House of Flying Daggers
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Movie Reviews of House of Flying Daggers
Movie Review: Misleading criticism...
Summary: 5 Stars
It is very disheartening to see a great number of reviews comparing this movie to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. While they have similarities I can not help but feel that the comparisons are being done mainly because the audience is trying to grasp onto something familiar. Let us not compare apples to oranges simply because they were both grown in China, yes?
When this movie hit American theaters I wanted so badly to see it but I never had the chance. Quite some time passed and I eventually saw it available for rent.
The first impression was a strong one. The movie is vivid and saturated and the attention to detail painstaking. To cite an example, watch the tack used on the horses in the movie. It is all completely custom and each piece different than the next. The style is the same from piece to piece but none are alike. That speaks volumes on the dedication and quality put into the costuming and props. It is one thing to put true effort in to the actors attire but to really go as far as to make sure even the animals are properly turned out is impressive for this genre.
I feel that there isn't much left to say about the story. Nearly 300 reviews tell you it is an unrealistic tale of love, deception and lies... And finally, remuneration. However, I will disagree with many and say that the story is not empty nor is it frivolous. To have a love like Mei and Jin's is the dream of many, but at the same time a complete and utter nightmare. Their blind devotion and obsessive tendencies are dangerous and lead to the suffering of others besides themselves.
The action truly takes a back set to the love and drama but is treated with the highest respect. The scenes are beautiful and some incredibly feminine and enchanting.
The story is fanciful and romantic. The ending is heart breaking but fulfilling. Love and obsession merge with greed and retribution. I personally feel the story is quite realistic given the circumstances. No good can come of passion so strong and rampant.
I never tire of this film. I have long since added it to my collection and find yet another reason to love it each time I view it.
Movie Review: Trapped in the Perpetual Wars, some want out
Summary: 5 Stars
Ever know anybody's character, deep-down, despite what they say about themselves, which is often self-deluding? It's that sense of their character, watching their actions and nonverbals.
This film had gorgeous colors, settings, costuming, not too much wirework, nice choreography of fight scenes.
It's very fantastical, stripped-down, symbolic & surreal-- very nice for concentrating on telling a story.
The characters are archetypes of everybody who's trapped in lives and social processes, governments & groups that have grown to not care at all about the people in them or their original purpose. The characters Jin, Mei & Leo don't quite realize that their life's circumstances have changed --and will they have the courage to change to a more honest life?
Leo has sacrificed everything for years, all for the idea of love with a woman he hasn't really had an affair with, and for political movements that don't care about him. He's still planning on continuing though..
Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro is Gorgeous--I mean, wow.)-Jin might've been a shallow playboy out playing games, but here Fate has it's way with him, calls on him to be a man and decide for himself the right thing to do. It's an agonizing, fearful gut decision, goes against his old programming & Jin probably couldn't explain why he must do this.
On the surface, they'd decided to trick (what might be) the enemy girl, Mei, into leading them to the enemy stronghold...but deep down, he increasingly can't deal with putting the blind girl on a path to a horrible death.
The 3-days journey of the mind might've gotten so intense due to isolation from others, empathy, a chance to study each other's hidden character, gender-attraction, role-playing, wearing the enemy's costume and battlefield intensity & camraderie. (Stanford Prison Experiment 1971: costumes, roleplaying & interesting mayhem in less than 6-days.)
After all the trickery is exposed & everybody is shocked, bitter & drawn back into the pettiness of their old lives, there still has to be dealt with that strong, unexplainable sense of another person's character and a huge desire for better lives.
Movie Review: Absolutely the Best Martial Arts Film I have Seen!
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't say enough about how perfect this movie was made. It was like the director perfected every still with camera angles, "Matrix" effects, and rich colors. I had previously seen Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Hero and those movies seem like experiments that have led up to this perfection of a movie.
Two police officers are told that they have only a short time (I think it was 10 days) to catch or kill the leader of the Flying Daggers an apparent gang that is the enemy of "The General" (I assume he is like the military dictator of the province).
The boss policeman tells the other (Jin) one to pay a visit to a brothel and see if he can find any leads. Jin goes and is told by the madam that they have a new blind girl who has special talents, especially as a dancer. Jin is intrigued and asks to see this girl. It was told that the prior leader of the Flying Daggers had a blind daughter that disappeared. After the girl's performance in dancing, martial arts and swordmanship, Jin and his boss think the girl may be the same blind girl that was the daughter of the Flying Dagger's leader. They arrest her and then threaten her with torture if she doesn't talk.
