January 18, 2005 -- “House of Flying Daggers” (Shi mian mai fu) is another stunning martial arts masterpiece from one of the best directors in the world, Yimou Zhang (“Hero,” “Raise the Red Lantern”). This film is nearly as good as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” my pick for the best martial arts film ever made. Like that earlier film, “House of Flying Daggers” has a compelling story, strong characters and strong production values, including great photography.

The story takes place in 859 A.D. during the decline of the Tang Dynasty. Unrest and rebellion are on the rise. The largest of the rebel alliances is called the House of the Flying Daggers. Two police captains, Leo (Andy Lau Tak Wah of “The Legend of Drunken Master”) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro of “Chungking Express”) go underground to try to find the new leader of the mysterious rebel alliance. They discover the daughter of the late rebel leader, Mei (Zhang Ziyi of “Hero” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) is a dancer in a local club. After arresting her, their plan is to convince her to take them to the new rebel leader by pretending to be her friend and breaking her out of jail.

The plan seems to work. Jin breaks Mei out of jail and helps her to return to the House of Flying Daggers. Along the way, the two fall in love, further complicating matters. Later, a romantic triangle forms, causing more problems. At the same time a major battle is shaping up between the army and the rebel forces. Jin and Mei are caught right in the middle. The story is full of romance, drama and action.

The cinematography by Zhao Xiao Ding (“Hero”) is lush and dazzling. As usual with this director, the landscape is as much of a star as the actors. There is a wonderful battle sequence in a bamboo forest, and a breathtaking duel in an open field with gorgeous autumn colors in the forested background. The sets and costumes are beautiful.

The story has a similar romantic-triangle-and-a-cloud-of-blood plot as director's earlier effort, “Hero.” In this story the final carnage at least is prompted by a believable motive -- jealousy. The story is more cohesive than the story in “Hero.” Both the rebels and the government employ the same underhanded means to gain advantage over the other. This plot element is very similar to another Chinese film that came out this year called “Infernal Affairs.”

As usual in these types of Chinese stories, moral complexities abound and there is no real distinction between the good guys and the bad guys. The martial arts stuff is all style and no substance. There are a lot of wire stunts and the laws of gravity and physics are ignored on a regular basis. This type of martial arts is a convention of this type of movie, just as dance is in musical films, and it is just as artistic-looking, just as well-choreographed and just as skillfully done. Here, it is also so far removed from reality that the outcomes of these stylized battles are entirely arbitrary. This film rates a B+.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2005 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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