Awash with kaleidoscopic vistas so staggeringly beautiful they appear to have been painted by an impressionist master, this devastating love story disguised as a kung fu flick is one of the year’s most astonishing cinematic achievements — an instant classic from celebrated Chinese director Zhang Yimou that bests his only other foray into the genre, “Hero.” It’ll be a crime if unheralded director of photography Zhao Xiao Ding isn’t recognized by AMPAS for his breathtaking camerawork here, and — while I’m lobbying — Zhang Yimou not only deserves an Oscar nomination, but based on films I’ve seen thus far this year, ought to be considered the odds-on favorite to take home Best Director gold.
Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau and the lovely Zhang Ziyi (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Hero”) make up the trio of star-crossed lovers at the heart of the story, which is set in the 9th century during the decline of the Tang Dynasty. Lau and Kaneshiro play Leo and Jin, two captains in the government’s army charged with capturing the leader of the land’s most powerful rebel army, The House of Flying Daggers. To that end, Jin pretends to be a drifter named Wind and stages a rescue of Mei (Ziyi), a blind warrior princess that the government believes to be the daughter of the Flying Daggers’ old leader. Jin gains Mei’s trust in the hope that she will lead him to the rebels’ secret hideaway, but things quickly get sticky as Desire rears its head. Soon we learn that nothing is as it seems and nobody is who they claim to be. Emotions run hot, action sizzles, the plot thickens … Zhang Yimou melds everything together masterfully, augmenting sincere nods to tradition with some revolutionary techniques. The filmmaker claims his “House of Flying Daggers” is a love story wrapped inside an action film, but fret not martial arts lovers, for the fight sequences are fantastic. But ultimately this movie is about the heart, to be enjoyed by all those who’ve got one. (PG-13, for sequences of stylized martial arts violence, and some sexuality. Running time: 119 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 3, 2004. Read the original PDF.