She is then rescued from her captivity by a masked Jin who helps her escape into the countryside. It turns out that Jin and his boss had the whole thing plotted, whereby Jin would win her confidence and she will lead him to the Flying Daggers.
The more time Jin spends with her, a romance slowly starts to develop, having Jin question what he needs to do and likewise for the girl. The romance is beautiful, and I put it up there with anything I have seen on film. Likewise the fight scenes are far better than either of the two previously mentioned films (there was no need for flying in this film which I hated about the other films). The kicks and punches look like they really land, unlike other films where you can see that they have really missed by six inches.
As the moods of the film change so do the colors and it seems like the seasons too. The movie has a few unresolved points at the end, so I hope it means a sequel will be made.
Movie Review: Poor story, but beautifully made
Summary: 5 Stars
Quick note: this film has a lot of killing scenes, hence not suitable for kids.
Review:
A meaningful plot is pretty much non-existent in this movie, and it's a bit confusing in the beginning (e.g., the brothel sequence with lots and lots of colors and hues), but after the first 15-20 minutes, you start sort of getting the picture (no pun intended). Two policemen killed the leader of a powerful gang called the House of the Flying Daggers a couple years ago and are fearful that the remnants of the gang will seek revenge. A game of deceit thus begins.
Although the script is drab (with silly teenagerish dialogs at times), the production is gorgeous. Ok, the use of the bamboo forest is a bit trite and something of an overkill, but the cinematography is nonetheless beautiful and mesmerizing. I watched the movie on a Hong Kong-released DVD on my LCD TV and, despite the subpar transfer quality of the DVD, everthing just looks breathtaking on the screen. I especially like the fight sequence in the open field in the middle of the film, for it's simple and furious out in an open and vast environment. But the earlier forest battle scenes are also top-notch, almost looking non-choreographed. The actress ZHANG Ziyi has some impressive kung-fu moves in the film, although in a few places it's obvious it's a body-double performing some of the more dangerous stunts. The two male leads are ok; Japanese-Chinese heartthrob Kaneshiro looks too serious and theatrical, while Hong Kong megastar Lau gives a somewhat muted and unbelievable performance. Zhang is no doubt the shining star here, from beginning to end. (SPOILER!!! But, alas, through no fault of Zhang's own, her character Mei just takes too long to die in the end.)
The film is well-shot and well-edited, with terrific visual treats for the audience. It's a movie experience not to missed. If Kurosawa's "Ran" uses colors to emphasize rawness and savagery, ZHANG Yimou's present film employs colors to intertwine graceful violence and treacherous romance.
Movie Review: Be Still My Beating Heart
Summary: 5 Stars
"House of Flying Daggers" has a lot to overcome what with the competition of "Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon" and "Jet Li's Hero" nipping at its heels. But even though the first ½ hour seems intent on showing its technical rather than its storytelling prowess, "HOFD" wisely switches to the heart of its concerns: a love triangle between the impossibly beautiful Mei (Ziyi Zhang), Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro).
The plot has to do with "The Government" and a renegade band of vigilantes, The Flying Daggers and their struggle for power and specifically Mei's pursuit of revenge for the death of her father. There are numerous hand-to-hand combat scenes that are expertly staged and executed and director Yimou Zhang doesn't skimp on the bravura choreography and the gorgeous production design and costumes. I don't think we've seen such a perfect color design concept since Todd Haynes "Far From Heaven." Everything is simply breathtakingly color-coordinated. It's so perfect that it creates a worldview of its own apart from the film itself.
If I had stopped to consider the emotional power of Yimou Zhang's other films like "Shanghai Triad" and "To Live" to name a couple, I wouldn't have been surprised at the raw dramatic and emotional power of the last 40 minutes of this film, for it transcends its very specific genre and becomes a shining, brilliant example of thoughtful, heartfelt film making.
And the die-to-the-death battle between Leo and Jin becomes much more than a mere fight: it becomes a brutal stage on which spilt blood becomes a metaphor for the Love that each feels, not only for Mei, but also for each other.
Don't go to the "House of Flying Daggers" expecting a dour evil versus good film with lots of action because you won't get it. What you will get is a serious and uncommon treatise not only on the whys and the wherefores of Love but on the intricacies and mysteries of the human heart and soul.