Magic kung fu adventure
11:11am Wednesday 22nd December 2004
House of the Flying Daggers
The Phoenix Cinema
High Road, East Finchley
Sunday, until January 6
Another film in the vein of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is this beautifully filmed kung fu movie.
Said to be even better than Zhang Yimou's previous film, Hero, House of the Flying Daggers is set in ancient China and follows a pair of police officers who attempt to infiltrate the eponymous revolutionary organisation, as one poses as an escaped prisoner. Their suspicions lead them to the beautiful Mei, a blind dancer at the Peony Pavilion.
Interspersing a love story with half-a-dozen astonishing action sequences is a good idea if you want to appeal to both fans of romance and action films.
"I want to talk about passion, interesting characters my own style of Wuxia martial arts film," said Yimou. "This story may be a Wuxia film, but it is also an evocative and romantic love story, I hope."
Daggers includes the obligatory fight-in-the-bamboo-forest with breathtaking grace and energy.
Like Crouching Tiger, the scene takes place half on the ground and half in the trees and includes scenery so beautiful, it looks like something out of an Impressionist gallery.
Despite the subtitles, it is likely this film will attract cinema-goers, even to the multiplexes, in their droves.
Tickets are £4 to £7.
Call the box office on 020 8883 2233.