The House of Flying Daggers

DECEMBER 8, 2004

Everybody loved Hero, Zhang's last movie, because it was a great movie. I may be wrong about this, but Hero was Zhang's first martial arts and its success likely inspired him to try it again. Well, I think he made a mistake.

Before I rip into the film, the cinematography was breathtaking. Every scene was exquisitely composed, especially the early scene in the brothel and a number of the forest shots. The costumes were also well done. This film was undeniably beautiful.

Unfortunately, the film also had one of the worst scripts I've come across in a while. Flying Daggers was essentially a bad soap opera. There were love triangles and inane dialogue and an absurd amount of plot twists. "I'm not your mother, I'm your sister! Fooled you, I'm your coworker from the software company...or am I?!?" That's not a direct quote, but I wouldn't have been surprised to hear it.

For me, that overshadowed everything Zhang did right. Everyone speaks very highly of his early films, especially Red Sorghum, so I was surprised by this film. If you can look past the storyline and focus on just the imagery, you'll be fine. Keep in mind that the movie is a full two hours.

I recommend you rent this movie, so you can save some dough and then decide on your own if you want to sit through the whole thing.

Posted in Film at 6:03 pm.