House of Flying Daggers

House of Flying Daggers is a 2004 wuxia film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro andZhang Ziyi. Unlike other wuxia films, it is more of a love story than a straight martial arts film.

The use of strong colors is a signature of Zhang Yimou's work. Several scenes in a bamboo forest completely fill the screen with green. Near the end of the film, a fight scene is set in a blizzard. The actors and blood are greatly highlighted on a whiteout background. Another scene uses bright yellow as a color theme. The costumes, props, and decorations were taken almost entirely from Chinese paintings of the period, adding authenticity to the look of the film.

The film opened in limited release within the United States on 3 December 2004, in New York City and Los Angeles, and opened on additional screens throughout the country two weeks later.

The film was chosen as China's entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for the year 2004; but was not nominated in that category though it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.



Contents
[hide]  *1 Plot  ==Plot[ edit] == In 859 AD, the once great Tang Dynasty is in decline. Numerous rebel groups have formed, the largest of which is the House of Flying Daggers, based in Fengtian county. The Flying Daggers steal from the rich and give to the poor, gaining the support of the locals.
 * 2 Cast
 * 3 Production
 * 4 Literary origins
 * 5 Release
 * 5.1 Box office
 * 5.2 Critical reception
 * 6 Accolades
 * 6.1 Won
 * 6.2 Nominations
 * 7 See also
 * 8 References
 * 9 External links

The local authorities manage to kill the leader of the Flying Daggers, but the rebel group only becomes stronger, due to a mysterious new leader. Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and Liu (Andy Lau), two police captains, are ordered to kill the new leader within ten days.

In order to accomplish this, they arrest Mei (Zhang Ziyi), a blind dancer who is suspected of being the daughter of the old leader of the Flying Daggers. While Mei is incarcerated, Jin and Liu decide to let her go to track the mastermind; Jin will pretend to be a lone warrior called Wind, and break her out of prison. This will gain her trust, and hopefully, Jin will be led to the headquarters of Flying Daggers. The plan works, but Mei and Jin fall in love on the way. They are followed at a distance by Liu; Jin and Liu meet secretly to discuss their plans. Jin jokes about his seduction of the girl; Liu warns him sternly against getting involved.

To add authenticity to the deception, Liu and his men ambush the pair: the fight is, however, a fake. Further on, they are attacked again, but this time their assailants are apparently for real: Jin and Mei battle for their lives, being saved only by the intervention of an unseen knife-thrower. Furious, Jin confronts Liu: Liu explains that he has reported the matter up the chain of command and his general has taken over the pursuit. Jin realizes that he is now expendable.

Once again, Jin and Mei are attacked by the General's men. They are hopelessly outnumbered; at the last minute they are saved when the House of Flying Daggers reveal themselves. Jin and Liu are captured and taken to their headquarters. At this point, a number of surprising revelations are made. Mei is not blind, nor is she the old leader's daughter - she was merely pretending to be. Yee (Song Dandan), the Madam of the Peony Pavilion, pretends to be Nia, the new leader of the House of Flying Daggers; however, when Liu confronts her, she admits that the real Nia would not reveal herself so easily. Liu is in fact an undercover agent for the House of Flying Daggers, which has engineered the whole chain of events in order to draw the General into a decisive battle. Furthermore, Liu is in love with Mei: he has waited for three years for her whilst working undercover.

Mei, however, cannot bring herself to love Liu: over the last few days she has fallen for Jin. Liu is enraged and tries to rape Mei, but she is saved by her superiors, who embed a dagger in Liu's back. However, she is punished by being ordered to kill Jin. Instead, Mei takes him away then frees him from his bonds before they make love in the field. Jin then begs Mei to flee with him, but she is torn between her love and her duty to the House, as well as guilt over Liu; Jin leaves alone.

