HOUSE OF LYING DAGGERS

[sreyda]

OMG iodred! *heart stops* there are more in depth TK behind the scenes?!!!!!!! Damn Sony! The us version doesn't really have any bts with tk, just zz. Oh I would love to see all the stuff you are talking about- sigh! so sad. u can talk for hours and i can listen for hours! i love the more candid moments where i can see his true self than just watching him act. How did u get the korean version? How much? Any english subtitles? I'm dying for more info!

[iodred]

I got the korean SE from asiandb.com, I paid around 60 bucks for it. The movie itself is with english subtitles the supplement, unfortunatly, is not. I learn mandarin right now but it doesn´t make the understanding better Especially when Zhang Yimou is talking about the movie....grrrrrrrr...
But most of the time you just can watch..I mean Takeshi isn´t speaking a lot anyways, just doin funny stuff.
Always joking around with Andy Lau. Did you know that he accidently shot someone with an arrow I mean as far as I understood the whole situation...

[iodred]

Oh and when they shot the fight scene in the snow ( which by the way kept them stuck inside for days) Takeshi gets always snow in the hair and he looks like he is wearing a helmet. Laughing he is trying to shake it off...but you know.. how often do you have to repeat a scene....must be freaking cold and wet.
His hair is soooooo long at this time period...perfect
Some many scenes so little time...

[tJe]

ahhhhh iodred!!! *cries* tell me more! i wanna hear more! what else happens behind the scenes? ohhh man. i wish i could see that *cries somemore*

[kewpie-chan]

ya know, I could've gone happily along ignorantly bliss not knowing this stuff but NOOOOOOO!! Gee thanx Iodred in torturing the rest of of us fans in the US who can't get the freakin' DVD showing all those other extras

[iodred]

MMMhhh if you could tell me how to post scenes in this forum I would do it....but I have no clou about stuff like that. Oh and I actually ordered this DVD in the US, the shipping costs are not that bad...
So if anyone knows how to do it...

[kris]

hi iodred, you mean screencaps or actual videos??

for screencaps you post them like any other picture and for videos you can upload them to various hosting sites, once the clip is uploaded you'll get a link and then just copy and paste the link onto here.

here are some sites you can upload onto:
www.yousendit.com
www.megaupload.com
www.savefile.com
www.share2net.com

[iodred]

Thanks for the link but these files are way too big...around 3 GB....MMMhhh and Iam not a Computer genius, unfortunatly...

[kris]

^ oh in that case, (and no pressure here, only if you're interested) you may want to try hjsplit.

you will have to download the freesoftware
www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/

this program allows you to split large files into smaller ones and then whomever downloads the split files will also need to dl the program in order to join the files back together to view.

[kewpie-chan]

damn kris, you're a wealth of useful info!

[kris]

i dunno too much, but i'm learning a little bit here and there.

[sreyda]

Here's an article on HOFD, don't know if its been posted yet.
Source: www.moviepoopshoot.com/intrigue/11.html

HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS
Zhang Yimou's film HERO was so generally critically acclaimed that the only complaint that mentioned was the film's lack of emotion. HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS seems like a response to that one critique. Because emotion is something it has in spades.

Mei (ZHANG ZIYI) is a blind dancer in a new Peony Pavillion. Leo (ANDY LAU) and Jin (TAKESHI KANESHIRO) are policemen whose department recently killed the head of the House of Flying Daggers. Yet, this rebel group is still a threat. They have heard there is a member at the new Peony Pavilion and set up a sting operation to find them. Of course, it is Mei and she falls right into their trap. But they don't want her as much as they want the new head of the group. So they use her to get to the group headquarters. Meanwhile a dangerous love triangle develops that detracts from everyone's real intentions. Needless to say, the idea of the love triangle is pretty simple, but no one is as they seem and it causes complication after complication building to a final showdown. The movie starts out all fine and well and I wish it had stayed that way, but be prepared for twist after ridiculous twist. Leading up to an ending scene that is hard not to chuckle at.

Zhang Ziyi is the shining star here. She does so much with so little. She's acting so well in a movie that no one else seems to be in. It is almost conspicious in its excellence. And I've always enjoyed her martial arts style. I like dancers who become movie martial artists because their movement is so beautiful to watch (see: the great Chang Pei Pei).

Takeshi Kaneshiro holds his own very well at times though. He's hunky and charismatic and that goes a long way. But as his character goes through a lot of changes his acting runs the gamut. As a playboy he is good, as a torn lover full of inner conflict he is not so good, but as a brokenhearted lover he is outstanding. There is one shot when Mei reveals she might really love him and he turns toward the camera in a close-up with this expression on his face that melted my heart. In one shot I was practically in tears. If only the rest of the film held this emotion it would be a force to be reckoned with.

Andy Lau is misused here. While he's played bad guys many times before, he usually gets to show off his charisma. There is no opportunity for that here. 10 years ago he would have been playing the Takeshi Kaneshiro role. But I think now, at 40, he's trying to find a new direction for his career in different roles and has not quite figured out where he is going yet. I'm sorry Andy, I wish you well, but this is a turn I cannot follow.

