..Gary
Dretzka
..Noah
Forrest
..Leonard
Klady
..R.J.
Matson
..David
Poland
..Douglas
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
..Michael
Wilmington
House of Flying Daggers
Directed by Zhang Yimou
If you have your surround system hooked up and your amplifier jacked up, then get ready to duck, because the daggers come flying right over your head on the spectacular 5.1-channel Dolby Digital track of the terrifically entertaining Chinese action romance directed by Zhang Yimou, House of Flying Daggers, a Sony Pictures Home Entertainment release (09178, $29). Smartly combining a Hong Kong gangster film story template-an undercover cop helps an assassin escape from prison so he can accompany her to her hideout; the story then twists more often than a swordsman avoiding arrows in mid-air-with a traditional Chinese (pre-technological) martial arts setting, the film is immensely satisfying on many different levels, and the DVD adds still more. Designed by Tao Jing, the sound mix is outstanding. There is a fight sequence involving tall bamboo trees that will have you believing someone has installed speakers in your ceiling. The directional noises throughout the film are clearly defined and enormously satisfying. The full dimensional impact of the Shigeru Umebayashi score (which is applied to the drama with an exquisite precision) and the multitude of effects is as thrilling as it is enveloping. The Zhao Xiaoding cinematography, which was nominated for a 2004 Oscar, is resplendent with astonishing colors in every frame, and is presented flawlessly, in letterboxed format only, with an aspect ratio of about 2.35:1 and an accommodation for enhanced 16:9 playback. Therefore, viscerally, the film whips hold of your senses and never lets go, but the story also has an immediacy in its exposition that makes each sequence plunge headfirst into the next, and it is within this dazzling and continuously pleasing incubation that the love story, barely noticeable at first, emerges, buds and eventually flowers with enough petals to carpet your floor. True, the filmmakers eventually write themselves into a corner at the conclusion of the 119-minute feature, but a disappointment with the fates of the heroes will only wound you on the first viewing, when you are unprepared to defend yourself against it. Thereafter it will be the only possible ending to two hours of transfixing entertainment.
The film is in Chinese, with optional English and French subtitles. There are also English and French audio tracks in 5.1 Dolby, but while they are carefully and astutely applied, they still don't feel as organic as the Chinese track, and the movie is so perfectly balanced that an alteration to any component upsets its magic. Yimou and star Ziyi Zhang supply a commentary track in Chinese, supported by optional English subtitles. They share anecdotes about the shoot (one of the stars hurt his leg, and they point out all of the times he's sitting and nursing it) and discuss some of the strategies behind the film's artistry (Yimou points out how the characters are always moving from left to right, and why, at certain points, they are not). They talk about changes that were made to the story as they went along, and the serendipity of moviemaking-the final battle begins in an autumn field, but as the characters fight, snow starts to fall, and as it becomes more emotionally intense, a blizzard surrounds them, and has clearly blanketed the field and the trees as far as the eye can see with snow. In fact, they intended to stage the 10-day shoot of the fight in fall colors, but the storm came up on them the first day and they immediately chose to take advantage of it, supplementing their efforts in the later days of the shoot with snow machines. Such happenstance is what the great films are made of.
There is a 45-minute production documentary, in Chinese with optional English subtitles. It has some good behind-the-scenes footage, and some nice stuff from the film's reception at Cannes and that sort of thing, but there is also a longish summary of the story and other less involving segments. A 4-minute featurette looks at the special effects, and there is a minute-long montage of costume designs, a 3-minute montage of good production photos, 17 minutes of decent storyboard comparison sequences, and a music video. Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro co-star.
May 24, 2005
DVD Roundup: This Week's DVD Releases
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