even within the cartoonish world of kung fu movies, these characters are ridiculous), virtually no plot, and ridiculous story twists. This movie is so boring and so frustrating because it reminds you of trying to play a make believe game with a child. Every time you think your silly battle makes some sense, they invent another ridiculous twist that makes no sense ("Ah ha, you only think you've got me with your super powers and 10,000 ray guns, but I ate my vitamins laced with plutonium and teflon, so your ray guns don't work and I'm invulnerable to your super powers....tap tap no trade backs infinity PLUS one.") Children can continue with this lunacy, because they don't really care whether anyone is listening because they are having a fun time. However, for the VIEWER, especially the adult viewer, this long movie is worse than a bout with bad gas. SPOILERS AHEAD Note to kung fu movie makers, (a) if you have a knife in your back it hurts unless you are on PCP, in which case your kung fu is not strong, (b) if you repeatedly fall on your back, which has a knife in it, it will hurt more and do more damage, unless it is a fake prop, (c) when you get stabbed in the heart with a knife, you die, especially in ancient china where there isn't a Kaiser Permanente around the corner, (d) kung fu fights don't last for hours while 3 feet of snow falls, and (e) sometimes it is worth while explaining your characters and their motivations. In any event, go watch Hero again, because at least within its own little world it is comprehensible.

After just 15 minutes into this film, I began to miss Zhang Yimou's earlier, more weighty films that looked at the politics and society of China from unique perspectives. His turn to martial arts films was a serious misstep in my humble opinion. Hero was his worst film since Operation Cougar, with a needlessly complex story and acting more wooden than that found in a John Agar film. Shi Mian Mai Fu is no different. As an American who has been studying Chinese films for a few years now (and understands and can speak some Mandarin), I'm sure my opinion is different from many others as I'm coming from a different background. SMMF, like Hero, is not really a traditional a kung fu film, and it's certainly not a wuxia pian film. There are no sword & sorcery or chivalry elements here. This is a completely different vehicle than infinitely more watchable films such as A Chinese Ghost Story (all 3), The Butterfly Murders, Green Snake, et al. While those all featured charismatic leads who looked like they were actually enjoying what they do, SMMF features bland, and sometimes laughable, dialogue combined with cardboard acting. Zhang Ziyi plays a blind person about as well as Ben Affleck. There's an air of superiority with this film that's really quite insulting. It takes itself so seriously, it just becomes a huge joke by the end. All the actors look as though this is the most important piece of celluloid in history, they destroy any chance of actually conveying emotions, and the complete humorlessness of it really makes you wonder if Zhang Yimou was making a film per se, or simply a showcase (i.e. an "ego booster") for Zhang Ziyi. The camera is literally making out with her face and she gets sexually assaulted not once but twice in the film. Her acting range really hasn't extended past her ability to play a naive "w"itch. She's so concentrated on her acting, she comes across as cold and lifeless, as though she's reading her lines from a notecard. It's so funny to hear American critics and film people (like the completely clueless Quentin Tarantino) call this film a masterpiece. I guess if they see a bunch of Asian actors on screen looking really important while flying through a bamboo forest, they're tricked into thinking it's brilliant film-making. Ching Siu Tung's choreography, while still retaining his trademark style, editing, and postures, lacks the vitality and originality of his earlier films like A Chinese Ghost Story, Dragon Inn, and Duel to the Death. Sadly to say, the wirework in this film is really subpar, and if there's subpar/obvious wirework, then you probably shouldn't have filmed it at high speed. The same goes for the special effects which have a distinct B-movie feel to them. Beans, daggers, bowls, arrows, swords, and other random objects fly through the air (after being thrown) with no regard for logic, turning, climbing, and banking as though there's a little pilot inside. I know that logic doesn't really hold a place in stylized Chinese martial arts films, but if you don't want to induce a mass amount of giggling from your audience, then you should probably work on your compositing a bit more. Mass melodrama, unintentionally funny dramatic moments, boring fight scenes, really uninspired plot twists are what await you with Shi Mian Mai Fu. It's obvious that Zhang Yimou is no longer making movies for Chinese audiences. This is meant to crack into the Western market just as CTHD did. After watching Hero and SMMF, I've come to the conclusion that if Zhang Yimou wants to make Hollywood films, he's definitely off to the right start. SMMF is basically The Phantom Menace of Chinese martial arts films. And I thought Hero was bad.

From Yimou Zhang, the director of Jet Li's Hero and Raise the Red Lantern, comes a spectacular tale about honor, and love. House of Flying Daggers is the gripping, touching, and visually spectacular tale of two people, caught in a Romeo and Juliet story, and the nation at war they must fight together. It is near the end of the Tang Dynasty era, and The Captain Jin (Kaneshiro) and Leo (Lau) tangle with Mei (Zhang), a dancer suspected of having ties to a revolutionary faction known as the House of Flying Daggers. Enraptured by her, the deputies concoct a plan to save her from capture, and Jin leads her north in what becomes a perilous journey into the unknown. The dialogue, beautifully bright costumes, and landscapes will take you on a wonderful journey. A journey of dance, music, and beautiful words.