House of Flying Daggers (2004)

- Shi mian mai fu
"Just call me Wind.", 13 July 2008

Sometimes after watching a movie, I'm at a complete loss for words. Sometimes there's just so much I want to write that I'm afraid to even attempt it for fear of leaving things out or not expressing my thoughts as clearly as I would like. That's the case with House of Flying Daggers. The movie is so . . . well, the movie is so perfect that I doubt I could ever do it justice. To say I was overwhelmed by the movie's plot, acting, and direction would be a gross understatement. The plot drew me in from the word "go". All of the many twists and turns worked flawlessly on me. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. As for the acting, all three of the main actors were perfect in their roles. It's hard to pick a favorite between Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, and Ziyi Zhang – though I suppose Ziyi Zhang as the blind warrior was the most impressive. This is the first movie by director Yimou Zhang that I've seen, but it won't be the last. Not only does he keep things flowing at a wonderful pace, but he's made a movie that has to be one of the most beautiful works of art I've ever seen. I would love to freeze and print almost every frame of House of Flying Daggers to hang on my walls. Stunning is the word that comes to mind.

I'll end here realizing that I'm leaving a lot out like a plot description (I wouldn't want to ruin a second for someone else). To sum it all up, House of Flying Daggers is easily one of the very best movies I've ever seen. A 10/10 isn't good enough for it.

10/10