Cinema surveillance images are loading at the bottom of the page

House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) - Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Ziyi Zhang, Yimou Zhang

Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

At its height, the Tang Dynasty was one of the most enlightened empires in Chinese history. But in 859 CE, the dynasty is in decline. The Emperor is incompetent and the government is corrupt. Unrest is spreading throughout the land, and many rebel armies are forming in protest. The largest, and most prestigious, is an underground alliance called the House of Flying Daggers.

The House of Flying Daggers operates mysteriously, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Thus, they earned the support and admiration of the people and expanded quickly. Based in Feng Tian County, close to the Imperial Capital, the House of Flying Daggers has long been a thorn in the side of their hated rivals, the local deputies.

To the fury of the deputies, even after they fought and killed the leader of the House of Flying Daggers, the House continues to thrive. Under the leadership of a mysterious New Leader, the House of Flying Daggers grows ever more powerful. Feng Tian County's two local captains, Leo (Andy Lau Tak Wah) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) are ordered to capture the new leader within ten days.

Captain Leo suspects that Mei (Zhang Ziyi), the beautiful new dancer at the local Peony Pavilion is actually the daughter of the old leader, and hatches a plan to arrest her and bring her in for questioning. When Mei refuses to divulge any information on the House of Flying Daggers, the two captains set up another plan. This time, Captain Jin will pretend to be a lone warrior called Wind and rescue Mei from prison, earning her trust and escorting her to the secret headquarters of the House of Flying Daggers.

The plan works, and on their long journey to the House, Jin and Mei warm to each other. Before long, Mei has developed feelings for her enigmatic protector, Wind. For his part, Jin is surprised to find himself falling for Mei's headstrong charm. Both struggle to contain their feelings, but under the starry night, their irrepressible desire is almost beyond their control. Danger lurks in the forest surrounding them, and the wind is still, as if sensing the tension in the air.

What lies ahead for Jin and Mei, these star-crossed lovers? If this is true love, then why are there plots in their heads... and secrets in their hearts?

Theatrical propaganda posters

House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) imageHouse of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) imageHouse of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) image

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

  • Film martial arts romance China action bamboo love relationship assassin

Persons of interest

  • Takeshi Kaneshiro .... Jin
  • Andy Lau .... Leo
  • Ziyi Zhang .... Mei
  • Dandan Song .... Yee
  • Feng Li .... Screenwriter
  • Bin Wang .... Screenwriter
  • Yimou Zhang .... Screenwriter
  • Yimou Zhang .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

House of Flying Daggers (or, as I like to think of it, House of Flying Cutlery - if you've ever seen me cooking you'll know what I mean) is as beautiful, poetic and epic as its forerunner Crouching tiger, hidden dragon (Wu hu zang long). It's also just 2 minutes shy of being the same length - 2 hours. You must keep in mind that:

  1. The Chinese haven't been exposed to television advertising the way we Western Devils have so their attention span is much longer, and
  2. House of Flying Daggers is opera and should be viewed through the same forgiving eye - Willing Suspension of Disbelief™ does wonders for the larger than life.

Takeshi Kaneshiro is way sexy as the roguish womaniser, Captain Jin. He also does some mean martial arts. Zhang Ziyi makes the perfect counterpart (her balls are just as big as his) while Andy Lau Tak Wah's tragic Captain Leo makes a great straight man. The scenery, with the help of Australia's Own™ Animal Logic, is breath-taking.

House of Flying Daggers is beautiful, tragic, awesome and way cool. See it.

Media intelligence (DVD)

  • Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Languages: Mandarin
  • Picture: Widescreen
  • Special features:
    • Biographies: Cast and crew
    • Documentaries:
      • Making of - including interviews and behind-the-scenes
      • Site visits
    • Featurettes: Story board comparisons
    • Galleries: Photographic
  • Subtitles: English, English captions, English closed captions

Security censorship classification

M (Medium level violence)

Surveillance time

118 minutes (1:58 hours)

Not for public release in Australia before date

Film: 17 February 2005

Cinema surveillance images

House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) imageHouse of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) imageHouse of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) imageHouse of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) imageHouse of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) imageHouse of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) imageHouse of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) imageHouse of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) imageHouse of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) imageHouse of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) imageHouse of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu; Lovers) image

[ Return to top ]