House of Flying Daggers

June 18, 2006 - This 2004 Chinese film (with subtitles) begins as a political thriller but turns into a love story with as much intrigue as any drama.

Captions at the beginning of the film set the scene as 9th Century China, when the current dynasty is waning and a group of rebels known as the House of Flying Daggers is gaining power. Only the military stands in their way.

The plot is set in motion when two captains are given orders to find the new leader of the Daggers within 10 days. To accomplish this mission, one of the captains, Jin, goes undercover.

Overall review: **** To say more about the plot would be to give it away. Suffice it to say that the film ends with an epic battle and, as in many battles, there is no clear winner. House of Flying Daggers is filled with several fantastic martial arts sequences but, (and I'm going from memory here) they don't seem to be as frenetic as the ones in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This film impressed me as being more lyrical and flowing, much like the wind that is such an important character.