| This is the follow up Yimou�s last film Hero, but it isn�t a sequel, as I had originally thought. It is the same genre, wushu, but more realistic, and would possibly be more accessible to western audiences. Perhaps due to this, it is not visually quite as spectacular as Hero, with the distinctive colour schemes for each re-telling of the story, but it has a more definite story. You could say that whilst Hero a better example of art, House of Flying Daggers is a better example of film. That�s not to say the film doesn�t look great, as it does, but the colours just aren�t as clean or fresh. This is perhaps also partly due to the film seeming to be set in autumn, which would be lovely if the filming was done in bright, fresh sunshine, but everything looks just a tad too damp.
The film starts in a whore house where the blind Mei works as a dancer. Jin, a rather tasty Takeshi Kaneshiro, a soldier looking for the new leader of the House of Flying Daggers, hears that there is a member of said house working at the whore house, and goes to investigate. Having got drunk he becomes rather unruly and his superior comes along. What follows is the fantastic echo game where Mei has to hit drums in the order they have been hit beforehand. It�s fantastic. Anyhow, Mei is the member of House of Flying Daggers, is caught, and then rescued by Jin. They disappear off being followed, and gradually fall in love, but all is most defiantly not what it seems.
Brilliant film.
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