*blink, blink* wow...
Just back from watching House of Flying Daggers (by Zhang Yimou) with Bekka, Ken, and Jess. Though I am certain that oppinons of the group will differ, I thought it was excellent. Maybe not as good as Hero (same director), but every bit as powerful and deep of a movie. That said, I'm going to preface the rest of this by saying that I am by no means versed in the context of this era of Chinese history nor can I even very accuratly place the movie on a time line (end of Tang dynasty as I remember, but not really sure) and don't have nearly the knowledge of Chinese film-making and archetypes of some of us. With that out of the way, I do feel like I've studied enough Easter philosophy and dabbled enough in visual archetypes that I can give a fairly good account of the movie and possibly delve into the subtleties.
When compared to Hero, this movie is much more subtle with colors and choreography...unfortunately, some of the CG was also much more visible. The story was amazing, and I'll try not to give any spoilers at all...but bare with me if I do. As the opening text naration says, there is a group of rebels fighting the corrupt government that call themselves the House of Flying Daggers. The opposing faction are the forces of the General in charge of the region/county and the various police groups under his direct control. Overall, I think the story of this movie is in most respects better than that of Hero, though I really loved the novelty of the storytelling in that one. There are a number of plot twists that, though not completely unexpected, lend the movie an air of unpredictability...and may be completely hidden from people who don't spend a lot of time watching and analysing Chinese cinema. Let's just say that at the beginning of the movie, I could not have predicted the end...probably even if I had seen trailers for it (which I had not...no real surprise there).
I found the use of color to be extremely interesting to watch. First, for those who don't know, Chinese color archetypes are very different from our own. White is a color of mourning, green of happyness. Yellow is royalty and earth tones suggest harmony with nature (a big thing in the Bhuddist thought that shapped the creation of these archetypes in the first place). That being said, I found it really interesting when I realized (about 40 minutes after the end of the movie) that the most tragic character in the film was wearing the brightest shade of green. Each of the main characters also seemed to represent an element. Mei was earth, Jin was wind, Leo was water, etc. This, however, is where my knowlege gives out. I don't know how to analyze the interplay between them.
The main cause of the conflict in the movie definately came from the leaders of the two factoins. Nia, the head of the House of Flying Daggers, and the unnammed General act as back-stage puppet masters. Nia is never fully seen during the film (her face is always hidden and she's only in one scene) and the General doesn't show up at all. This "we're the pawns" mentality really begins to seep into the characters as the movie goes on. It was kind of refreshing to see a movie made about people who really have no control of their own destiny and know it. Somewhere in there, I would have to guess, is the true theme of the film. It needs more introspection time.
I suppose if I was forced to find problems with it, aside from the aformentioned CG's, the lengths taken to not show any of Mei's...naughty bits during the love scene detracted a little from the flow of it. The fights were also not as spectacular as the ones in Hero and parts of the story were not wrapped up completely...I'm sure that, though, is purely the intention of Zhang. Over all, this is an excelent movie and I'll be glad to own a copy as soon as it comes out on DVD...I may even watch it with the director's commentary once or twice.
When compared to Hero, this movie is much more subtle with colors and choreography...unfortunately, some of the CG was also much more visible. The story was amazing, and I'll try not to give any spoilers at all...but bare with me if I do. As the opening text naration says, there is a group of rebels fighting the corrupt government that call themselves the House of Flying Daggers. The opposing faction are the forces of the General in charge of the region/county and the various police groups under his direct control. Overall, I think the story of this movie is in most respects better than that of Hero, though I really loved the novelty of the storytelling in that one. There are a number of plot twists that, though not completely unexpected, lend the movie an air of unpredictability...and may be completely hidden from people who don't spend a lot of time watching and analysing Chinese cinema. Let's just say that at the beginning of the movie, I could not have predicted the end...probably even if I had seen trailers for it (which I had not...no real surprise there).
I found the use of color to be extremely interesting to watch. First, for those who don't know, Chinese color archetypes are very different from our own. White is a color of mourning, green of happyness. Yellow is royalty and earth tones suggest harmony with nature (a big thing in the Bhuddist thought that shapped the creation of these archetypes in the first place). That being said, I found it really interesting when I realized (about 40 minutes after the end of the movie) that the most tragic character in the film was wearing the brightest shade of green. Each of the main characters also seemed to represent an element. Mei was earth, Jin was wind, Leo was water, etc. This, however, is where my knowlege gives out. I don't know how to analyze the interplay between them.
The main cause of the conflict in the movie definately came from the leaders of the two factoins. Nia, the head of the House of Flying Daggers, and the unnammed General act as back-stage puppet masters. Nia is never fully seen during the film (her face is always hidden and she's only in one scene) and the General doesn't show up at all. This "we're the pawns" mentality really begins to seep into the characters as the movie goes on. It was kind of refreshing to see a movie made about people who really have no control of their own destiny and know it. Somewhere in there, I would have to guess, is the true theme of the film. It needs more introspection time.
I suppose if I was forced to find problems with it, aside from the aformentioned CG's, the lengths taken to not show any of Mei's...naughty bits during the love scene detracted a little from the flow of it. The fights were also not as spectacular as the ones in Hero and parts of the story were not wrapped up completely...I'm sure that, though, is purely the intention of Zhang. Over all, this is an excelent movie and I'll be glad to own a copy as soon as it comes out on DVD...I may even watch it with the director's commentary once or twice.