Hero and House of Flying Daggers - Movie Review Example

Hero and House of Flying Daggers Introduction Zhang Yimou expertise in producing movies is on display in Hero and House of Flying Daggers. Hero came out in the year 2002 while House of Flying Daggers was released in 2004 to a good reception. Zhang’s often reflect on the early times of China civilization, highlighting the ordinary people and their systems of rule. While his earlier films only centered on the themes of betrayal, unhappiness and love, Zhang’s brings diversification to the later releases of Hero and House of Flying Daggers. Though he inserts the elements of his favored themes, he brings a martial arts element in them. Basically, the two movies fall in the Wuxia genre. Though Zhang has been accused of trying to appeal to the western audience through these two films, he tries to maintain that Chines cultural aspect that he is widely recognized to uphold in his earlier movies. The Wuxia genre of films incorporates martial arts elements. Wu means that the film has martial arts while Xia refers to the protagonist who is often the defender of the right through his expertise in martial arts. The Xia characters spring out from a humble background. They have their construct of what is good and they fight for it. The films Hero and House of Flying Daggers have these kinds of protagonists who seek justice and the good of the community by fighting off evil. House of Flying Daggers is a film that revolves around the life of 3 main characters who find themselves linked by the elements of love, devotion and sorrow. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, a group of rebels is committed to overthrowing the rulers who they accuse of being corrupt and greedy. Two police deputies Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) with the mandates of finding the rebels set a trap for the rebels but end up capturing an exotic blind dancer known as Mei (Ziyi Zhang) who they accuse of being aligned with the rebels. They decide to rescue her and get to the leader of the rebels. What follows is a tale of how love, betrayal and devotion govern every move. On the other hand, Hero has a storyteller who is Nameless (Jet Li) who comes to the King of Qin to protect him against vowed assassins. The assassins are Broken Sword (Chen Dao Ming), Long Sky (Donnie Yen) and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung). The King of Qin has an agenda of uniting the six kingdoms that are at war and put them under his rule that plans their prosperity. What follows are conflicts and attempts to kill the King. This paper will focus on the two films; discuss their essentials as well as compare some of the various film attributes they possess such as the setting, the visual effects and character attributes. Setting Hero follows the setting of 227 BCE soon before the emergence of the initial Chinese empire. It was a time when people experienced a growing cultural phenomenon. The culture was at its youthful stage and it was only growing within the community during the springtime setting. The film portrays a time when there is an artistic and cultural development. There was more potentiality that actuality at the time. Therefore, at the time, heroism was valued as it was something glorious and an energy that symbolizes the way forward for a community otherwise trapped in the will of the feudal leader or warlords (Kraicer). On the other hand, the setting of House of Flying Daggers is in excess of 1000 later at around 859 BC later. It is a time when the Ruling Tang dynasty is declining. The time extensively recognized as China’s cultural, political and artistic golden ages. There is a well-developed cultural aspect and beauty (Lee). Conversely, it is a time of violence and greed in governance and moral decay among the people. The people, as well as the ruling members, are self-indulgent and pursue pleasure to great length. In light of this, a savior is needed to save the people from the decay of those in power. Zhang Yimou introduces a protagonist with capability of fighting expertly as the one to fill the gap and tip the scales towards the good in the society. While at it, the director ensures to have a colorful and bright background similar to that in autumn days when the leaves are colorful and bright. Top an extent, the setting symbolizes that the civilization at the time is at an autumn stage. It is a time when the leaves are very colorful and bright before they soon fall and cast gloom to the beauty of the land. The setting is also symbolic of a time when the civic value is no longer rampant, corruption is everywhere and new forces are rising to stake their claims and rule the people. The House of Flying Daggers represents one of the communities that want to perpetrate a revolt against the corrupt officials in power by use of martial arts and other forms of terrorism. It is a faction that rivals the ruling group. It is symbolic of many other chines uprising at that time that came to shape the politics and economy of early Chinese civilization. Since the Hero film was released earlier, House of Flying Daggers is often envisioned as a thematic sequel. This is, arguably based on the setting of the two films which represent a time of transition. Hero was the first ever action film for the director and, therefore, forms the basis for comparison especially considering the martial arts refinements in the follow up movie which is House of Flying Daggers. It is evident that the director, Zhang Yimou, strives to improve on the martial arts