aka. Lovers, Shi Mian Mai Fu
House of Flying Daggers – Chinese Mandarin – July 16th 2004 – 119 minutes
Directed by – Zhang Yimou
Produced by – William Kong and Zhang Yimou
Written by – Feng Li, Bin Wang and Zhang Yimou
Music by – Shigeru Umebayashi
Produced by – William Kong and Zhang Yimou
Written by – Feng Li, Bin Wang and Zhang Yimou
Music by – Shigeru Umebayashi
Cinematography – Zhao Xiaoding
Editing by – Long Cheng
Cast.
Takeshi Kaneshiro –
Takeshi Kaneshiro –
Zhang Ziyi as – Mei
Andy Lau –
House of Flying Daggers – Movie Review
Like other films directed by Zhang Yimou the use of vivid colour is predominant, I have tried to include some screenshots below which show the amazing use of colour in this movie, suffice to say the cinematography is breathtaking as is the casting and acting generally. The use of Seasonal colour in some of the back drop shots is very effective as is the high contrast use of snow, trees and the vivid red blood in the final scene.
The story is quite involved and has several twist which I didn’t see coming which make the movie all the more entertaining. But to be honest the visuals are so incredible that the fight scenes and tragic love story are just a bonus. The movie has won many awards and received a 20 minute standing ovation at the Cannes film festival premiere.
The movie has received critical acclaim the world over and suffice to say should not be missed. Available in the UK on DVD.
Synopsis.
Mei plays a blind dancer who while working undercover for the rebel group ‘Flying Daggers’ is incarcerated and threatened with torture is she does not reveal the whereabouts of the flying daggers location. Jin and Leo, two law enforcement captains, have been given 10 days to kill the new leader of the flying daggers.
Jin decide to trick Mei by breaking her out of jail in a bid to get her to lead the generals force back to the Flying Dagger base and kill them all. Jin arranges several fake attacks on their journey to make the escape look realistic but unexpectedly find they are being attacked for real. Jin and Mei, who have started to fall in love on their journey, soon find they are heavily out numbered by the generals troops but are suddenly rescued by the Flying Daggers who kill most of the generals troops on the way. Jin is surprised to discover that Mei is not what she seemed and he is taken prisoner by the flying daggers.
There are several twists at this point in the movie that will spoil the movie if you haven’t seen it. The final scenes in this movie are tragic and quite beautiful and must not be missed.
Recommended
Cinematography – 10
Casting – 8
Casting – 8
Acting – 8
Story – 9
Entertainment – 9
Total – 8.8
Story – 9
Entertainment – 9
Total – 8.8
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Screenshots from the movie review House of flying Daggers
