House of Flying Daggers#Soundtrack

In AD 859, as the Tang dynasty declines, several rebel groups emerged. The largest of them is the House of Flying Daggers in Fengtian, who battle the corrupt government. Its members steal from the rich and give to the poor, gaining the locals' support. Two police officers, Leo and Jin, are ordered to kill the group leader within ten days, an impossible task given no one even knows the leader's identity.

To accomplish this, Leo arrests Mei, a blind dancer suspected of being the previous leader's daughter. It is done when Jin infiltrates the brothel as a customer, summons Mei to dance and later tries to rape Mei in a pretended drunken state. Leo comes and "arrests" Jin for his actions and Mei for "indecency." Madame of the brothel requests Leo to free Mei as she is a skilled dancer in her brothel. Leo agrees that he would do so, but only if Mei does well in the "Echo dance." When the dance ends Mei tries to assassinate Leo to avenge her father's death. Leo defeats Mei and arrests her to extract information about rebel leaders. Pretending to be a rebel sympathiser, Jin breaks Mei out of the jailhouse, gaining her trust. The two travel to the Flying Dagger headquarters, with Leo trailing behind with reinforcements. Slowly, Mei and Jin fall in love. But Mei refuses advances by Jin for sex as she says she doesn't know Jin well.

To make the deception more realistic, Leo and his policemen pretend to ambush the pair. Later, though, they are ambushed for real by soldiers. At a secret meeting, Leo explains to Jin that the military general has gotten involved after he reported to him about Mei, and he wants Jin and Mei dead. Jin is shocked and Leo sympathises with him. Jin "quits" his mission of seducing Mei but follows her out of his own volition. After Jin saves Mei from real soldiers, Mei initiates physical intimacy with Jin but Jin refuses as he is disturbed by the recent events.

A few days later, Jin and Mei are attacked again in a bamboo forest and almost killed, before the House of Flying Daggers saves them and takes them to their headquarters. At this point, Mei is revealed to have been faking her blindness and is not the former leader's daughter. Furthermore, she is engaged to Leo, who turns out to be the Flying Daggers' mole(Jin doesn't know this yet). The Flying Daggers are not afraid of the military and are actually looking forward to an open battle. Their whole plan starting from the brothel was to lure the general and his army, and the madame of the brothel was an important lieutenant of the Flying Daggers. Unbeknownst to Jin, the madame lets Leo free in the forest. As a reward for his success in the mission, he is allowed to meet Mei alone as he is in love with her. The meeting starts with a blindfolded Leo performing an imitation of "Echo dance" with his daggers, with Mei as the master. Then they reminiscent about their past. But when Leo tries to make love to Mei, she refuses. A heartbroken Leo tells Mei that he waited for her for three years since he went undercover, and asks how she could fall in love with Jin after only three days, only to be told she has her heart set on Jin. In response Leo tries to rape Mei, but their superior Nia intervenes and gives him new assignments, separating them. Mei is ordered to execute Jin. She frees him instead, and they make love. But she refuses to run away with him. Later, Mei changes her mind and rides after Jin, but is ambushed by Leo, who casts two daggers at her. Mei manages to deflect one while the other seemingly kills her. While Mei is dying, Leo asks why she tried to go to Jin and make him kill her, but Mei says she did so even though she knew Leo would kill her.

Jin returns to the spot notices Mei to be dead and Leo to be the perpetrator. He comes to know about the relationship between Mei and Leo and he swears to kill Leo for punishing Mei even though he is love with her. Leo swears to kill Jin as he feels all this happened only because Jin fell in love with Mei. Jin and Leo fight but are evenly matched. A raging blizzard falls upon them, while the military approaches the House.

With both men badly wounded and exhausted, Leo prepares to kill Jin with Nia's dagger. Mei reappears, Leo's dagger still stuck in her chest, and threatens to kill Leo with it. Jin begs her to save herself. After several tense moments, Leo decides to pretend to throw his dagger, intending to die by Mei's dagger while sparing Jin. However, Mei attempts to use her dagger to intercept Leo's dagger in flight. The result is that neither Leo nor Jin dies, but only Mei. In the end, Leo stumbles away in guilt while Jin cries over Mei's body, singing a song praising her as a "rare beauty", the likes of which he will never see again. Whether the House won against the military is left ambiguous.

