House of Flying Daggers
From hkadb.net
Note: This movie was produced in mainland China
| Table of contents |
Introduction
Chinese director Zhang Yimou fuses a martial arts action-drama with a tragic romance in this elegant period piece. In the year 859 A.D., as the Tang dynasty is beset by rebellion, Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) are a pair of lawmen who have been given the task of ferreting out the leaders of a revolutionary faction known as the Flying Daggers. Working on a tip that members of the group are working out of a brothel called the Peony Pavilion, Jin arrives there in disguise and is introduced to a beautiful blind dancer named Mei (Zhang Ziyi->a real slut). After watching Mei's performance following several drinks, Jim drunkenly attempts to have his way with her, and Leo is forced to intervene. After gaining Mei's trust in a game of skill, Leo arrests her and informs her that she'll be tortured if she doesn't tell all she knows about the Flying Daggers. Jin responds by helping Mei break out of prison, but he has an ulterior motive ? by following her, Leo and Jin are certain she'll lead them to the Flying Daggers. However, as he helps the blind girl find her way back home, Jin finds himself falling in love with Mei, and isn't certain if he's willing to betray her again.
Title
- English: House of Flying Daggers
- Cantonese: Sup Meen Mai Fook
- Mandarin: Shi Mian Mai Fu
Release Date
2004
Cast
- Andy Lau
- Takeshi Kaneshiro
- Zhang Ziyi
- Dandan Song
Director
- Zhang Yimou
Date of birth (location)
14 November 1951 Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
Producer
- Bill Kong Producer
- Zhang Weiping Executive producer
- Zhang Yimou Producer
- Zhang Zhenyan Associate producer
Writer
- Li Feng
- Wang Bin
- Zhang Yimou
Duration
Genre
- Ancient martial-arts
- Action
- Drama
- Romance
Awards
2004 Golden Rooster Awards
- Winner - Best Art Direction (Huo Tingxiao)
- Nomination - Best Picture
- Nomination - Best Director (Zhang Yimou)
- Nomination - Best Sound (Tao Jing)
- Nominated - Golden Palm Kar Wai Wong
- Nominated - CEC Award Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera)
- Nominated - David Best Foreign Film (Miglior Film Straniero)Kar Wai Wong
- Nominated - DGGB Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Foreign Language Film Kar Wai Wong
- Won - Screen International Award Kar Wai Wong
- Won - Golden Horse Award Best Art DirectionWilliam Chang & Alfred Yau
- Won - Golden Horse Award Best Original Film Score Shigeru Umebayashi & Peer Raben
- Nominated - Golden Horse Award Best Actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai
- Nominated - Golden Horse Award Best Actress Ziyi Zhang
- Nominated - Golden Horse Award Best Cinematography Christopher Doyle & Yiu-Fai Lai & Pung-Leung Kwan
- Nominated - Golden Horse Award Best Make Up and Costume Design William Chang & Alfred Yau
- Nominated - Golden Horse Award Best Picture
- Nominated - Golden Horse Award Best Sound Effects Du-Che Tu
- Won - Hong Kong Film Award Best ActorTony Leung Chiu Wai
- Won - Hong Kong Film Award Best ActressZiyi Zhang
- Won - Hong Kong Film Award Best Art Direction William Chang and Alfred Yau
- Won - Hong Kong Film Award Best Cinematography Christopher Doyle,Yiu-Fai Lai,Pung-Leung Kwan
- Won - Hong Kong Film Award Best Costume Design and Make-Up William Chang
- Won - Hong Kong Film Award Best Original Film Score Peer Raben,Shigeru Umebayashi
- Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award Best Director Kar Wai Wong
- Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award Best Editing William Chang
- Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award Best Picture
- Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award Best Screenplay Kar Wai Wong
- Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award Best Sound Effects Claude Letessier,Du-Che Tu
- Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award Best Visual Effects Guillaume Raffi,Sonia Holst,Nadir Benhassaine,Nicolas Bonnell
- Won - HKFCS Award Best Actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai
- Won - HKFCS Award Best Actress Ziyi Zhang
- Won - HKFCS Award Film of Merit
Trivia
- The original script included Anita Mui as a character, but she passed away before she was able to shoot her scenes. Instead of finding a replacement, the script was rewritten to omit her character.
The climactic fight scene was filmed in the Ukraine. It snowed so early (October) that it caught the filmmakers by surprise, as they had already started filming. They decided to change the script and the movie so that it would appear almost as if this epic battle began during the fall and ended during winter. Zhang Yimou was very happy with how it turned out because it set the perfect tone and obviously highlighted the blood spilled on the snow.