Mei finally decides to ride after Jin, but is ambushed by Liu who is embittered by her rejection and consumed by jealousy for Jin. Mei, not realizing that Liu has thrown two daggers stuck together, only manages to ward off one before the other strikes her in the chest. As Mei lies dying, Jin returns to find Liu, and they begin an epic battle of honor and revenge, fighting from autumn to winter. As Liu and Jin battle, soldiers close in on the House of Flying Daggers headquarters. Mei, regaining consciousness, grabs the dagger in her chest and threatens to pull it out and to throw it in order to kill Liu if Liu kills Jin with his throwing dagger; in doing so Mei would sacrifice her own life, as it would enable the blood to flow and cause her to bleed to death. Jin begs her not to do it, willing to die rather than let her be killed. Infuriated, Liu throws his arm out as if to throw a knife at Jin, leading Mei to rip the dagger out of her own heart and throw it, not at Liu but instead in an attempt to deflect Liu's attack and save Jin. However, all her dagger does is deflect a droplet of blood, as Liu never let go of his dagger. Liu stumbles off into the blizzard as a grief-stricken Jin holds Mei's lifeless body, singing the song originally sung by Mei at the beginning of the film in the Peony Pavilion. It is left ambiguous as to whether the House of Flying Daggers survived the soldiers' assault or not. ==Cast<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Production<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Anita Mui was originally cast for a major role, which was to be her final film appearance. She died of cervical cancer before any of her scenes were filmed. After her death on 30 December 2003, director Zhang Yimou decided to alter the script rather than find a replacement. The film is dedicated to her memory.
 * Takeshi Kaneshiro — Captain Jin (金捕頭(trad)金捕头(simp))
 * Andy Lau — Captain Leo (劉捕頭(trad)刘捕头(simp))
 * Zhang Ziyi — Mei (小妹)
 * Song Dandan — Yee

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">To prepare for her role, for two months Zhang Ziyi lived with a blind girl who had lost her sight at the age of twelve because of a brain tumor. Takeshi Kaneshiro injured his leg when he went horse-back riding. As a result, Yimou had Kaneshiro spend two scenes sitting or kneeling down in order to alleviate the pain, which was stated in Zhang Yimou's audio commentary.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Most of the film was filmed in Ukraine's Carpathian Mountains (the Hutsul Region National Park), such as the scene in the snow or birch forests. The film team spent 70 days on location (September–October 2003), based in Kosiv.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[1]  However, the often noted bamboo forest sequences were filmed in China. It snowed so early (October) that the filmmakers had to change the script and the film. They did not want to wait because the leaves were still on the trees. Zhang Yimou was very happy with how it turned out, however, because it set the perfect tone.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[2]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Like its predecessor Hero, House of Flying Daggers uses wuxing color-theory in both a deliberate and ironic manner. ==Literary origins<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">The film features the theme of a beautiful woman who brings woe to two men. This theme is borrowed from a famous poem written by the Han Dynasty poet Li Yannian (李延年):

