 Promotional poster for House of Flying DaggersHouse of Flying Daggers (Chinese: 十面埋伏; pinyin: shí miàn mái fú), is a 2004 action/romance movie directed by Yimou Zhang. A literal translation of the Chinese title would be something similar to "ten sides, buried, lying down," a Chinese four-character idiom figuratively meaning "ambush from all sides"; the English title, House of Flying Daggers, refers to a secret society (飛刀門) within the film. The film is in the wuxia genre, similar in style to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or the more recent Warriors of Heaven and Earth.
Like other wuxia movies, the fight scenes are the most important aspect of the film, coupled with the cinematography. House of Flying Daggers differs however, in that it is more of a love story than a typical martial arts film.
Use of strong colors again is a signature of Zhang in this movie. Several scenes in a bamboo forest completely filled the screen with green while the actors also dressed in green. Near the end of the movie, a fight scene is set in a blizzard. The actors and blood are greatly highlighted on a whiteout background. There is another scene where bright yellow was used as the strong color theme.
The film opened in limited release within the United States on December 3, 2004, in New York City and Los Angeles, and opened on additional screens throughout the country two weeks later.
Although well received by film critics in the U.S., the film and its director were fairly heavily criticized locally in China and Hong Kong. Many Chinese critics felt that the film lacked a strong storyline or message, and that Zhang was simply trying to appeal to Western audiences with heavily choreographed fight scenes and extensive use of CGI. Zhang's previous films, including the critically acclaimed Raise the Red Lantern and The Story of Qiu Ju, were insightful and tragic dramas about the lives of everyday peasants in modern rural China, and even his previous foray into a martial arts film, Hero, had a strong underlying message about sacrifice and national identity.
Plot
The film is set in 859 AD, and the Tang Dynasty is in decline. Numerous rebel groups have formed, the largest of which is the House of Flying Daggers, which is based in the Feng Tian county. The rebels have the support of the locals, as they steal from the rich and give to the poor.
The local deputies, rivals of the House of Flying Daggers, have managed to kill the leader of the rebel group, but they only succeed in making it stronger, due to a mysterious new leader. Two captains, Jin and Leo, are ordered to kill the new leader within ten days.
In order to accomplish this, the two men attempt to arrest Mei, a blind dancer who is suspected to be the daughter of the old leader. Mei refuses to reveal anything, so the two captains try another approach. Jin pretends to be a lone warrior called Wind, and rescues Mei from prison, gaining her trust and then escorting her to the Flying Daggers headquarters. The new plan works, but Mei warms to Jin, and vice versa.
Cast
Anita Mui was originally cast for a major role in the film. She died before any of her scenes was filmed.
Crew
- Directed by Zhang Yimou
- Produced by Bill Kong, Zhang Yimou
- Executive Producer – Zhang Weiping
- Story by Zhang Yimou, Li Feng, Wang Bin
- Screenplay by Li Feng, Zhang Yimou, Wang Bin
- Director of Photography – Zhao Xiaoding
- Action Director – Tony Ching Siu-Tung
- Production Designed by Huo Tingxiao
- Sound Designed by Tao Jing
- Original Music Scored and Produced by Shigeru Umebayashi
- Theme Song Performed by Kathleen Battle
- Costume Designed by Emi Wada
- Edited by Cheng Long
- Associate Producer – Zhang Zhenyan
Production notes
Mandarin dialog, subtitled in English.
Running time: 119 minutes
An Edko Films, Zhang Yimou Studio Production in collaboration with Beijing New Picture Film Co., Ltd.
Released by Sony Pictures Classics.
MPAA rating: PG-13, for sequences of stylized martial arts violence, and some sexuality
Trivia
The movie features the theme of a beauty that brought woe among two characters. This is borrowed from a famous poem written in around ~800 C.E by Li Yan Nian (李延年). The poem goes:
北方有佳人, 絕世而獨立。
一顧傾人城,再顧傾人国。
寧不知倾城与倾国。
佳人難再得。
Bei fang you jia ren, jue shi er du li. Yi gu qing ren cheng, zai gu qing ren guo. Ning bu zhi qing cheng yu qing guo. Jia ren nan zai de.
(Chinese characters using image:
[1] (http://www.hottopos.com.br/china/words139.htm)
[2] (http://www.hottopos.com.br/china/words138.htm)
)
English Translation by Xah Lee:
In the North there's a lady, stunning and singular.
One look confounds a city; a touch dooms an empire.
Rather not wishing to know, the ruination that may follow,
rare beauty is here and now.
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