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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/awards/cannes/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000496934
House of Flying Daggers
By Kirk Honeycutt
CANNES -- Now that he feels comfortable with wuxia, or martial arts movies,
following "Hero" -- his first foray into the genre, which Miramax has yet
to release in North America -- Chinese master Zhang Yimou creates a gem in
"House of Flying Daggers."
While the action sequences are right up there with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon," Zhang uses the genre to relate a touching and tragic tale about
star-crossed lovers caught up with forces that threaten to overwhelm them.
Filming with an international cast in China and the Ukraine, the director
lets the action unfold amid landscapes so beautiful they feel like
paintings.
The film is certain to be a worldwide hit, but whether it will approach the
boxoffice figures of the "Crouching Tiger" phenomenon is an open question.
Certainly, Western audiences hungering for more have a great meal headed
their way. Sony Pictures Classics has domestic rights.
Set in the year 859 in the waning days of the now-corrupt Tang Dynasty, the
central force in the film is a shadowy revolutionary alliance known as the
House of Flying Daggers. Their leader has been assassinated, but a
mysterious new leader has already replaced him.
Two local deputies are ordered to capture this leader within 10 days, a
virtually impossible task. Capt. Leo (Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau)
suspects that Mei ("Crouching Tiger's" Zhang Ziyi), a new and beautiful
blind dancer at the nearby Peony Pavilion, is actually the daughter of the
old leader seeking revenge. Capt. Jin (Japanese-Taiwanese star Takeshi
Kaneshiro) goes to the brothel, where he drunkenly flirts with Mei, and
they both get "arrested" by Leo.
When Mei refuses to talk even under threat of torture, Leo suggests that
Jin rescue her while pretending to be a lone warrior who calls himself the
Wind. The two flee, and the plan appears to work when, after a couple of
spectacular battles between the couple and pursuing troops, Mei accepts
Jin's faked identity.
The two head north, presumably toward the headquarters of the House of
Flying Daggers. But no one is who he or she appears to be, and danger lurks
everywhere. What no one anticipated, however, is that Mei and Jin would
fall for each other, which causes everyone's schemes to crumble. When Jin
must fight and kill his fellow soldiers for real and Mei finds herself
asked to kill Jin, the divided loyalties reach their zenith.
Paying tribute to wuxia master King Hu, whose three-hour epic "A Touch of
Zen" won a technical prize at Cannes in 1969, director Zhang honors all the
conventions of the genre, including his own battle in the bamboo forest.
The twist here is that the troops occupy the treetops, hurling sharpened
bamboo down on the heroes who must fight and run on the ground.
As the title promises, knives and daggers zip through the air with balletic
force. Flying daggers twist, plunge, ricochet and change directions.
Employing the latest film technology and the most acrobatic suit people in
the Chinese and Hong Kong film industries, Zhang Yimou has objects and
people defy gravity in ways Hu could only dream about.
A dance sequence early in the movie featuring Zhang Ziyi and what appears
to be a stunt double in some shots telegraphs viewers that the director
means to raise the action bar in all areas. That he does so while keeping
the story firmly rooted in the developing love between two people
desperately fighting their own instincts is a tribute to his cinematic
mastery.
Dashing Kaneshiro and hauntingly beautiful Zhang Ziyi convincingly convey
the vulnerability of a couple battling inner emotions so that they will not
fall in love. For Mei, the conflict is deepened by the fact that, unknown
to Jin, she already has a lover who shadows and protects her. That lover is
Lau's wily Leo, a man who will stop at nothing to keep her alive for him
and for him alone.
Cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding's rendering of the rural locations is thing
of pure magic. Shigeru Umebayashi's music, Chinese with Western
modulations, well serves the movie's epic quality. Emi Wada's costumes
blend in magnificently with the countryside, while editor Cheng Long gives
a thrilling rhythm to action director Tony Ching Siu-Tung's intricate fight
choreography.
--
Hong Ooi | "Well, that about WANGER up the
hong@zipworld.com.au | WANGER of your WANGER, Hong.
http://www.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/ | WANGER."
