La casa de las dagas voladoras

After absolutely loving 'Hero', I couldn't wait for Zhang Yimou's latest Wuxia Pien feature to arrive on DVD. After watching it, I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed, as it is another sumptuous, stylistic feature, which deserves all the accolades it is likely to receive.

The plot of the film is told in a more linear narrative when compared to that of 'Hero', but that is not to say it is any more straightforward. Set in the Tang Dynasty, the basic premise is nothing to write home about, featuring government officials on the trail of an underground rebel alliance 'The House of Flying Daggers'. However, there is enough characterisation and depth to hold your attention, while the (sometimes predictable) plot twists keep you guessing. Unfortunately, there is nothing entirely new about this story and it's probably familiar ground to fans of the wuxia genre. Nevertheless, it flows at a decent pace and is punctuated with enough stylistic action sequences that the 2-hour running time is quickly exhausted.

As with Yimou's impressive previous feature, Tony Ching Siu-tung takes over the action direction, producing another sterling performance. In my opinion, he is currently the top fight choreographer around after spending so many years being considered second fiddle to the likes of Yuen Wo-ping and Sammo Hung; he now deserves to be considered above them on his current output. In this instance, much of the overt stylisation evident in Hero is played down in favour of more grounded, natural martial artistry. There is still plenty of wire work and a spattering of CGI to aid the sequences, however, it is plain to see that much of the action displayed is a mix of genuine swordplay and actual technique. All the performers acquit themselves well considering none of them are formally trained in martial arts – especially Zhang Ziyi who performs impressively from start to finish.

As you would expect from a Zhang Yimou film, the visuals are majestic, with primary colours and panoramic landscapes making up much of what we see. Unfortunately, many people do not seem to take to this artistic approach, and will label the film another case of style over substance. I would disagree, as I believe it contains plenty of both with a strong cast, interesting characters and high quality action to provide the foundation for the kind of bold, sumptuous visuals, which are rare to find in modern film.

Overall, I personally prefer 'Hero' but know of plenty who would disagree. As a result, I recommend it as a definite purchase to any fan of films from this genre.

From Yimou Zhang, the director of Jet Li's Hero and Raise the Red Lantern, comes a spectacular tale about honor, and love.

House of Flying Daggers is the gripping, touching, and visually spectacular tale of two people, caught in a Romeo and Juliet story, and the nation at war they must fight together.

It is near the end of the Tang Dynasty era, and The Captain Jin (Kaneshiro) and Leo (Lau) tangle with Mei (Zhang), a dancer suspected of having ties to a revolutionary faction known as the House of Flying Daggers. Enraptured by her, the deputies concoct a plan to save her from capture, and Jin leads her north in what becomes a perilous journey into the unknown.

The dialogue, beautifully bright costumes, and landscapes will take you on a wonderful journey. A journey of dance, music, and beautiful words.

"House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu)" shows they can make movies like that anymore. This is a grand action love story that fully captures the eye and the heart, the pulse and ears. Yes, an action flick can be a date movie!

While building on the Wu-Xia tradition of literature and film that's as much historical fantasy as any rollicking Dumas adventure or the "Lord of the Rings" films, director Yimou Zhang incorporates elements we have seen elsewhere into a freshly thrilling experience.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" had a more sophisticated plot, but this one's twisty enough in the ever more duplicitous spies/hunter and the hunted vein.

It has a lot of plot similarities to another Ziyi Zhang-starrer, the drama of 1930's war intrigue "Purple Butterfly (Zi hudie)," minus the political lessons.

From Japanese films there's borrowing from the "Zatôichi: The Blind Swordsman" legends as well as almost as much from Kurasawa's "Hidden Fortress" that Lucas did for the "Star Wars" saga, and then borrowing forest fighting imagery from Lucas to an open meadow as magical as in "The Wizard of Oz."

"The Matrix" movies may have wowed us more with "bullet time" plus there is a lot of following arrow trajectories as in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," not coincidentally as the titular rebels are stealing from the rich to benefit the poor, but the context of the weapons for Siu-Tung Ching's martial arts choreography are more varied and emotional.

Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge" is only a bit more over the top than the beautiful production design and elaborate costumes in this Peony Pavilion, but every inch of the screen and soundtrack is as operatically filled and should be experienced on a large screen.

The director's own "Hero (Ying xiong)" is more beautiful as this is missing cinematographer Christopher Doyle's aesthetics but Xiaoding Zhao's cinematographical debut captures a breathtaking variety of landscapes in straightforward storytelling. The sound design is as important, with lots of heavy breathing from tension and exertion.

While it's a much smaller cast than sweeping epics like "Dr. Zhivago," "Titanic" or "Gone With the Wind," it has that swept away feel of a love story amidst larger forces, even if for much of the movie its the force of nature of the geography of Ukraine and a bamboo forest national park, which forcefully reminded me of an elementary school unit my son's class did on how bamboo is stronger than steel.

"Warriors of Heaven and Earth (Tian di ying xiong)" showed that spectacular scenery can be a backdrop for a pedestrian movie. But like "Hero," the enormous canvas is background for zooming in on three enormously charismatic actors in a passionate and unexpectedly tricky love triangle.

Ziyi Zhang needs to watch someone other than Mary Pickford, especially some Susan Sarandon or Jeanne Moreau, to learn that there's more levels in projecting romance than smoldering ratcheting right up to jump his bones, but one has to make some allowances as this is the first as sexy as this Chinese movie and the romance does recall pre-Code Hollywood. Her beautiful shoulders are used quite provocatively.

Takeshi Kaneshiro is ravishingly captivating but Andy Lau gives him a run for your heart in surprises that revolve around the unusual plot point of a woman's willingness being paramount, which is refreshing and adds suspense and emotion to the story.

The closing Kathleen Battle song is a bit over the top, as the music throughout verges on schmaltzy as it shamelessly reinforces what you see and hear, but you are left gasping if not weeping at the end anyway.

Shi Mian Mai Fu belongs to a growing body of work that embodies a clearly Asian aesthetic packaged just as clearly for Western consumption. It is no coincidence that, each time I paused the DVD for whatever reason, the still image on the screen was as beautiful as any classic wood block print by Hiroshige or Hokusai. Xiaoding Zhao's elegant cinematography imbues every scene with haunting beauty. Think Tak Fujimoto times ten, with no disrespect meant to Fujimoto, who shoots Western movies and still manages to inject his refined visual sense into such great films as Silence of the Lambs and Sixth Sense.

Director Yimou Zhang's work in Hero was more epic, more heroic, but SMMF has a more refined sense of story. The cast, the scenery, the music, including vocal performances by the legendary Kathleen Battle; all elements conspire brilliantly to convey subtle and nuanced meaning in moments. The story, as do all good stories of this genre, revolves around a delicate interplay of love, betrayal, deception and heroism of many different kinds, and, oh yes, those stunning ballets of combat layered with evocative sounds and effects.

In a nutshell, the plot goes something like this. A beautiful blind showgirl is captured as a spy. Her captors conspire to trick her into leading them to her leader. Along the way, both hunter and quarry become entangled in a web of subterfuge and deception. Add in a beautifully tragic romantic story line, again, as all such movies must have, and never forget that the essence of all truly great tragedy is inevitability.

This movie is also known as Ambush From Ten Sides, and in that more literal translation of its title you will find its essence. A worthy successor to Hero, though not as magnificent as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, in which Ziyi Zhang gives the performance of a lifetime and the one against all her other roles will be judged, and in this case, fall short, House of Flying Daggars is nevertheless a feast for the senses and a fully satisfying cinematic experience.

There may be some unanswered questions at the end of the movie and yet I'd watch this film over and over again just to witness the use of costumes, the martial arts skill and how they blend to make a very palatable story. Those who are trashing this film do so senselessly. The films' lovebirds are throughly attractive but not at all bland and you root for them because they appear to belong together; they have a natural chemistry which can be difficult for two actors to have. As can be the case in Asian films, like the recent hit "Hero", the costumes and the use of color are important characters all by themselves. So many elements come together beautifully that what's also ironic is the that film could easily be a stage play. I enjoyed this immensely. Just awe-inspiring!