• Takeshi Kaneshiro – Captain Jin ({{lang-zh|t=金捕頭|s=金捕头}})
• Andy Lau – Captain Leo ({{lang-zh|t=劉捕頭|s=刘捕头}})
• Zhang Ziyi – Mei ({{lang-zh|小妹}})

Anita Mui was originally cast for a major role, which was to be her final film appearance. She died of cervical cancer before any of her scenes were filmed. After her death on 30 December 2003, director Zhang Yimou decided to alter the script rather than find a replacement. The film is dedicated to her memory.

To prepare for her role, Zhang Ziyi lived for two months with a blind girl who had lost her sight at the age of 12 because of a brain tumor. Takeshi Kaneshiro injured his leg when he went horseback riding. As a result, Yimou had Kaneshiro spend two scenes sitting or kneeling down to alleviate the pain, which was stated in Yimou's audio commentary.

Most of the film was shot in Ukraine's Carpathian Mountains (the Hutsul Region National Park), such as the scenes in the snow or birch forests. The cast and production team spent 70 days on location from September to October 2003, and were largely based in Kosiv.{{cite web |url = http://www.umoloda.kiev.ua/regions/0/164/0/13642/ |title = Китай у Карпатах, або Як в Україні знімали блокбастер "Будинок літаючих кинджалів" (China in the Carpathians, or how the blockbuster House of Flying Daggers was filmed in Ukraine) |language=uk|first=Natalia|last=Dmitrenko|publisher = Україна Молода |access-date = 1 October 2015}} The notable bamboo forest sequences were filmed in China. However, due to the early snowfall, the filmmakers opted to alter the script and certain sequences, rather than wait for the snow to thaw, as the leaves were still on the trees. Zhang Yimou later stated that despite the unpredictable weather forcing the alterations, he had achieved the desired effect in the scenery, and was happy with the final result.{{cite web |url = http://www.landmarktheatres.com/mn/houseflyingdaggers.html |title = House of Flying Daggers |publisher = Landmark Theaters |access-date = 2009-04-30 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081122001926/http://www.landmarktheatres.com/mn/houseflyingdaggers.html |archive-date = 22 November 2008 |df = dmy-all }}

Like its predecessor Hero, House of Flying Daggers uses wuxing colour theory, in both a deliberate and ironic manner.

{{unreferenced section|date=May 2020}}

The film features the theme of a beautiful woman who brings woe to two men. This theme is borrowed from a famous poem written by the Han dynasty poet Li Yannian ({{lang|zh|李延年}}):

{{ruby-zh-p|北|běi}} {{ruby-zh-p|方|fāng}} {{ruby-zh-p|有|yǒu}} {{ruby-zh-p|佳|jiā}} {{ruby-zh-p|人|rén}}， {{ruby-zh-p|絕|jué}} {{ruby-zh-p|世|shì}} {{ruby-zh-p|而|ér}} {{ruby-zh-p|獨|dú}} {{ruby-zh-p|立|lì}}。

{{ruby-zh-p|一|yí}} {{ruby-zh-p|顧|gù}} {{ruby-zh-p|傾|qīng}} {{ruby-zh-p|人|rén}} {{ruby-zh-p|城|chéng}}， {{ruby-zh-p|再|zài}} {{ruby-zh-p|顧|gù}} {{ruby-zh-p|傾|qīng}} {{ruby-zh-p|人|rén}} {{ruby-zh-p|國|guó}}。

{{ruby-zh-p|寧|nìng}} {{ruby-zh-p|不|bù}} {{ruby-zh-p|知|zhī}} {{ruby-zh-p|傾|qīng}} {{ruby-zh-p|城|chéng}} {{ruby-zh-p|與|yǔ}} {{ruby-zh-p|傾|qīng}} {{ruby-zh-p|國|guó}}。

{{ruby-zh-p|佳|jiā}} {{ruby-zh-p|人|rén}} {{ruby-zh-p|難|nán}} {{ruby-zh-p|再|zài}} {{ruby-zh-p|得|dé}}。

House of Flying Daggers opened in North America on 3 December 2004 in 15 theatres. It grossed US$397,472 ($26,498 per screen) in its opening weekend. The film's total North American gross is $11,050,094. Afterwards, the film went on to earn at least 50% more in the United States home video market than at the theatrical box office.

