
Originally posted by MikLosk on 10/13/06

House of Flying Daggers is one more experiment of the alive classic of Chinese cinema Zhang Yimou in genre wuxia-pian, that is often inaccurately called martial arts cinema. Quasihistorical space as a scene of action, saturated with emotions melodramatical plot about love and revenge, a lot of fighting scenes and famous "flights" - these are the main features of this genre.

Zhang Yimou made in 2003 Hero - the most high-budget ($30 million) and simultaneously the most commercially succesful film in Chinese cinema history. Only year passed between shooting of Hero and House of Flying Daggers. But thousand yaers of Chinese history separated them. Their aesthetics differ much more.

Hero is set in III century AC, in the epoch of the Chinese state system formation. It was epos like Nibelungen, where Titans, supermen acted. Nobility of these heroes, their thoughts purity, peace of mind near the Death were epic, divinely perfect. Visual constituent of the movie, where every emotion was corresponded with some colour, was so fantastically beautiful, that it was really hard to see, because mere mortal can't stand divine perfection. Hero is arguably the highest achievement of fantasy type of wuxia-pian. 

House of Flying Daggers: 859 AD, decline of Tan dinasty - the Golden Age of the Celestial Empire. China is enveloped with disturbances, the government is corrupt, police is impotent. Leo and Jin develop plan of catch of two leaders of secret anti-government organisation called "House of Flying Daggers". 

The film is a story of three days journey of heroes, which are looking for a secret organisation. This journey became an upbringing of their senses. The plot combines elements of melodrama, detective and historical action movie, and is composed so masterfully that every scene makes you reconsider the previous ones. The film is about a triumph of love. It is a story about what people can endow to save their love. Actually it's a love story, the most beatiful and powerful love story of this decade.

9/10