elements. House of Daggers has more refined movements and a variety of action moves than to Hero. To achieve the improvements, the director reintroduces the character driven elements of the past movie (Hero) and perfects them. The result is a simpler story in the House of Flying Daggers. There are certain aspects of storytelling in Hero that are redundant and not easily comprehensible by the viewer. However, they are absent in the House of Flying Daggers. This proves that the director was somehow using Hero as the reference point to make a better film. Characters Both movies have exemplary use of characters. Unlike Hero, House of Flying Daggers employs the use of fewer characters. This, in turn, creates a simplistic storyline that is easy to follow yet intriguing. However, the use of fewer characters demands that each character executes his role perfectly for the sake of exceptional execution of eth plot and appeal to the audience. Characters in the House of Flying Daggers accomplish exactly that. The larger part of the film is captivating to the audience. The tale of a blind exotic dancer with two agents and an inclusion of love are unexpected yet needed to appeal to the audience. Takeshi Kasheniro, who plays Jin, is very charismatic and lives up to the expectations placed on the major stars. He introduces a comedic aspect in the influential role that he plays (Cinemablend). He marvels the audience with the way he uses the numerous weapons at his disposal. Ziyi Zhang as Mei is stunning to the viewer. There are touching character moments engraved in the film such as when Mei and Leo play a game of “echoes” As Mei plays exceptionally, Leo is marveled like an innocent child and filled with delight and wonders. There are numerous other touching moments in the movie which serves to bring back the reality of human emotions. Arguably, the film would not be the same if it were devoid of the emotional aspect that the audience can relate to. There are character fascinations in Hero but none of them matches the show in the House of Flying Daggers. The director use of character is better in the House of Flying Dagger film. Nevertheless, the plot in both stories requires different character approaches. This implies that the way Zhang Yimou used the characters in both movies is justified as long as they brought out the desired element. While the characters in the House of Flying Daggers were charming and marvelous at what they do, they do not match up to the character of Hero when it comes to chemistry. Zhang Ziyi, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung exhibit top-notch chemistry in Hero. It is also interesting how Zhang Yimou uses gender in both of the films. There is a fascinating perspective because all the soldiers in Hero and House of Flying Daggers are male. Musicians and dancers are mostly female. Contemporary explanations can assume that Zhang considers a sexist stand in his assigning of gender roles. However, a more accurate and convenient argument regarding the assigning of gender roles considers that the historical accuracy of the settings of the movies. Those were the role played by the respective sexes thus it is only historically accurate for the movie to have male serving as the soldiers and more women serving as dancers and musicians. The desire for the movie film director to create a ‘real” film considers the accuracy aspects of the settings. Zhang Yimou strives to keep the films as accurate as possible thus every decision in characterization follows that consideration. In both movies, the main characters are seen to renounce their individual interest for the greater good of the society. In a way, the films pursue a philosophical goal that the regular viewer does not see at first (Lee). The fact that the main characters do not seek direct power but fight for somebody who is well placed to guide the people shows selflessness of the protagonists. The director ensures that the philosophical goal is there in every movie though hidden in the numerous clashes. However, Hero is surprising because it does not out rightly display the philosophical approach of the protagonist. He is seen as merely a person who protects the king for his interests of getting a reward. However, behind his action, the Kings seeks to unite the lands and rule them well if everyone cooperates. Visual Effects In the House of Flying Daggers, the scenes have brilliant color. Some fight scenes occur in the middle of flower fields where the leaves are given an excellent hue effect. The daggers clothes are bright and green in the middle of green bamboo forests. A demonstration of a brilliant display of the visual effects occurs when Jin and Mei are chased into the bamboo forest by soldiers wielding spears made of bamboo sticks. The director also pulls off another magnificent visual display at the final battle that surpasses the changing seasons from fall to winter. However, the scenes only emerge a number of times across the duration of the movie. Dialogue driven storytelling takes up the rest of the time. Hero, being the most expensive movie in the Chinese film industry also employs an exemplary use of visual effects to accompany its fight scenes. The scene where Long Sky and Nameless fight to death is one example of exceptional visual effects at display. There is a rainstorm while they fight and the rain drops pierces the roof while a blind harp player plays steadily. The two fighters stop at times to urge on the musicians. The center of it all is when Nameless assumes slow motion top thrust