If I was asked a few years ago about the prospects of Zhang Yimou making a wuxia genre masterwork I’d probably wave my hand in an overtly snobby fashion before uttering “I highly doubt it.” Well, flash forward to 2004, and not only am I wrong once – I’m wrong twice. The one-two punch of Hero and House of Flying Daggers cements Zhang Yimou’s place in the hallowed halls of the cinematic pantheon.
House of Flying Daggers takes place in 859 A.D. and involves a triangle of lovers entangled in a battle between the Chinese Government and a secret society, House of Flying Daggers, named for their weapon of choice – homing daggers that scream through the air at improbable velocities. However, the plot is secondary. The real beauty of House of Flying Daggers is in fact “the real beauty” – Zhang Yimou and his crew create a world, with wide vistas, large forests, grassy planes, and snow covered fields, of intoxicating beauty.
The beautiful locales double as back-drops for the thrilling action sequences, which thankfully avoid split-second editing. There is a reason why the eastern epics seem to inspire awe in an audience when the latest Hollywood blockbuster with twice the budget can’t even inspire a stretch in their sphincter muscles. The fight scenes here are shown in wide shot with long takes. Eastern cinema understands the power of choreography – the invigoration and the vicarious thrill of seeing real people perform a series of complex movements; a beauty of graceful dance, which imbues the scenes with twice the energy and gives them hope one day to transcend into the archives of great cinema.
There are countless action scenes that fit these criteria. One, which received a standing ovation at the prestigious Cannes film festival, is the bamboo forest battle. To those not informed in the rules of the Wuxia genre – all great additions to it must contain a battle inside a bamboo grove. The scene here is a jaw-dropper that combines spectacular cinematography with stunning choreography. The battle literally takes place atop the trees as the enemies shimmy down and attack our heroes on the ground. They cut and toss bamboo shoots at break-neck speeds towards them. The sound that accompanies each action creates a natural rhythm in the scene. We find the succession of throws pleasant because of how inextricably linked they are to the image and music.
For much of its duration, House of Flying Daggers can be purely enjoyed for aesthetic. However, towards the end Zhang Yimou clearly wishes to present the conflicts of the human heart, the way it illogically causes us to make decisions we later regret. The last act in House of Flying Daggers transforms the film from epic tale to intimate tragedy, where the love triangle leads to a series of dramatic twists, which raise the stakes for each of the characters. The actors all rise to the task, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro both play the de rigueur handsome pawns, but no one impresses more than Zhang Ziyi, who seamlessly shifts from playful seductress to fearless warrior.
I’ve seen this year, many decent films, several good films, and a small number of great films. House of Flying Daggers is, with its beautiful stars and old fashioned sensibility for exhilarating action, passionate romance, and tear-jerking melodrama, a great film. It is both Yimou’s paean to the martial art’s genre and quite simply, the most visually rapturous film of the year.
~ Asim Dossani
Discussions
Are you a fan of Zhang Ziyi and/or her films and would like to contribute a fan review?
If so, then please feel free to post your review in a new discussion topic in Zhang Ziyi Films.
