House of Flying Daggers

If, like many American viewers, you’re interested in “House of Flying Daggers” because you were blown away by “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” you should be aware that while the latter film blends art film and action film almost perfectly, “House of Flying Daggers” makes a definite choice as to what sort of film it is. If you’re interested in a jaw-droppingly gorgeous art film with some amazing action tossed in, great. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for a beautifully filmed action film that could run in art houses, as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” did, look elsewhere. Even the somewhat troubled “Hero” would be a better bet for that crowd.

Make no mistake, “House of Flying Daggers” is a film of staggering beauty, and the action scenes that are in the film are quite nice (although even the credulity of someone coming for a wuxia film will get strained eventually at the superhuman feats done with the titular daggers), but for the most part, the film is incredibly slow and has a plot that’s threadbare at best. It’s a framework to justify a lot of the beautiful pictures, and nothing more.

Zhang Ziyi is still beautiful and great at what she does, and there are some very neat set pieces in the film, including the echo game when the blind entertainer hits drums scattered around the room with long weighted sleeves in response to beans being tossed at them in every more complex fashion. Likewise, the treetop scene in this film outshines a comparable scene in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” on a number of levels.

This film isn’t the same sort of triumphant merger of art and action as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” but is strongly recommended for those whose interests in the previous film run more towards the artistry of the director and cinematographer and less towards the artistry of the choreographer and performers.

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