Recently Seen: House of Flying Daggers
I had no expectations of what I was going to get from Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers. If I had put my mind to it, I would have been less taken aback by the visual extravaganza that awaited me. Zhang Yimou has after all made his name as the director of such cinematically beautiful movies as Red Sorghum, Raise the Red Lantern and The Road Home (which was also Zhang Ziyi's movie debut).
What I did know about the movie was that it starred three big names of Asian cinema, China's Zhang Ziyi, Hong Kong's Andy Lau and Japan's Takeshi Kaneshiro (who is also partly Taiwan's and Hong Kong's, such are his muti-lingual skills). That was a promising start. Any movie that took the trouble to gather such star power together should at least have a decent budget, and hopefully, a reasonable screenplay.
In the end, I am not sure if the screenplay counted for much. It was certainly not bad, by any means, but plot, dialogue and characterisation all seemed rather secondary to the visual splendours served up on the screen. This was such a sumptuous production, with scene after scene of breathtaking beauty.
Set in the 9th century, during the waning years of the Tang Dynasty, this is a ostensibly a tale of duplicity, hidden identities, political upheaval and double-crossing. Essentially, though, this is an old-fashioned love triangle, a romance that is swooningly ardent for the most part, with occasional injections of raging jealousy.
But emotional undercurrents take a back seat to visual ingenuity. The movie begins with two major set-pieces in interior sets. The rooms of the brothel named the Peony Pavillion are wondeful to behold, with intricate details in the draperies and decorations. The ladies of the brothel are decked out in vibrant colours and seemed like a hundred butterflies in a field of wild-flowers. In these early scenes, Zhang Yimou stages a wonderful ballet, in which the blind Xiao Mei (Zhang Ziyi) dances and flicks her long sleeves to beat a circle of drums, echoing the drums that Leo (Andy Lau) had earlier struck using a well-aimed nut.
Shortly after, Mei is revealed to be a spy; she is a member of the House of Flying Daggers, a dangerous rebel group. She is arrested by Leo and his partner, Jin (Takeshi Keneshiro), who are the Tang Dynasty equivalent of policemen. Leo and Jin hatch a plot to use Mei to discover the identity of the Flying Daggers' leader and the location of their stronghold. Jin stages a rescue of Mei, in the hopes that she will lead him to the Flying Daggers' secrets.
As they flee, we watch Jin and Mei fall cagily in love, while dodging attacks from the army sent after them (the secret plot is not known to the entire army, and pretty soon, Jin finds himself being forced to save his own life for real). The action moves outdoors and what glorious outdoors it is. The scenes alternate between autumnal forest glades with their shades of gold and red, open fields of wild flowers, a pond covered in lotus leaves, hilltops with spectacular views and most significantly, a bamboo grove.
In this bamboo grove, with a hint of mist and soft sunlight streaming through the trees, the movie stages an audacious martial arts combat, that pretty much rendered me speechless. Soldiers leap from tree to tree, raining bamboo spears down upon Jin and Mei as they dodge with quick-footed grace. The guards swoop down the bamboo branches to attack up-close and devise a trap of sharpened bamboo spears portruding from the ground. This is just extraordinary cinematic imagination, choreographed like a dance and filmed with loving attention to detail. I particularly enjoyed the play of lights as the attacking guards cast shadows on the ground through which the lovers are running.
In the end, the movie reveals that Leo is also a Flying Dagger and has been undercover as a policeman for three years. Mei is in fact not blind and hadbeen double-crossing Jin just as he was double-crossing her. Leo is in love with Mei and enraged by her feelings for Jin. And so, while everyone turned out to be a double-crosser of some sort, the final denouement had less to do with this and everything to do with the love triangle.
For this resolution, we moved to a vast field against a backdrop of autumnal hills. Leo and Jin battle to the death, while the season changes and a snow storm transforms the landscape from green and gold to shades of white. This transition is handled marvelously; the film-makers have truly used the visual language of cinema here. When blood is spilled, it splahes crimson against the snow - a spectacular effect.
The visual beauty of the movie extends to its cast.