himself across the room passing through a crown of raindrops that are suspended from motion. They scatter after his lunges through them. This is a fascinating visual effect that is at par if not better that those of the fighting scenes in House of Flying Daggers. Another scene is when Broken Sword fights with Nameless while they float over an extensive mirror of water. They occasionally make patterns in the water using their blades as they fight. The camera switches such as to film them from below the water they are fighting on. There are also other great scenes when the fights occur under a rain of bright leaves that have brilliant red hue. The movie also applies special effects when a crowd of arrows slices through the top of a school where students were being taught calligraphy by their master. Hero and House of Flying Daggers differ immensely in the nature of fight especially with concern to blood. The fighting is more real and savage. The realism in the nature of the fights sometimes proves hard to watch (Cinemablend). For instance, when Mei is attacked by four horsemen in the bamboo forest, it’s hard to enjoy the ruthlessness and aggression of the men towards the blind girl. Blood gushes out from the casualties of fight in a realistic manner. There is a fogginess associated with similar scenes in Hero. Characters in House of Flying Daggers show extreme aggression where they cut their opponents and leaves them crying in pain. What emerges is an over-colored reality that serves to show the fights are as close to reality as possible. Hero does not entail fight scenes that are as close to reality as in the House of Flying Daggers. Instead, there is excessive floating, pranking and flying that do not reflect reality. When these elements of fighting are too much, the film begins to feel like more of a mythology rather that a historically accurate and ‘real’ movie. Zhang Yimou films do not disappoint in terms of costumes and sets. The costumes that the characters wear are dazzling and the color mix only serves to magnify their radiance. They blend well with the geographical landscapes and backgrounds, especially where fights happen. They are well chosen and they reflect the cultural identity of the time. In other words, the choice of costumes also serves to increase the historical accuracy of both movies. Sound Effects Zhang Yimou has represented the Chines movie industry very well by building on the sound quality of his movies. This is in a bid to match up with popular Hollywood films that use audio effects effectively to compliment the themes. In Hero and House of Flying Daggers, he has put quality sounds to match up the action and emotional scenes. The film House of Flying Daggers has uncompressed surround track that produces quality sound. There is use of profound directional effects and also subtle music signals that contain rich atmospherics. When they are combined, the bring out an enveloping atmosphere that makes one feel the movie rather than just hearing what is going on. The sound effects serve to enhance the captivating nature of the film. The quality of sound is exhibited as the clanking of the metal sword is very sharp. Even the audience can hear the rustling of leaves as wind blows as well as fabric moves over the skin of the characters. Many scenes in the film Hero have a profound audio depth that is also moving. There is a vigorous surround mix that ensures that different sounds are separated to focus on an immersive auditory atmosphere. Each sound compliments the activity that is taking place such as fist flying, arrows cutting through the air and swords swinging. However, when there is low-end activity, the audio seems to be punishing and too loud. In comparison to the original sound quality of House of Flying Daggers, Hero does not step up to the bar. Nevertheless, the sound quality is not too bad. Conclusion Hero and House of Flying Daggers were both set in China and detail a lot about the history of China in its earliest civilizations. They both focus on assassins and rebellion as well as emancipation-some aspects that are common in Zhang Yimou films. The movies contain many fight scenes that are perfectly detailed with balanced color and exceptional audio. House of Flying Daggers is more endowed with realistic fighting, better visual effects and sound effects. Visual effects give the movies a unique feeling as they appear to be an upgrade from earlier movies by the same director. Since House of Flying Daggers was released later than its counterpart, it seems that the makers concentrated on sealing the loopholes that critics had highlighted in Hero. This is the probable reason that House of Flying Daggers is better in the aspects as mentioned earlier. The characters also execute their roles perfectly and possess admirable characteristics, especially the protagonists. The character roles are similar to those during the setting of the movie where men were soldiers and women were mostly involved in singing. All in all, both films are good but House of Flying Daggers is better. References Cinemablend,. House of Flying Daggers Review. Cinemablend.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. Hero. China: Zhang Yimou, 2002. film. House Of Flying Daggers. China: Zhang Yimou, 2004. film. Kraicer, Shelly. Absence as Spectacle: Zhang Yimous Hero. Chinesecinemas.org. N.p., 2003. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. Lee, Hwanhee. House of Flying Daggers: A Reappraisal. Sensesofcinema.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. Read More