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;"> 北 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">běi   方 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">fāng   有 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">yǒu   佳 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">jiā   人 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">rén ，  絕 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">jué   世 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">shì   而 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">ér   獨 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">dú   立 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">lì. 一 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">yí   顧 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">gù   傾 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">qīng   人 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">rén   城 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">chéng ，  再 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">zài   顧 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">gù   傾 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">qīng   人 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">rén   國 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">guó. 寧 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">nìng   不 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">bù   知 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">zhī   傾 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">qīng   城 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">chéng   與 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">yǔ   傾 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">qīng   國 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">guó. 佳 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">jiā   人 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">rén   難 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">nán   再 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">zài   得 <span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS',Arial;">dé. ==Release<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===Box office<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">House of Flying Daggers opened in North America on 3 December 2004 in 15 theatres. It grossed US$397,472 ($26,498 per screen) in its opening weekend. The film's total North American gross is $11,050,094.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">The film made an additional US$81,751,003 elsewhere in the world, bringing its total worldwide box office gross to $92,801,097. It was also the third highest grossing foreign language film in the North America market in 2004.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[3] ===Critical reception<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">House of Flying Daggers debuted in May at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-festival-cannes.com_4-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[4]  to enthusiastic receptions.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[5] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6]  The film reportedly received a 20-minute standing ovationat its Cannes Film Festival premiere.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[7]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">The film received widespread critical acclaim.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-meta_8-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[8]  At film review aggregation website Metacritic, the film received an average score of 89%, based on 37 reviews.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-meta_8-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[8]  Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a "Certified Fresh" score of 88% based on reviews from 160 critics.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[9]  Metacritic also ranked the film at the end of the year as the 6th best reviewed film of 2004.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[10]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Phil Hall of Film Threat raved the film by stating: "Quite simply, House of Flying Daggers is a film that sets several new standards for production and entertainment values. It is a wild riot of color, music, passion, action, mystery, pure old-fashioned thrills and even dancing. With an endless supply of imagination and a kinetic force of nature in its amazing star Zhang Ziyi, House of Flying Daggers cuts all other films to shreds."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[11]  Desson Thomas of the Washington Post praised the director Zhang Yimou's use of color in the film as "simply the best in the world" and described the film as: "the slow-motion trajectory of a small bean, hurled from a police captain's hand, is a spectacular thing. It's a stunning, moving image, like a hummingbird caught in action."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[12]  While Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times praised the film by stating: "House of Flying Daggers finds the great Chinese director at his most romantic in this thrilling martial arts epic that involves a conflict between love and duty carried out to its fullest expression."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[13]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">A.O. Scott of The New York Times described the film as: "A gorgeous entertainment, a feast of blood, passion and silk brocade." But the review also stated: "House of Flying Daggers for all its fire and beauty, may leave you a bit cold in the end."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[14]  Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film four out of four stars and states: "Forget about the plot, the characters, the intrigue, which are all splendid in House of Flying Daggers, and focus just on the visuals", and Ebert also states that: "the film is so good to look at and listen to that, as with some operas, the story is almost beside the point, serving primarily to get us from one spectacular scene to another."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[15] House of Flying Daggers was placed at 93 on Slant Magazine's best films of the 2000s.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[16]  and ranked #77 in Empire magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[17] ==Accolades<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===Won<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === ===Nominations<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ===
 * Boston Film Critics
 * Best Cinematography (Zhao Xiaoding)
 * Best Director (Yimou Zhang)
 * Best Foreign Language Film (China/Hong Kong)
 * Los Angeles Film Critics
 * Best Foreign Language Film (China/Hong Kong)
 * Motion Picture Sound Editors
 * Best Sound Editing in Foreign Features
 * National Board of Review
 * Outstanding Production Design
 * National Society of Film Critics
 * Best Director (Yimou Zhang)
 * Best Cinematography (Zhao Xiaoding)
 * Satellite Awards
 * Best Cinematography (Zhao Xiaoding)
 * Best Visual Effects
 * 24th Hong Kong Film Awards
 * Best Asian Film
 * Academy Awards
 * Best Cinematography (Zhao Xiaoding)
 * Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films
 * Best Actress (Zhang Ziyi)
 * Best Costumes (Emi Wada)
 * Best Director (Zhang Yimou)
 * Best Fantasy Film
 * BAFTA Awards
 * Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects (Angie Lam, Andy Brown, Kirsty Millar & Luke Hetherington)
 * Best Cinematography (Zhao Xiaoding)
 * Best Costume Design (Emi Wada)
 * Best Editing (Long Cheng)
 * Best Film not in the English Language (William Kong & Zhang Yimou)
 * Best Make Up/Hair (Lee-na Kwan, Xiaohai Yang & Siu-Mui Chau)
 * Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Zhang Ziyi)
 * Best Production Design (Huo Tingxiao)
 * Best Sound (Tao Jing & Roger Savage)
 * Golden Eagle Awards
 * Best Foreign Language Film
 * London Film Critics Circle
 * Film of the Year
 * Director of the Year (Zhang Yimou)
 * Foreign language film of the year
 * Satellite Awards
 * Best Art Direction/Production Design (Zhong Han)
 * Best Costume Design (Emi Wada)
 * Best Film Editing (Long Cheng)
 * Best Motion Picture - Foreign Film (China)
 * Best Sound (Editing & Mixing) (Jing Tao)
 * Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
 * Best Foreign-Language Film
 * Online Film Critics Society Awards
 * Best Cinematography (Xiaoding Zhao)
 * Best Editing (Long Cheng)
 * Best Foreign Language Film (China)
 * European Film Awards
 * Best Non-European Film - Prix Screen International