Review of House of Flying Daggers (2004) by Oxana — 11 Sep 2014

It's been a while since I last watched an Asian movie, so that could be affecting my judgment: still film felt a bit weird, and I don't know why.

Essentially this was a story of love, betrayal, and making choices. Choosing your path, even if it won't lead to lasting happiness. To be a carefree wind - or a playful, teasing wind. To stop for someone, or to go on.

This movie had fighting scenes just as expected, but while beautiful and artistic, they felt a bit hollow, and were at times hard to keep up with.

Altogether the story was easy to follow, the characters intriguing and deep. Seeing Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhang Ziyi together in a same movie was awesome, and Andy Lau wasn't bad either.

The heavy stuff started only near the end, with the fateful, slightly drawn-out battle of two men who once were friends, but falling for the same woman (among other things) drives them against each other.

A good story, beautiful clothes, colors and design, but somehow this left me wanting for more. Maybe I will watch this another time again and be more at ease with it.