The film made an additional $81,751,003 elsewhere in the world, bringing its total worldwide box-office gross to $92,801,097. It was also the third-highest-grossing foreign-language film in the North American market in 2004.{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=houseofflyingdaggers.htm|title=House of Flying Daggers (2004) – Box Office Mojo|website=www.boxofficemojo.com}}

House of Flying Daggers debuted in May at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4200080/year/2004.html |title=Festival de Cannes: House of Flying Daggers |access-date=2009-12-05|work=festival-cannes.com}} to an enthusiastic reception.{{cite web |url = https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/cannes-film-festival-2004 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110608090618/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0012614 |url-status = dead |archive-date = 8 June 2011 |title = Cannes Film Festival 2004 |publisher = Maclean's Magazine |access-date = 2008-07-28}}{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/may/20/cannes2004.cannesfilmfestival1 |title = Cannes 2004: Review roundup |newspaper = The Guardian |author = Peter Bradshaw |author-link = Peter Bradshaw |date = 2004-05-20 |access-date = 2008-07-28}} The film reportedly received a 20-minute standing ovation at its Cannes Film Festival premiere.{{cite news |url = http://archive.japantoday.com/news/jp/e/tools/print.asp?content=newsmaker&id=189 |title = Daggers of the mind |newspaper = Japan Today |date = 2004-07-29 |access-date = 2008-07-28 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081220114548/http://archive.japantoday.com/news/jp/e/tools/print.asp?content=newsmaker&id=189 |archive-date = 20 December 2008 |df = dmy-all }}

At film review aggregation website Metacritic, the film received an average score of 89 out of 100, based on 37 reviews.{{cite web |url = http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/houseofflyingdaggers |title = House of Flying Daggers |publisher = CBS |work = Metacritic |access-date = 2008-07-28 |archive-date = 6 July 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080706191242/http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/houseofflyingdaggers/ |url-status = dead }} Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 87%, based on reviews from 171 critics, and an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus states: "The visual splendor of the movie makes up for the weak story".{{cite web |url = http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/house_of_flying_daggers/ |title = House of Flying Daggers |publisher = Flixster | work = Rotten Tomatoes |access-date = 2008-07-28}} Metacritic also ranked the film at the end of the year as the fifth-best reviewed film of 2004.{{cite web |url = http://www.metacritic.com/browse/movies/score/metascore/year/filtered?sort=desc&year_selected=2004 |title = Best Movies for 2004 |publisher = CBS | work = Metacritic |access-date = 2008-07-28}}

Phil Hall of Film Threat wrote: "Quite simply, House of Flying Daggers is a film that sets several new standards for production and entertainment values. It is a wild riot of color, music, passion, action, mystery, pure old-fashioned thrills, and even dancing. With an endless supply of imagination and a kinetic force of nature in its amazing star Zhang Ziyi, House of Flying Daggers cuts all other films to shreds."{{cite web |url = http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=6458 |title = House of Flying Daggers |author = Phil Hall |date = 2004-09-05 |access-date = 2008-07-28}} Desson Thomas of The Washington Post praised the director Zhang Yimou's use of color in the film as "simply the best in the world", and described the film as: "the slow-motion trajectory of a small bean, hurled from a police captain's hand, is a spectacular thing. It's a stunning, moving image, like a hummingbird caught in action."{{cite news |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4633-2004Dec16.html |title = 'Daggers' Flies Off The Screen |author = Desson Thomson |newspaper = The Washington Post |date = 2004-12-17 |access-date = 2008-07-28}} While Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times praised the film by stating: "House of Flying Daggers finds the great Chinese director at his most romantic in this thrilling martial arts epic that involves a conflict between love and duty carried out to its fullest expression."{{cite news|url=http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-daggers3dec03,2,3587404.story |title='House of Flying Daggers' |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |author=Kevin Thomas |date=2004-12-03 |access-date=2008-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611185108/http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-daggers3dec03%2C2%2C3587404.story |archive-date=11 June 2008 |author-link=Kevin Thomas (film critic) |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}