Zhang Ziyi's fine-boned features are a boon to any cinematographer. I must admit to finding her somewhat irritating, ever since seeing her petulant brat role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Her role in Rush Hour 2 (the only other film I had seen her in, apart from her debut in The Road Home) did not help to endear her to me better. I thought at first that House of Flying Daggers would serve up more of the same petulance, but this role called for something different and more likeable. I will give credit where it is due; she is most sympathetic in this role and looks a dream (in this movie, a very important achievement).
Takeshi Kaneshiro is blessed with good genes. His half-Chinese, half-Japanese heritage gave him striking looks and a cut-glass profile that is the hallmark of a movie star. Jin is not a particularly demanding role, calling more for charm and charisma than actual thespic endeavour. Kaneshiro handles charm and charisma without any apparent effort. Most importantly, he has sizzling chemistry with Zhang Ziyi and in their scenes together, they add not only to the beauty of the scenery but also to our emotional engagement with the proceedings.
Andy Lau has looked better in his life. There, I have said it. I know he is wildly popular in Asia, due in some part to his cultured good looks. But he really is not looking so hot nowadays. In the 1980s, this was one of the best looking people in East Asian cinema. With age, he has become rather gaunt and haggard. The camera that used to so love him is rather less enamoured nowadays. I think part of the problem that we are supposed to believe him to be younger than his appearance (at least, that is the impression that I get). Andy Lau's current visual appearance is of a man in 40's. This is not a slight; the man is 44 years old. He is certainly a fine specimen for his age. But I get the sense that he is trying to pass off as someone ten years younger. And it does not work for me as a viewer. In House of Flying Dagger, he professes a romantic interest in Zhang Ziyi's character when he looks old enough to be her father. When he reveals his relationship to Mei (the spiel about "It's been 3 years since I saw her), in all seriousness, I kept expecting him to say that she was his daughter! But putting the issue of looks aside, I think this was one of Andy Lau's better acted roles. It stretched his range and he rose to the challenge well.
Ultimately, when I think of House of Flying Daggers, I will remember it mainly for it's beauty. I suspect that the plot will slip my mind within days, but that bamboo grove battle will go down as a cinematic highlight for all time.
Overall rating: 10 out of 10 (for style), 8 out of 10 (overall)
What I did know about the movie was that it starred three big names of Asian cinema, China's Zhang Ziyi, Hong Kong's Andy Lau and Japan's Takeshi Kaneshiro (who is also partly Taiwan's and Hong Kong's, such are his muti-lingual skills). That was a promising start. Any movie that took the trouble to gather such star power together should at least have a decent budget, and hopefully, a reasonable screenplay.
In the end, I am not sure if the screenplay counted for much. It was certainly not bad, by any means, but plot, dialogue and characterisation all seemed rather secondary to the visual splendours served up on the screen. This was such a sumptuous production, with scene after scene of breathtaking beauty.
Set in the 9th century, during the waning years of the Tang Dynasty, this is a ostensibly a tale of duplicity, hidden identities, political upheaval and double-crossing. Essentially, though, this is an old-fashioned love triangle, a romance that is swooningly ardent for the most part, with occasional injections of raging jealousy.
But emotional undercurrents take a back seat to visual ingenuity. The movie begins with two major set-pieces in interior sets. The rooms of the brothel named the Peony Pavillion are wondeful to behold, with intricate details in the draperies and decorations. The ladies of the brothel are decked out in vibrant colours and seemed like a hundred butterflies in a field of wild-flowers. In these early scenes, Zhang Yimou stages a wonderful ballet, in which the blind Xiao Mei (Zhang Ziyi) dances and flicks her long sleeves to beat a circle of drums, echoing the drums that Leo (Andy Lau) had earlier struck using a well-aimed nut.
Shortly after, Mei is revealed to be a spy; she is a member of the House of Flying Daggers, a dangerous rebel group. She is arrested by Leo and his partner, Jin (Takeshi Keneshiro), who are the Tang Dynasty equivalent of policemen. Leo and Jin hatch a plot to use Mei to discover the identity of the Flying Daggers' leader and the location of their stronghold. Jin stages a rescue of Mei, in the hopes that she will lead him to the Flying Daggers' secrets.
