The House of Flying Daggers [Blu-ray]

Director: Yi Mou Zhang, Zhang Yimou Yi Mou Zhang

Overview

Chinese director Zhang Yimou fuses a martial arts action-drama with a tragic romance in this elegant period piece. In the year 859 A.D., as the Tang dynasty is beset by rebellion, Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) are a pair of lawmen who have been given the task of ferreting out the leaders of a revolutionary faction known as the Flying Daggers. Working on a tip that members of the group are working out of a brothel called the Peony Pavilion, Jin arrives there in disguise and is introduced to a beautiful blind dancer named Mei (Zhang Ziyi). After watching Mei's performance following several drinks, Jin drunkenly attempts to have his way with her, and Leo is forced to intervene. After gaining Mei's trust in a game of skill, Leo arrests her and informs her that she'll be tortured if she doesn't tell all she knows about the Flying Daggers. Jin responds by helping Mei break out of prison, but he has an ulterior motive -- by following her, Leo and Jin are certain she'll lead them to the Flying Daggers. However, as he helps the blind girl find her way back home, Jin finds himself falling in love with Mei, and isn't certain if he's willing to betray her again.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/20/2006
UPC:	0043396150225
Original Release:	2004
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMT
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:59:00
Sales rank:	5,993

Special Features

Seamless menu navigation; Creating the visual effects; Storyboard comparisons

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Takeshi Kaneshiro	Jin
Andy Lau	Leo
Hongfei Zhao	Actor
Jun Guo	Actor
Shu Zhang	Actor,Xiao Mei,Performer
Jiusheng Wang	Actor
Dandan Song	Yee
Yisha Shang	Performer
Yu Hong	Performer
ChengYuan Li	Performer
Yang Wen	Performer
Liang Chen	Performer
Shigeru Umebayashi	Composer

Technical Credits

Yi Mou Zhang

Feng Li

Bin Wang

Yi Mou Zhang	Director,Screenwriter,Executive Producer
Roger Savage	Sound Mixer
Tao Jing	Sound/Sound Designer
Bill Kong	Producer
Feng Li	Screenwriter
Bin Wang	Screenwriter
Wang Bin	Producer
Zhang Yimou	Director,Producer
Zhang Weiping	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

Devotees of old-fashioned martial arts movies doubtless would be amazed at the reaction to such stylish films as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the more recent Hero. Now, from Zhang Yimou, the latter film’s director, comes House of Flying Daggers, which takes its rightful place alongside the aforementioned epics. Like them, it abounds in physics-bending mysticism and breathtakingly beautiful images. It also subordinates the martial arts content -- superbly executed though it is -- to a love story with tragic consequences. The diminutive but spirited Zhang Ziyi, who appeared in both Crouching Tiger and Hero, brings her powerful screen presence to the role of Mei, a blind dancer suspected of being a member of the Flying Daggers, an underground resistance movement that springs up under the Tang dynasty in ninth-century China. A policeman named Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro), working undercover, befriends the dancer in hopes that she will lead him to the movement’s secret leader. Along the way there’s plenty of action, flawlessly staged and carried out by the legendary stunt performers of Hong Kong’s cinematic community (with a little help from the special effects department). Yimou has no use for the quicksilver cutting and close-up carnage favored by American action film directors; his shot compositions are airy enough to allow full view of the scene’s participants, and the editing conveys rapid motion and graceful fluidity without the jarring incoherence of most contemporary fight scenes. But there’s much more to Flying Daggers than the action. This is a story about love, loyalty, and betrayal, as emotionally complex and rewarding as anything you’ll see in mainstream Hollywood dramas. It’s nothing short of entrancing.