HuMobisten

fatal distraction

All Movie quote: ‘Chinese director Zhang Yimou fuses a martial arts action-drama
with a tragic romance in this elegant period piece.’ That’s the absolute truth about
‘The House of Flying Daggers’, which I went to see last weekend. A stunning film
packed with beautifully choreographed dance slash fighting scenes. The scene
especially that takes place high in the bamboo trees is filmed with such elegance
and in such a romantic style (or in such a stylish romance) that it makes you think
twice about your own ‘elegance’ and swiftness more than once.

Anyway, I couldn’t really focus on the plot or the camera work or what have you.
Regular HuMobisten weblog readers must know by now that I can only be distracted
from a film’s plot because: A. the soundtrack is just RAD or B. Either Uma Thurman
or Audrey Hepburn stars in this film. Neither A nor B was the case for this flick
(which I’m probably going to buy on DVD as soon as it’s out), but you guessed
quite in the right direction when you thought this had to be somtin’ involving a
fair lady’s presence. Zhang Ziyi is just out of this world. I can try, but I could never
really explain what I truly feel about this magical girl.

Once I was at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (which starts pretty
soon) and saw Maggie Cheung walking out of the same theatre as I was in (we both
went to see her European premiere for Irma Vep) and thought she was a dream,
but I guess Zhang even topped her if it’s about pure visual astonishment. It’s all
in the eye of the beholder of course, but these women seem to understand and
advert the filosophy that true beauty is not even about how one looks, instead it’s
more obviously displayed in their every move, breath, glance or even absence.

d’oh...

Posted by rufus.k at January 18, 2005 3:25 PM