House of Flying Daggers (Movie review)

December 22, 2004

Opened in limited release on December 3, 2004 (New York City and Los Angeles, 145 screens)

House of Flying Daggers is a martial-arts action/romance film.

Cast and crew

 * Zhang Ziyi – Mei (小妹)
 * Takeshi Kaneshiro – Captain Jin (金捕頭)
 * Andy Lau – Captain Leo (劉捕頭)
 * Dandan Song – Yee

Anita Mui was originally cast for a major role in the film. She died before any of her scenes was filmed.

Directed by Zhang Yimou.

Plot
The movie is set in China in 859 AD, during the Tang Dynasty. The local county army outpost is assigned to assassinate the leader of a rebel group called the "House of Flying Daggers" within ten days. Captain Leo (played by Andy Lau) plots with his co-captain Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) to infiltrate a local entertainment establishment, where they suspect Mei (Zhang Ziyi) is operating undercover as a member of the group. The rest of the film follows their attempts to follow Mei and find the headquarters of the House of Flying Daggers group.

Production notes
Mandarin dialog, subtitled in English.

Running time: 119 minutes

An Edko Films, Zhang Yimou Studio Production in collaboration with Beijing New Picture Film Co., Ltd.

Released by Sony Pictures Classics.

MPAA Rating: PG-13, for sequences of stylized martial arts violence, and some sexuality