House of Flying Daggers
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (15)
D: Zhang Yimou
Sony Pictures Classics/Edko (Bill Kong & Zhang
Yimou)
Hong Kong/China 2004
119 mins
Adventure/Romance
W: Li Feng, Zhang Yimou & Wang Bin
DP: Xiaoding Zhao
Ed: Cheng Long
Mus: Shigeru Umebayashi
PD: Tingxiao Huo
Cos: Emi Wada
Takeshi Kaneshiro (Captain Jin), Zhang
Ziyi (Mei), Andy Lau (Captain Lao), Song Dandan (Yee)
Visual splendor, meticulous period design and balletic
martial arts choreography are married together in this story of power struggles amidst the dynasties of 9th century China.
Comparisons will doubtlessly be made with Ang Lee's
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon although both are completely different films, the only similarity being a slightly contrived romance subplot in the proceedings and both films being in an
"arthouse martial art film" genre.
Worth watching for the beautiful cinematography
alone.
7/10
