House of Flying Daggers – Film Analysis House of Flying Daggers is a Chinese wuxia film released in 2004. Wuxia is a Chinese film genre incorporating ancient warriors who usually display superhuman feats of martial arts. Set in 859 AD during the end of the Tang dynasty in China, the film tells the tale of the House of Flying Daggers; a Robin Hood-esque insurgent group rebelling against the corrupt government by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Members of the local police, Captain Leo and Officer Jin, conspire to locate the whereabouts of the headquarters for the rebel groups by using Mei, a supposedly blind dancer from the Peony Pavilion who is suspected to be the daughter of the leader of the House of Flying Daggers. This largely-successful …show more content…
After Jin causes a commotion by assaulting Mei, the blind dancer who he suspects is affiliated with the Daggers. Leo arrives under the pretence to settle the conflict, and requests that Mei perform the Echo Game successfully if she is to be set free. At the start of the Game, interchanging close-ups between Mei and Leo builds tension and suspense. Slow-motion tracking is used a lot throughout this scene to follow the path of the beans as they hit the drums and bounce back and forth. As the scene progresses and more beans are thrown at the echo drums, the camera shots that focus on the drum each time a bean ricocheted of an echo drum builds more tension as it seems that it seems impossible that Mei, a blind girl, would be able to strike all the targets. The camera focuses on Mei’s flowing fabric sleeves as they consistently hit all the echo drums with accuracy. The circular arrangement of the echo drums around Mei gives the appearance of her being trap in a circle of shields with her only escape being completing the Echo Game. At the beginning of the fight scene in the bamboo forest, Mei is drinking from her water canteen when she notices falling leaves from the forest above. This shot is shown twice, giving a brief foreshadowing of the events about to befall Mei. In Chinese culture, bamboo symbolises perseverance and …show more content…
Jin and Leo’s fight signifies their battle for Mei’s love. At one point, they both stab each other in the back; this is their betrayal of each other. Jin betrayed Leo by Mei now loving him instead of Leo, and Leo betrayed Jin by pretending to be a police captain and then stabbing Mei. Extreme close-ups are shown of the two combatants faces whenever one wounds the other. This emphasises the pain of each of the wounds and makes the audience more involved in the film as the pain is very clearly seen. This scene takes place in the snow during winter, when everything is covered in a blanket of white. In Chinese culture, white symbolises mourning and was white clothing was worn in ancient times at funerals. This is very relevant to the very end of the film, when Mei lies dying in Jin’s arms. The falling snow also becomes a raging snowstorm that worsens when Mei dies; this shows the torment that Jin is feeling inside as his loved one dies. House of Flying Daggers is a highly-popular Chinese wuxia film filled with betrayal, love, drama and deception. Cinematic techniques are used brilliantly to depict the story in the best possible way to the audience. The intricacy of the props and film locations demonstrates the beauty of Chinese culture and emphasises the plot of the movie. I would recommend this film to anyone to likes to experience
As she recalls back on this time by telling her daughter what she calls her Kweilin story, Suyuan describes her feeling during this horrible time as “And inside I was no longer hungry for the cabbage or the turnips of the hanging rock garden. I could only see the dripping bowels of an ancient hill that might collapse on top of me. Can you imagine how it is, to want to be neither inside nor outside, to want to be nowhere and disappear?” (22) At this point in her life Suyuan was separated from her husband who is in the military and eventually is forced to abandon her two young daughters. This aspect of Suyuan’s life parallels the life of Amy Tan’s mother. Daisy tan was also married to a military man during the Chinese Civil War and like Suyuan was forced to abandon her two daughters in Shanghai. This was an experience that would affect her mother for the rest of her life and a story she would continue to tell and never forget. The life of Amy Tan is also a parallel to the life of Jing-Mei Woo of “June”. As a young girl June was forced to play the piano and practice constantly to become the best like Amy Tan was as a child. Along with playing the piano Suyuan also had high expectations for June as far as her future. She wanted her daughter to be the best in her class and go off to medical school to become a well educated doctor, the same expectation’s Amy Tan’s mother had for her. Both daughters decided to follow their dreams and
Another metaphor, “making it a screen between herself and the surrounding snow and silence” is displayed to show how Ann used work to create a wall between her and the silence inside as well as the dangerous weather outside. The snow symbolizes her feelings of isolation as Ann is without her husband due to the weather. The silence is a constant reminder that she is alone while her husband is out in the blizzard. Ultimately, Ann will do anything in her power to escape this reality.
Perhaps, the powerful storyline of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was what encouraged one of the greatest cinematic martial arts directors Ang Lee, to make a film out of the Chinese novel. In this film, Lee’s primary function is not only to portray skillfully choreographed fighting scenes, but also to connect powerful sequences of events that touches upon the emotional complex human condition that is associated with both the Taoist and Buddhist belief systems. By not allowing action to be the sole guiding force of the narrative of Crouching
The muddled and messy sounds from the violinist escalated to a strong and beautiful melody, in sync with the tension built in the story. The effect of sound and tune on character emotion within the film complimented the drastic advance of excitement and tension throughout the dance from Harrison and his partner on stage. Not only was it the sound of the radio handicaps that affected the build of tension, but it was also a compilation of background noises which influenced the direction of the reader's attention at key moments throughout the film. During the brief cuts to Hazel Bergeron washing the dishes the sound created by the running water drowned out the news reporter and the entire clip of Harrison's display on stage. Hazel was oblivious to the situation presented, thus demonstrating her lack of awareness throughout the entire film.
