Shi mian mai fu (2004)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Yimou Zhang

Writers:

Feng Li (writer)
Bin Wang (writer)

Release Date:

14 January 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

Plot:

A romantic police captain breaks a beautiful member of a rebel group out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Dancer | China | Police Officer | Tragedy

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 16 wins & 36 nominations

Cast

Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	Jin
Andy Lau	...	Leo
Ziyi Zhang	...	Xiao Mei (as Zhang Ziyi)
Dandan Song	...	Yee
Hongfei Zhao	...	Performer
Jun Guo	...	Performer
Shu Zhang	...	Performer
Jiusheng Wang	...	Performer
Zhengyong Zhang	...	Performer
Yongxin Wang	...	Performer
Dong Liu	...	Performer
Qi Zi	...	Performer
Xuedong Qu	...	Performer
Liping Tian	...	Performer
Hongwei Zhao	...	Performer

Also Known As:

House of Flying Daggers (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Attack from Ten Directions (International: English title) (literal title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sequences of stylized martial arts violence, and some sexuality.

Runtime:

119 min | Australia:118 min

Country:

China | Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Iceland:14 | France:U | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (original rating) (cut) | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15A (original rating) | Ireland:15 (video rating) (cut) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | UK:15 (cut) | USA:PG-13 | Mexico:B

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Company:

Beijing New Picture Film Co.

Trivia:

It is China's official choice for the 2004 Oscar Awards, Foreign Language film category.

Goofs:

Continuity: An obvious camera reversal during the ending scene whith Mai and Jin. When Jin is seen, the snow is flying from left to right, the camera changes to Mai and back to Jin and the snow is flying from right to left then again from left to right.

Quotes:

Mei: A rare beauty in the North. She's the finest lady on earth. A glance from her, the whole city goes down. A second glance leaves the nation in ruins. There exists no city or nation that has been more cherished than a beauty like this. A rare beauty in the North. She's the finest lady on earth. A glance from her, the whole city goes down. A second glance leaves the nation in ruins. There exists no city or nation that has been more cherished than a beauty like this.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chacun son cinéma ou Ce petit coup au coeur quand la lumière s'éteint et que le film commence (2007)

Soundtrack:

Beauty Song (Jia Ren Qu)

Meticulously crafted

Treading merrily along the path of Hollywoodization (pardon my expression) started in Ying Xiong, director Zhang Yimou turned out another equally meticulously crafted product, Shi Mian Mai Fu, which was showcased to the world in the 2004 Cannes 'out of competition' category.

Meticulously crafted, SMMF starts by giving the audience an exceptional feast of the ear, putting them in a blind person's POV (or maybe I should say POH, 'H' for hearing). The duel of drums scene is brilliant. As if that is not enough, we are treated to another feast of sounds, this time the thundering hoofs and clashing weapon in the pursuit and attack of the blind girl.

Even more meticulously crafted is the color display. A top-notch cinematographer (Yellow Earth (1984)) before a director, Zhang does not appear to be able to tolerate anything that falls short of atheistic perfection. Although not as blatantly as in Ying Xiong, he exhibits here a color display that is equally dazzling. The landscape in the first couple of scenes is in mellowed brown, yellow and pale green. Then come the lush green hills and the dreamy world of the bamboo forest. Towards the end, we have a white birth forest and, for no apparent reason, are given a frame of only two seconds of a fiery stretch of fall colors. In the finale, the ominous dark clouds eventually produce a winter wonderland, to receive profuse splashes of crimson blood.

Crafted sight and sound is great, but over-crafted script and story is where SMMF falls down. In the show that I attended, the audience burst out in a clearly audible expression of mirth where none was intended by the script. I do recognize that this was due in part to the fact that they know Andy Lau too well. But then, some of the things were thrust at the audience so abruptly that I think their reaction is forgivable.

In a nutshell, Flying Dagger is no Crouching Tiger as Zhang Yimou lacks the heart, soul and sensitivity of Ang Lee. I remember watching a TV interview of Zhang a couple of years ago, when he intimated something to the effect that making movie is a market-driven affair and if the (global) market wants it, he'll make it. Well, he is at least honest about the whole thing and he did make Ying Xiong. But I do miss director Zhang's earlier work: Red Sorghum, Raise the Red Lantern, Qiu Ju Goes to Court, Living, Not One Less, My Father and Mother.

One final point of no particular consequence. Shi Mian Mai Fu (literal translation 'Ambushed on Ten Sides') is the best known piece of music for the lute-like pipa. I notice that three or four bars from the piece are featured in the background music, at the point when the blind girl's true identity is revealed.

Thank goodness it didn't get the Golden Globe....would have been SUCH an embarrassment if it did.