Sydney, Australia | -- MSB
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/awards/cannes/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000496934
House of Flying Daggers
By Kirk Honeycutt
CANNES -- Now that he feels comfortable with wuxia, or martial arts movies,
following "Hero" -- his first foray into the genre, which Miramax has yet
to release in North America -- Chinese master Zhang Yimou creates a gem in
"House of Flying Daggers."
While the action sequences are right up there with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon," Zhang uses the genre to relate a touching and tragic tale about
star-crossed lovers caught up with forces that threaten to overwhelm them.
Filming with an international cast in China and the Ukraine, the director
lets the action unfold amid landscapes so beautiful they feel like
paintings.
The film is certain to be a worldwide hit, but whether it will approach the
boxoffice figures of the "Crouching Tiger" phenomenon is an open question.
Certainly, Western audiences hungering for more have a great meal headed
their way. Sony Pictures Classics has domestic rights.
Set in the year 859 in the waning days of the now-corrupt Tang Dynasty, the
central force in the film is a shadowy revolutionary alliance known as the
House of Flying Daggers. Their leader has been assassinated, but a
mysterious new leader has already replaced him.
Two local deputies are ordered to capture this leader within 10 days, a
virtually impossible task. Capt. Leo (Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau)
suspects that Mei ("Crouching Tiger's" Zhang Ziyi), a new and beautiful
blind dancer at the nearby Peony Pavilion, is actually the daughter of the
old leader seeking revenge. Capt. Jin (Japanese-Taiwanese star Takeshi
Kaneshiro) goes to the brothel, where he drunkenly flirts with Mei, and
they both get "arrested" by Leo.
When Mei refuses to talk even under threat of torture, Leo suggests that
Jin rescue her while pretending to be a lone warrior who calls himself the
Wind. The two flee, and the plan appears to work when, after a couple of
spectacular battles between the couple and pursuing troops, Mei accepts
Jin's faked identity.
The two head north, presumably toward the headquarters of the House of
Flying Daggers. But no one is who he or she appears to be, and danger lurks
everywhere. What no one anticipated, however, is that Mei and Jin would
fall for each other, which causes everyone's schemes to crumble. When Jin
must fight and kill his fellow soldiers for real and Mei finds herself
asked to kill Jin, the divided loyalties reach their zenith.
Paying tribute to wuxia master King Hu, whose three-hour epic "A Touch of
Zen" won a technical prize at Cannes in 1969, director Zhang honors all the
conventions of the genre, including his own battle in the bamboo forest.
The twist here is that the troops occupy the treetops, hurling sharpened
bamboo down on the heroes who must fight and run on the ground.
As the title promises, knives and daggers zip through the air with balletic
force. Flying daggers twist, plunge, ricochet and change directions.
Employing the latest film technology and the most acrobatic suit people in
the Chinese and Hong Kong film industries, Zhang Yimou has objects and
people defy gravity in ways Hu could only dream about.
A dance sequence early in the movie featuring Zhang Ziyi and what appears
to be a stunt double in some shots telegraphs viewers that the director
means to raise the action bar in all areas. That he does so while keeping
the story firmly rooted in the developing love between two people
desperately fighting their own instincts is a tribute to his cinematic
mastery.
Dashing Kaneshiro and hauntingly beautiful Zhang Ziyi convincingly convey
the vulnerability of a couple battling inner emotions so that they will not
fall in love. For Mei, the conflict is deepened by the fact that, unknown
to Jin, she already has a lover who shadows and protects her. That lover is
Lau's wily Leo, a man who will stop at nothing to keep her alive for him
and for him alone.
Cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding's rendering of the rural locations is thing
of pure magic. Shigeru Umebayashi's music, Chinese with Western
modulations, well serves the movie's epic quality. Emi Wada's costumes
blend in magnificently with the countryside, while editor Cheng Long gives
a thrilling rhythm to action director Tony Ching Siu-Tung's intricate fight
choreography.
--
Hong Ooi | "Well, that about WANGER up the
hong@zipworld.com.au | WANGER of your WANGER, Hong.
http://www.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/ | WANGER."
Sydney, Australia | -- MSB
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