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Movie: House of Flying Daggers
Director: Zhang Yimou
Actors: Zhang Ziyi, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro
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Zhang Yimou, director of Hero, again delivers a martial arts epic, House of Flying Daggers. Zhang Ziyi, also in Hero, gets to play a leading role in this film. The rest of the cast includes Any Lau and Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro.
The story in a nutshell:
A secret organization called House of Flying Daggers, turns against the government during the Tang Dynasty. Agent Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) got the task to find the leader of the gang. Jin approaches Mei, a dancer and possible member of the Daggers, in order to receive more information about the organization.
House of Flying Daggers fits other martial arts epics like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Yimou's Hero. Dagger is a bit smaller though but does tell an intriguing story about love, trust and betrayal. Zhang Ziyi, who's also in Chrouching Tiger and Hero, plays the leading role in this one as Mei who must choose between Leo and Jin. The actors deliver some great old-fashioned acting performances with impressive Chinese landscapes used as backdrop.
The martial arts sequences are jaw-dropping en refreshing. Most of the fights are combined with the gang's favorite weapon, you guessed it, daggers, and the sequences are being enhanced with nice computer animation. The huge fight in the bamboo forest is one of the highlights of the film.
Zhang Yimou keeps the movie, despite the big action sequences, very intimate. House of Flying Dagger doesn't reach the epic level of Crouching Tiger or Hero but is still is a very beautiful Chinese film, thanks to great acting, spectacular martial arts and interesting story.
Written by Reggy 18/01/05
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