House of Flying Daggers (2004)

I guess having this movie out just a few months after the U.S. release of "Hero" was more than many moviegoers could chew (and you can see it in the reviews here). That takes away from a fantastic experience. Every frame of this film is exquisite. It was breathtaking scene after breathtaking scene. There are enough plot twist, double crossings and romance to keep the scenes between the action sequences interesting. Ziyi Zhang plays her best role of what I call now a trilogy (which includes "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Hero" and now "House Of Flying Daggers" -the best of the three). It's not Yimou Zhang's best movie, that'd be "Raise The Red Lantern", but it's proof this director is on a roll. Go see this movie without worry.

Fmovies: 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.

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.

House of Flying Daggers fmovies. I have never, ever seen a film that the West has ever created that can top Chinese cinema in this form, with the exception possibly being Lord of the Rings. I truly applaud Oriental taste. I can't count the number of times I have completely forgotten that I've actually got my own physical form while watching films like House of Flying Daggers, but I can count how many times that's happened during Western films: zero.

For those of you who have no taste I beg you: but aside your views on gravity-defying fight scenes and subtitles. Just remember that this is something called FANTASY. It isn't real, no matter how much you wish it to be. It's called cinema: you can do whatever the hell you like in film. I don't complain when you've got aliens that spurt out your chest. I don't complain when the dead rise from their graves. I don't complain about the lack of reason behind the ideas that aliens would have less intelligence than humans or that the living dead would harbour grudges against the really living. I complain when it just looks simply uninspiring and frankly visually boring.

So, Zhang Yimou, please bring on more heroes and flying daggers

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")

Zhang Yimou set a new benchmark for martial arts movies with Hero. Visually both inventive and dazzling, whilst having a strong thematic thread, it still managed to kick ass, with energetic fight sequences. He continues in the same vein with House of Flying Daggers, with love and romance replacing Hero's chivalry and honour. It is at times as blisteringly exciting and exquisite to view, but there are a few problems.

Set in a similar time to Hero, the plot revolves around the mysterious House of Flying Daggers, a group of assassins leading a rebellion of sorts, against the rulers of their land. News has reached the local military captain Leo (Andy Lau) that the leader of the House can be found plying their trade in the local brothel. Sensing that this could be the key to ending their resistance he sends one of his men, Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro), to infiltrate the establishment posing as a customer. This soon leads him to the beautiful blind dancer Mei (Zhang Ziyi), who may just be the daughter of the assassinated former leader of the House. What follows is his journey with edit her, through forests and meadows, as he vies to gain her trust, all the while intent on leading the army to their destination in an attempt to discover the leader of the House.

The plot is actually far more complicated than my short synopsis could come close to. We are treated to a twisty turny adventure, punctuated with set pieces of (excuse the tired terminology) balletic grace. Yimou sets a number of scenes within symmetrically perfect backgrounds, the picture set up like a work of art. We find ourselves in a dance hall encircled with drums, where the camera moves with a sense of fluidity, as though part of the dance, as we see Mei play a game of "echoes" with the Captain. Each time he hits a drum with a flicked nut, she follows, striking it with her flowing robes. The scene has a steady tempo, finally hitting a crescendo as the whole bowl is flung, nuts flying everywhere like missiles striking every drum. The sound of each strike reverberates like thunder.

For me the other set pieces never quite match the "echo" dance for majesty, rhythm or look. We get to see numerous showdowns between, with Mei and Jin taking on the soldiers that chase them, all the while with Jin trying to maintain his cover. The fights very much feel like a dance, and are filled with POV shots of arrows, sharpened bits of wood and of course flying daggers. I thought this camera trick felt overused, it looks good, but eventually started to feel tired as yet another dagger is seen boomeranging into action.

As events reach a climax, the plot gets pretty messy, as revelation after revelation is thrown about. In contrast to Hero's coda, where the action became about what's doing right for the good of the whole country, House of Flying Daggers has one of a more personal nature. It never quite rings true, there just isn't the emotion on display for this to work. The final act is somewhat botched, with a "it's over, no it isn't" feel to it, which caused a few "no ways" to be uttered in my vicinity. It is yet another gloriously shot scene, but we'd already seen some extraordinary moments. I felt it seemed to be reaching a more natural conclusion, and with a bit of editing a tighter last half hour would've made this a classic.

As it stands House of Flying Daggers is a fine movie, never quite as good as Hero, and probably behind Crouching Tiger too, and maybe it goes on a bit too long,