As they flee, we watch Jin and Mei fall cagily in love, while dodging attacks from the army sent after them (the secret plot is not known to the entire army, and pretty soon, Jin finds himself being forced to save his own life for real). The action moves outdoors and what glorious outdoors it is. The scenes alternate between autumnal forest glades with their shades of gold and red, open fields of wild flowers, a pond covered in lotus leaves, hilltops with spectacular views and most significantly, a bamboo grove.
In this bamboo grove, with a hint of mist and soft sunlight streaming through the trees, the movie stages an audacious martial arts combat, that pretty much rendered me speechless. Soldiers leap from tree to tree, raining bamboo spears down upon Jin and Mei as they dodge with quick-footed grace. The guards swoop down the bamboo branches to attack up-close and devise a trap of sharpened bamboo spears portruding from the ground. This is just extraordinary cinematic imagination, choreographed like a dance and filmed with loving attention to detail. I particularly enjoyed the play of lights as the attacking guards cast shadows on the ground through which the lovers are running.
In the end, the movie reveals that Leo is also a Flying Dagger and has been undercover as a policeman for three years. Mei is in fact not blind and hadbeen double-crossing Jin just as he was double-crossing her. Leo is in love with Mei and enraged by her feelings for Jin. And so, while everyone turned out to be a double-crosser of some sort, the final denouement had less to do with this and everything to do with the love triangle.
For this resolution, we moved to a vast field against a backdrop of autumnal hills. Leo and Jin battle to the death, while the season changes and a snow storm transforms the landscape from green and gold to shades of white. This transition is handled marvelously; the film-makers have truly used the visual language of cinema here. When blood is spilled, it splahes crimson against the snow - a spectacular effect.
The visual beauty of the movie extends to its cast.
Zhang Ziyi's fine-boned features are a boon to any cinematographer. I must admit to finding her somewhat irritating, ever since seeing her petulant brat role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Her role in Rush Hour 2 (the only other film I had seen her in, apart from her debut in The Road Home) did not help to endear her to me better. I thought at first that House of Flying Daggers would serve up more of the same petulance, but this role called for something different and more likeable. I will give credit where it is due; she is most sympathetic in this role and looks a dream (in this movie, a very important achievement).
Takeshi Kaneshiro is blessed with good genes. His half-Chinese, half-Japanese heritage gave him striking looks and a cut-glass profile that is the hallmark of a movie star. Jin is not a particularly demanding role, calling more for charm and charisma than actual thespic endeavour. Kaneshiro handles charm and charisma without any apparent effort. Most importantly, he has sizzling chemistry with Zhang Ziyi and in their scenes together, they add not only to the beauty of the scenery but also to our emotional engagement with the proceedings.
Andy Lau has looked better in his life. There, I have said it. I know he is wildly popular in Asia, due in some part to his cultured good looks. But he really is not looking so hot nowadays. In the 1980s, this was one of the best looking people in East Asian cinema. With age, he has become rather gaunt and haggard. The camera that used to so love him is rather less enamoured nowadays. I think part of the problem that we are supposed to believe him to be younger than his appearance (at least, that is the impression that I get). Andy Lau's current visual appearance is of a man in 40's. This is not a slight; the man is 44 years old. He is certainly a fine specimen for his age. But I get the sense that he is trying to pass off as someone ten years younger. And it does not work for me as a viewer. In House of Flying Dagger, he professes a romantic interest in Zhang Ziyi's character when he looks old enough to be her father. When he reveals his relationship to Mei (the spiel about "It's been 3 years since I saw her), in all seriousness, I kept expecting him to say that she was his daughter! But putting the issue of looks aside, I think this was one of Andy Lau's better acted roles. It stretched his range and he rose to the challenge well.
Ultimately, when I think of House of Flying Daggers, I will remember it mainly for it's beauty. I suspect that the plot will slip my mind within days, but that bamboo grove battle will go down as a cinematic highlight for all time.
Overall rating: 10 out of 10 (for style), 8 out of 10 (overall)
Labels: Movie Reviews
posted by gentleice the deptfordian at 10:21 PM
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