House of Flying Daggers

House of Flying Daggers ({{zh-cp|c=十面埋伏|p=shí miàn mái fú}}), is a 2004 action/romance movie directed by Zhang Yimou. The Chinese title derives from a Chinese four-character idiom literally meaning "ambush from ten sides", but figuratively meaning "ambush from all sides". The English title, House of Flying Daggers, refers to a secret society (飛刀門) within the film. The film is in the wuxia genre, similar in style to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or the more recent Warriors of Heaven and Earth.

Related Topics:
2004 - Action - Romance - Movie - Zhang Yimou - Four-character idiom - English - Secret society - Wuxia - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Warriors of Heaven and Earth

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Like other wuxia movies, the fight scenes are the most important aspect of the film, coupled with the cinematography. House of Flying Daggers differs however, in that it is more of a love story than a typical martial arts film.

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Use of strong colors again is a signature of Zhang in this movie. Several scenes in a bamboo forest completely filled the screen with green while the actors also dressed in green. Near the end of the movie, a fight scene is set in a blizzard. The actors and blood are greatly highlighted on a whiteout background. There is another scene where bright yellow was used as the strong color theme.

Related Topics:
Bamboo - Whiteout

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

Related Topics:
United States - December 3 - 2004 - New York City - Los Angeles

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Although well received by film critics in the U.S., the film and its director were fairly heavily criticized locally in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Many Chinese critics felt that the film lacked a strong storyline or message, that the dialogue was poor, and that Zhang was simply trying to appeal to Western audiences with heavily choreographed fight scenes and extensive use of computer-generated imagery. Zhang's previous films, including the critically acclaimed Raise the Red Lantern and The Story of Qiu Ju, were insightful and tragic dramas about the lives of everyday peasants in modern rural China, and even his previous foray into a martial arts film, Hero, had a strong underlying message about sacrifice and national identity.

Related Topics:
Mainland China - Hong Kong - Taiwan - Computer-generated imagery - Raise the Red Lantern - The Story of Qiu Ju - Hero

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