A. O. Scott of The New York Times described the film as: "A gorgeous entertainment, a feast of blood, passion, and silk brocade." The review also stated: "House of Flying Daggers for all its fire and beauty, may leave you a bit cold in the end."{{cite news |url = https://movies.nytimes.com/2004/12/03/movies/03hous.html |title = Fanciful Flights of Blood and Passion |newspaper = The New York Times |author = A. O. Scott |author-link = A. O. Scott |date = 2004-12-03 |access-date = 2008-07-28}} Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film four out of four stars and states: "Forget about the plot, the characters, the intrigue, which are all splendid in House of Flying Daggers, and focus just on the visuals", and Ebert also states: "the film is so good to look at and listen to that, as with some operas, the story is almost beside the point, serving primarily to get us from one spectacular scene to another."{{cite web |url = http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041216/REVIEWS/41201003/1001 |title = House of Flying Daggers |publisher = RogerEbert.com |author = Roger Ebert |author-link = Roger Ebert |date = 2004-12-17 |access-date = 2008-07-28}} House of Flying Daggers was placed at number 93 on Slant{{'}}s best films of the 2000s.{{cite web|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/feature/best-of-the-aughts-film/216/page_1|work=Slant Magazine|access-date=10 February 2010|title=Best of the Aughts: Film|date=7 February 2010 }} and ranked number 77 in Empire{{'}}s "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.{{cite web | title = The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema – 77. House of Flying Daggers | url = http://www.empireonline.com/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/default.asp?film=77 | work = Empire}}

In 2024, Looper ranked it number 33 on its list of the "50 Best PG-13 Movies of All Time," writing "A film bursting with visual imagination, House of Flying Daggers is akin to a crash course in the qualities that define Zhang's radiant vision as a filmmaker."{{cite web | url=https://www.looper.com/806086/best-pg-13-movies-of-all-time-ranked/ | title=50 Best PG-13 Movies Of All Time Ranked | website=Looper | date=October 14, 2024 }}

In the United Kingdom, the film was watched by {{Nowrap|1.7 million}} viewers on Channel 4 in 2007, making it the year's most-watched foreign-language film on British television.{{Cite news |title=Statistical Yearbook 08 |pages=87 |publisher=UK Film Council |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/uk-film-council-statistical-yearbook-2008.pdf |access-date=21 April 2022 |via=British Film Institute}} It was later watched by 600,000 viewers on Channel 4 in 2009, again making it the year's most-watched foreign-language film on Channel 4.{{Cite news |date=2010 |title=Statistical Yearbook 10 |pages=91 |publisher=UK Film Council |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/uk-film-council-statistical-yearbook-2010.pdf |access-date=21 April 2022 |via=British Film Institute}} Combined, the film drew a {{Nowrap|{{#expr:1.7+0.6}} million}} UK viewership on Channel 4 in 2007 and 2009.

