Back on Sunday, Marcia and I watched “House of Flying Daggers”, starring, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, and Ziyi Zhang. It’s been a while since we had to the time to sit and watch a movie all the way through.
From Amazon.Com and Bret Fetzer, the following is a plot description:
Government officers Leo (Lau) and Jin (Kaneshiro) set out to destroy an underground rebellion called the House of Flying Daggers (named for their weapon of choice, a curved blade that swoops through the air like a boomerang). Their only chance to find the rebels is a blind women named Mei (Zhang) who has some lethal kung fu moves of her own. In the guise of an aspiring rebel, Jin escorts Mei through gorgeous forests and fields that become bloody battlegrounds as soldiers try to kill them both. While arrows and spears of bamboo fly through the air, Mei, Jin, and Leo turn against each other in surprising ways, driven by passion and honor.
This is the second film directed by Zhang Yimou that Marcia and I have watched. The first was “Curse of the Golden Flower”. Both films are visually stunning. There is more to the movie then just a great story and great acting.
Much like “Curse …”, there are hidden agendas by all the characters. Here there are less involved, but it is no less engaging. And much like I said about “Curse …”, it’s hard to say more then the fact that I really enjoyed the movie. There are so many levels to both films. The only complaint I had with this one was that the translation in English sometimes was longer then what was spoken, so lines sometimes flashed very quickly, leaving little time to read. But that’s hardly a complaint.
One thing that might be hard for some to deal with is the action sequences. Like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” we have people seemingly defy the laws of gravity. But that was something I can except in a film (which is funny, sometimes I can’t except something less). But the rewards for excepting that far out weigh your suspension of disbelief. And that suspension is far less needed here then in “Crouching …”.
Again, a great film. Not only a great story with great characters, but great visuals.
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