There is a point where Zhang Ziyi and Andy Lau were close, as if they were going to kiss and my only thought was -- Oh goodness, please don't kiss -- which I don't think is the response that Zhang Yimou wanted me to have. But Lau could be her father (a young father, but a father) and it was truly weird for me. I was never pulled into the world. I couldn't stop thinking of them as actors instead of characters.

As for the action, it didn't do much for me. There is a lack of electricity in the fight scenes. I've never been much a fan of Tony Ching as a choreographer. You wonder if they shaky cam used on some fight scenes is to hide lack of good choreography. If this was a Yuen Wo Ping film (I'm sorry, but no one working today compares to him) there would be different styles for those trained by the House of Flying Daggers and the Police force. But here there is nothing of the sort. Also, a lot of the fights have no resonance. There is a lot of Mei and Jin verus nameless Policemen that don't engage you on an emotional level.

This film is really hurt by comparison to HERO. It does not have the acting caliber of Tony Leung or Maggie Cheung. It does not have the quality of martial artists as Jet Li or Donnie Yen. It does not have the cinematography of Christopher Doyle. I actually felt the cinematography was very plain and without style. All the exteriors felt simply shot, just shot the way it was. With no substance. Not all films have to be as stylistic as HERO but I think a color pallete may have been of use in this emotional tale.

But the interior sets and costumes were quite beautiful. The scenery is very nice even if it is shot quite plainly and it is a star all by itself. The Peony Pavillion is gorgeous and I would have loved to have seen more of it. And the great costume designer Emi Wada is in top form as always.

And while the action didn't particularly impress me, the dancing at the beginning of the film is truly the high point. The "Echo game" is original and interesting and one of the funnest things I've seen all year. When you leave a martial arts film you usually go away talking about that one great fight. In this film, the most memorable scene is clearly the Echo game and probably the 'fight' you'll walk away talking about.

This film could be very engrossing if you allow yourself to get wrapped up in its melodrama. Until the end, it's very enjoyable,if not entirely satisfying. The end has a nice time lapse shot taking us from fall to winter in seconds. As it happens this was not originally planned since the snow came early, but it is a lovely shot (quite reminiscent of the one in HERO of Maggie Cheung in the leaves that turned red) and a good motif. Because in the end, it appropriate that snow has come. It represents purity and also death. And it is the most meaningful symbol in the film.

HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS is an attempt at being operatic or Shakespearian. I can't fault Zhang Yimou for trying something new but the film really trips over its own complexity. The films lacks the subtlety of RAISE THE RED LANTERN, the simplicity of THE ROAD HOME or the strength and power of HERO. It's not Yimou's best work, but he is one of the world's best filmmakers and it is still worth seeing and enjoying for what it is.

Grade: B

[tJe]

That was a pretty interesting viewpoint... but I just don't see how anyone can judge a movie based on OTHER films that completely differs from it in its entirety. The only comment on the movie's originality was the fact that it lacked focus, as though "the film trips over its complexity". I, myself, had never seen the plots coming together in that way. I could guarantee that a critique like him/her wanted something to say about it, for the sake of having something to say about it. If it didn't lack in originality, or rather what he/she calls "complexity", would you say that the film trips over its own simplicity? Give me a break. It seems like everyone can be a critique these days, if they have some nonsensical excuse to give a movie a faulty rating. She basically complained about the fact that it was a DIFFERENT movie. It can never be a "Hero". He/She can never be Ebert or Roeper.

If you want GOOD choreography, go to Juliard. If you want a more colourful film, go watch an anime. Just don't critique the movie in comparison to your favourite, because of course you will be biased against all others. That's my two cents.

[iodred]

Alright...This is one of these reviews where I can just say whhhaaaat? Why do you compare an apple with a tomato? You simply blame the apple for not beeing so red and juicy like a tomato... WEIRD.
I love hero it is s great movie but it lives through a different impulse that HOFD. HOFD is simply a Lovestory with Wuxia elements... a very emotional and...earthy movie. Look at the cinematography it works with earthy, natural colors and is by the masterful done. The acting is great, although I think Zhang Ziyi is sometimes a little bit too cold, as if she´s not really there. Andy Lau does a great job especially showing us the two sides of love, and of course TK one of his best perfomances yet.
HERO plays on a totally different level. It is so symbolic, metaphoric and analytic that IMO it lacks emotion. Sure it is a movie with unbelievable cinematographic power that just knocks you off your feet. But I missed a little bit the opportunity to feel for the charakters, to suffer with them, to get my heart broken. HERO is for your mind, HOFD is for your heart.

[kewpie-chan]

Hey, in other threads there are some folks saying that in HOFD, it isn't Takeshi-san saying his lines but someone else. I don't believe that's true but then I have only the USA released DVD (which by the way we got majorly ripped off since other region releases have tons of extra footage) so can anyone confirm this "rumor"?