Last night Michele and I got to see a movie my brother, Dan, had highly recommended: House of Flying Daggers. Since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is one of my all-time favorite movies, I looked forward to comparing it with this one that is somewhat similar in style and setting.
Some impressions:
- eye-popping cinematography, such gorgeous colors and scenery
- very good casting and acting
- some of the fight scenes definitely topped the stunning scenes in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, including a whole segment shot in a bamboo forest that puts the ostensibly similar scene in the other movie to shame
- the ending scene, shot in a sudden, blinding snowstorm, was beautiful but really stretched the limits of believability
- overall, some other adjectives that attempt to capture my impressions include gorgeous, rich, lush, romantic, incredible, lyrical, tragic, stunning.
If you can’t tell, I loved it.
If you like Asian films, you should definitely see “Hero”. (Ask Matt more about it because I watched it with him.)