Wind instruments accompany drums to create an uncanny aura. The absence of sound effects until the girls reach the forest focuses the attention of the audience on the characters. Sound effects are introduced immediately after they set foot in the forest. This technique creates a contrast in the girls' mood - previously being sinister and silent,
Even the hotel she stays in looks like "a grander version of the Hyatt Regency" and the Chinese feast she had envisioned was replaced by "hamburgers, french fries, and apple a la mode." It is not until she finally meets her twin sisters, in modern Shanghai, that she realizes that she is Chinese because of "blood" and not face or place. Within this story, however, is her mother's story, set in another time and place. Fleeing from the Japanese invasion, during World War Two in 1944, Jing-Mei's mother is forced to abandon her twin daughters on the road between Kweilin and Chungking. Upon hearing her mother's story Jing-Mei Woo is able to understand a great deal more about her mother and their relationship, as well as her own past.
Primarily, Tan establishes the theme of the story through characterization. The protagonist, Jing-mei, finds it difficult to live up to the high expectations her mother has set for her. After seeing so much disappointment in her mother’s face, Jine-mei “look[s] in the mirror above the bathroom sink and when [she] saw only [her] face staring back – and that it would always be this ordinary face – she began to cry” (Tan 2). This bring Jing-mei and her mother into conflict with Jing-mei eventually screaming at her mother that “‘[she] wish[ed] she were dead. Like them’” (Tan 8). As she matures, Jing-mei becomes a little more level-headed; she then understands her mother only wants the best for her. Through diction and language, the author creates a character that is
In late 2002 the Oscar nominated Chinese Wuxia film ‘Hero’ directed by Yimou Zhang hit cinemas all over China before spreading internationally over the next few years. Yimou Zhang presented this tale that presents the legendary reign of the Qin Emperor and a nameless hero played by Jet Li tasked to assassinate the emperor. Zhang is known for creating films that present the rich Chinese history. This film is no exception. The film presents the culture of China during the Qin Dynasty through many different components. The costume, setting and music present the time period perfectly. Yimou also uses colour as symbolism in the film to present major plot points. As well as symbolising a part of a scene, for instance pink for love during the sex scene and red later on as death. As shown throughout the film, two of the characters Broken Sword and Flying Snow are both dressed in red hanfu robes which are a rich component in the progression of
Early in childhood Jing Mei dreamed of finding her prodigy and being a famous Chinese American, mostly because of the views and actions her mother placed on her. Her mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. (pg 405) Her mother was always pushing new tests and talents on Jing Mei. She even went as far as having her daughter Jing Mei models her physical appearance and actions after a child-star Shirley Temple. Her other was always testing her with many different things trying to discover Jing Mei’s talent. Later Jing Mei started to feel like her mother was just trying to make her into someone she was not and started to just fail and not try to do anything right hoping her mother would give up. When her mother died she had realized what her mother had been trying to do. Her mother had only wanted her to do her best. She had then to realize what her mother had
When Jing Mei recognizes the similarities between her mother and herself she begins to understand not only her mother but herself as well. There are subtle connections and likenesses from the beginning between Jing Mei and her mother that Jing Mei does not see. The book commences with Jing Mei taking her mother's place at the mah jong table, creating a similarity between them from the beginning. Suyuan dies two months before the start of the book, and therefore is not able to tell the stories. Jing Mei has learned and must tell her stories in her place, forming another parallelism between mother and daughter. Because Suyuan is dead, Jing Mei must act in place of her mother when she goes to meet her Chinese sisters in China. Throughout the book Jing Mei takes the place of Suyuan, showing she and her mother
Her placid facial expression, pastel costuming and low angle shot illustrates her individual freedom as well as her freedom from worldly desires. She is seen to leap from the mysterious Wudang Mountains and disappear into the clouds, symbolic of her tranquil mindset when taking a ‘leap of faith.’ It is a choice which resonates with the Daoist philosophy of absolute non attachment and a pure moral action.
After Somesh is killed in a robbery, Sumita is dressed in a borrowed “White (sari). Widow’s color, color of endings” (271) and attending the bangle-breaking ceremony. Whereas, white is the color used in the west for brides and weddings signifying purity, white is the color of mourning and death in the east. The green or red bangle, which in the Hindu religion symbolizes safety and a happy, prosperous and long married life, is required to be worn by married women. As part of the mourning ceremony, the glass bangles are smashed, “so that the glass bangles I was wearing shattered and multicolored shards flew out in every direction (271).
Jing-Mei finds a new person that was determined to fight against her mother. Moreover, Jing Mei
With regards to symbolism and imagery, Amy Tan seasons her story with words like 'dark, dull, and desolate' which passes on to the peruser a feeling of how Jing-mei felt about her life after her mom's demise. Dim and boring suggest an absence of warmth and a fundamental pity that appear to pervade the story. Jing-mei has clashing sentiments about her late mother, her 'Chinese' self, and her relatives, hence adding to the general grayness of the story.
In addition to setting, the author uses symbols to strengthen the theme of the story. In the story, the mother buys Jing-mei a piano on which to practice. The mother and Jing-mei have different perspectives on what this symbol means. To Jing-mei, the piano symbolizes her mother trying to change her into something other than herself; however, the piano symbolizes the American dream to her mother. Eventually as Jing-mei ages, she could see her mother’s idea on what the piano means and learns to appreciate the piano. When Jing-mei is a woman, “[she] realized that [“Pleading Child” and “Perfectly Contended”] were two halves of the same song” (Tan 9). As Critic Cynthia Becerra states, “the self-realization completes this rich vignette, it is not without pain and loss.(Becerra)” This realization shows how she learns that her mother only has high aspirations for her. The symbolical piano helps the theme by showing the contrasting views between the mother and the daughter in their relationship.