Mei [Ziyi Zhang] learns that bamboo can make an extraordinary weapon.
House of Flying Daggers
The entire story is about a rebellious alliance called the House of Flying
Daggers. The government has gone corrupt, and this alliance serves to rise
up against this government. A pretty cool idea as the film begins with the
viewer being introduced to Jin and Leo, two soldiers [police] in the services
of the corrupt government. Jin is the county captain who is responsible
for the assassination of the head of the Flying Daggers some time back.
Now, the alliance has found a new leader, one that the government wants
Jin to seek out and kill. The first clue to this new leader? A local brothel
that features a new, and blind, girl dancer with amazing dancing abilities.
Jin decides to go undercover and visit the brothel to check out this new
girl.
Bamboo prison with Jin
After the rescue, begins the adventure that lasts almost the entire film.
As Jin travels with Mei, they encounter various opposition by the General's
soldiers who do not know that Jin is playing undercover [we learn that this
General is definitely a bad guy]. Basically, Jin is forced to kill his own
troops. However, even though Jin set out to seduce Mei, he begins to fall
for her; causing him to kill the soldiers more to protect her than to protect
his identity and do his duty. After some time, and a few rescues, Mei begins
to fall for Jin as well.
I cannot go into further depth without handing out spoilers, as there are
some pretty nice twists in the film. While the twists were good enough to
impress, I also thought they hurt the movie as it was hard to be moved by
some of the scenes that should have been 'moving.' We soon learn of a love
triangle that leaves you kind of dry on where Mei's love actually lies,
at least up until the end of the film. Talk about the blue balls she left
these guys with.
Flying Daggers
Bamboo has never been so hot
When it comes to action in House of Flying Daggers, you should
have no shortage of it. The main adventure is almost entirely action/fighting
with small pauses to build on Jin and Mei's relationship and story. I first
heard complaints that the love story takes too long, I did not find this
to be the case. I felt Yimou Zhang did his best to quickly navigate the
love story and get on with the movie; at least in the case of love scenes.
There are some scenes that I thought were cool, but a little drawn out.
One such example is the dance scene featuring the introduction of Mei. This
scene is probably the most dragged out in the film, which is fine considering
it occurs at the beginning and does not affect the pace afterwards.
Saying that, here is my biggest hitch with the film: the ending. I encountered
two problems here, problems that cost this film half a point. First, the
love story goes into full swing at the end of the film, causing giant pauses
and skips in the action. The film starts with a drawn out scene and then
ends on one. The next problem is that the film tells us that a huge battle
is brewing, a battle we see soon to begin about ten minutes before the end
of the film. How does this battle turn out? I don't know, as the film never
returns to it, ever. I do not know if Yimou Zhang ran out of money or wanted
to keep the story more on the lovers rather than the opposing factions they
represent. But I was hoping for something huge! If they weren't going to
show the battle, they should have never showed the soldiers closing in on
the Flying Daggers.
Chinese Love
I mean this in all the best ways. First, you can tell that a lot of work
had gone into creating this film in finding the perfect mix between beauty
and brutality. Second, for those of you who have seen Hero, remember
the scene where the two lovers end up killing one another over their love.
That is some damn tough love, the same type of love also exists in House
of Flying Daggers. While this type of love is moving for some, it just
doesn't do it for me. However, to not be too harsh, the love between Jin
and Mei is wonderfully acted and very convincing.
See Flying Daggers
The love triangle comes full circle
Final Judgment: If you ever wondered what would happen if the films
Hero and Romeo & Juliet were to have a baby, out
would come House of Flying Daggers. We meet two lovers who are
each one of the highest representatives of their opposing factions; factions
they must leave behind for their love to last. The adventure between the
two allows us to see some of the coolest martial arts to hit the big screen
and entertain us with bamboo, swords, arrows, and last, but not least...
flying daggers.
Score:   
To check out the trailer and view more movie info, go to the
House of Flying Daggers Movie Page
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