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China 2004
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Zhang Ziyi, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau
Release Date: December 3rd 2004
Running Time: 1 hour 58 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Review of the Movie
Deadly Beautiful
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| HOUSE of FLYING DAGGERS |
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We all know the martial arts prowess of the Chinese, there is no doubt about that. Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Andy Lau, Donnie Yen (Blade II) all have their distinctive style. House of Flying Daggers is a great-but-typical kung fu movie. But this movie excels mostly in its cinematography. The color palette is a vivid one; all colours are showing themselves proudly, it's as if the world is always in spring season.
Two deputies of the Tang Dynasty, Captain Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and Captain Leo (Andy Lau) are pursuing the biggest rebel faction (the Flying Daggers) that opposes the government. They manage to capture one of its members, a blind dancer girl named Xiao Mei (Zhang Ziyi). As the time goes on, betrayal and intrigue become more imminent and eventually lead Jin and Leo eventually to be involved in a love triangle with Mei who they also suspected as the daughter of the Flying Daggers' leader.
My ears are flattered by its great sound effects, the clinging sounds of the swords, swooshing sounds of the arrows and the flying daggers combined with traditional musical score. It's a love story that goes action, but regrettably an action with no soul. On the core this is a story about a love triangle between 2 different parties and spiced up by some intriguing betrayal, and no deeper than that.
Zhang Ziyi acts remarkably convincing as a blind girl who is at the same time has to fight and dance as well. While the other boys especially Andy Lau is good enough to show his heart-broken emotion.
The downside of THOFD is that it's more like a showcase for the creative fighting style from Director Zhang Yimou and Action Director Tony Ching, while the storyline itself is onion skin thin. Maybe it's like seeing a highly artistic kung fu performances set against the backdrop of beautiful Chinese sceneries, really it is literally unlike a movie. Run-of-the-mill love scenes and dialogue are look as if they're created just to fill the gap between the awesome fighting scenes. Although...The irrational cliché near the end of the movie actually serves as a great finale.
I have watched countless Chinese kung fu movies, and the fighting scenes in THOFD still seize my amazement, it has got Style, deadly fantastic and beautiful style (really...it's fantastic!), but that's it. The rest of the movie is mind-numbing.
© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com
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