DARKMATTERS - The Mind of Matt

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Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Film Review: House of Flying Daggers


"Hey, you're one seriously sexy pixie..."

House of Flying Daggers (15)
Dir. Yimou Zhang

Reviewed By Matt Adcock

Prepare to be completely blown away by this beautiful romantic epic, which perfectly marries heavy-duty combat scenes with heart breaking story twists...
The literal English translation of the Chinese title is "Ambushed From Ten Directions" and you'll feel that your senses have been just that!!

Director Yimou Zhang, who also made the impressive but less involving Hero delivers a much more personal tale with House of Flying Daggers. These are characters that you can't help caring about - great performances by Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy 'Infernal Affairs' Lau are both eclipsed by the lovely Ziyi Zhang (currently filming Memoirs of a Geisha). She is absolutely deadly too with her flying fists of fury – and when she gets out her daggers, you know you’re in trouble!

Set in 859AD, the Tang Dynasty, one of the most enlightened empires in Chinese history at its height, is finally in decline. The Emperor is incompetent and the government is corrupt, meaning that they barely control the land. To make matters worse, an underground alliance of warriors called the “House of Flying Daggers” is growing ever stronger and causing all sorts of mischief. We get to witness a cunning plan to track down the leader of the House of Flying Daggers that involves love, betrayal and serious amounts of swordplay – tasty…

Did I mention that the visuals on offer here are truly majestic, with stunning use of colours and excellent landscapes really adding to the spectacle? If you for some strange reason decide not to watch House of Flying Daggers – you’re denying yourself an immense pleasure…

Darkmatt Rating: ööööö (excellent)


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