;Won

• Boston Film Critics
• Best Cinematography (Zhao Xiaoding)
• Best Director (Yimou Zhang)
• Best Foreign Language Film (China/Hong Kong)
• Los Angeles Film Critics
• Best Foreign Language Film (China/Hong Kong)
• Motion Picture Sound Editors
• Best Sound Editing in Foreign Features
• National Board of Review
• Outstanding Production Design
• National Society of Film Critics
• Best Director (Yimou Zhang)
• Best Cinematography (Zhao Xiaoding)
• Satellite Awards
• Best Cinematography (Zhao Xiaoding)
• Best Visual Effects

;Nominations

• 24th Hong Kong Film Awards
• Best Asian Film
• Academy Awards
• Best Cinematography (Zhao Xiaoding)
• Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films
• Best Actress (Zhang Ziyi)
• Best Costumes (Emi Wada)
• Best Director (Zhang Yimou)
• Best Fantasy Film
• BAFTA Awards
• Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects (Angie Lam, Andy Brown, Kirsty Millar, and Luke Hetherington)
• Best Cinematography (Zhao Xiaoding)
• Best Costume Design (Emi Wada)
• Best Editing (Long Cheng)
• Best Film not in the English Language (William Kong and Zhang Yimou)
• Best Make Up/Hair (Lee-na Kwan, Xiaohai Yang and Siu-Mui Chau)
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Zhang Ziyi)
• Best Production Design (Huo Tingxiao)
• Best Sound (Tao Jing and Roger Savage)
• Golden Eagle Awards
• Best Foreign Language Film
• London Film Critics Circle
• Film of the Year
• Director of the Year (Zhang Yimou)
• Foreign language film of the year
• Satellite Awards
• Best Art Direction/Production Design (Zhong Han)
• Best Costume Design (Emi Wada)
• Best Film Editing (Long Cheng)
• Best Motion Picture – Foreign Film (China)
• Best Sound (Editing and Mixing) (Jing Tao)
• Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
• Best Foreign-Language Film
• Online Film Critics Society Awards
• Best Cinematography (Xiaoding Zhao)
• Best Editing (Long Cheng)
• Best Foreign Language Film (China)
• European Film Awards
• Best Non-European Film – Prix Screen International

{{Infobox album

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| type = Soundtrack

| artist = Shigeru Umebayashi

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| released = {{Film date|df=y|2004|7|15|Hong Kong|2004|12|7|United States}}

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| genre = Stage & Screen Classical

| length = 49:37

| label = Edko {{small|(Hong Kong)}}
Sony {{small|(United States)}}

| producer = Shigeru Umebayashi

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The soundtrack was produced and created by Shigeru Umebayashi, featuring vocals by Zhang Ziyi and Kathleen Battle. It was released in Hong Kong on 15 July 2004 by the film's production company and distributor Edko Films. The US version was released by Sony Music Entertainment on 7 December 2004.

1. "Opening Title" – 0:58
2. "Beauty Song" (佳人曲) – 2:32 (Zhang Ziyi)
3. "The Echo Game" – 1:17
4. The Peonyhouse – 1:22
5. "Battle in the Forest" – 3:26
6. "Taking Her Hand" – 1:14
7. "Leo's Eyes" – 1:51
8. "Lovers-Flower Garden" – 2:19
9. "No Way Out" – 3:59
10. "Lovers" – 1:54
11. "Farewell No. 1" – 2:42
12. "Bamboo Forest" – 2:36
13. "Ambush in Ten Directions" (十面埋伏) – 2:01
14. "Leo's Theme" – 2:36
15. "Mei and Leo" – 3:06
16. "The House of Flying Daggers" – 1:27
17. "Lovers-Mei and Jin" – 4:21
18. "Farewell No. 2" – 2:49
19. "Until The End " – 2:55
20. "Title Song Lovers" – 4:12 (Kathleen Battle)

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{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for House of Flying Daggers

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Category:2004 films

Category:2004 martial arts films

Category:2000s Hong Kong films

Category:2000s Mandarin-language films

Category:2000s romance films

Category:Chinese epic films

Category:Chinese martial arts films

Category:Chinese romance films

Category:Columbia Pictures films

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Category:Hong Kong epic films

Category:Hong Kong romance films

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Category:Films directed by Zhang Yimou

Category:Films scored by Shigeru Umebayashi

Category:Films set in 9th-century Tang dynasty

Category:Films shot in Ukraine

Category:Martial arts fantasy films

Category:Satellite Award–winning films

Category:Sony Pictures Classics films

Category:Wuxia films