A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Reviews from Video Reviews of the Classics Personal Background

Title: House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu)

Date Viewed: 12/31/04

Details:

Takeshi Kaneshiro

Andy Lau

Ziyi Zhang

Dandan Song

Director: Yimou Zhang

Score: +

The Review: Not quite the same sword-and-sorcery framework as Crouching Tiger or Hero, but close, House (a.k.a. Shi mian mai fu)is a Tang dynasty period piece combining martial arts, rebellion, romance and some great location shots. The tale this time is relatively straightforward, more or less a single chronological thread, and background lessons are required for neither non-Western mythology nor unfamiliar historical periods. English subtitles.

Excellent cinematography, color design and costuming. As with many of the recent films from China, the color saturation is incredible, although here not as varied as with Hero: fall foliage has seldom looked as interesting or velvety, forests of bamboo present a complex and nearly monochromatic palette of greens, simple costuming shows elegance, texture and contrasting colors not found in the surrounding countryside. The settings are minimalist, filmed in the bamboo forest park of the Chinese provinces and (oddly) the hills of the Ukraine.

(31-Dec-04)

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