Director:
Zhang Yimou (Hero, Shanghai Triad, Raise the Red Lantern)

Screenwriter(s):
Zhang Yimou
Li Feng
Wang Bin

Cinematographer:
Zhao Xiaoding (Spring Subway;) an assistant d.p. to Christopher Doyle on 'Hero')

Composer:
Shigeru Umebayashi (Onmyoji: The Yin Yang Master, In the Mood for Love)

Actors:

SYNOPSIS __________

Plot:
"House of Flying Daggers" (aka "Shi Mian Mai Fu" [China], aka "Lovers" [Japan]) is set in the year 859 AD as China's once flourishing Tang Dynasty is in decline.

Unrest rages throughout the land, and the corrupt government is locked in battle with rebel armies that are forming in protest. The largest and most prestigious of these is the "House of Flying Daggers," which is growing ever more powerful under a mysterious new leader.

Two local captains, Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) are ordered to capture this new leader. As part of their elaborate plan, Captain Jin will pretend to be a lone warrior called Wind and will rescue the beautiful, blind revolutionary Mei (Zhang Ziyi) from prison, earning her trust, and escort her to the secret headquarters of the House of Flying Daggers. The plan works, but to their surprise, Jin and Mei fall deeply in love on their long journey to the House.

Danger lurks in the forest surrounding them, and the wind is still, as if sensing the tension in the air. What lies ahead for Jin and Mei, these star-crossed lovers? If this is true love, then why are there plots in their heads...and secrets in their hearts?

BUZZ:
In his second trip to the martial arts well after his landmark "Hero," mainland Chinese helmer Zhang Yimou draws different water with the same bucket in "House of Flying Daggers," a more crowd-pleasing but less abstract dip into the genre directed with equal calculation.

The tangled tale of love and disguise is awesome in its action sequences but doesn't touch the heart to the same degree, making pic of broader appeal than "Hero" but unlikely to be a second "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," at least in Western markets. Set to open in China this summer, with a Beijing premiere July 16, film goes out Stateside through Sony Pictures Classics. -- DEREK ELLEY, Variety

DETAILS__________

Studio:

Release Date:
August 28, 2004 (Japan)
Summer, 2004 (China)
TBA, 2004 (USA)

RELATED LINKS__________

OFFICIAL SITE: International Site
houseofflyingdaggers.com --- CLICK HERE

OFFICIAL SITE: (France)
uipfrance.com --- CLICK HERE

Fan Site: (Actress Zhang Ziyi)
csc.ziyi.org --- CLICK HERE

Misc info and Photos
monkeypeaches.com --- CLICK HERE

Misc info and Photos