IMDb > Shi mian mai fu (2004)
Shi mian mai fu
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Shi mian mai fu (2004) More at IMDbPro »

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Shi mian mai fu (2004) -- A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful member of a rebel army out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.
Shi mian mai fu (2004) -- A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful member of a rebel army out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.
Shi mian mai fu (2004) -- MattTrailer.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   37,162 votes
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Up 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Feng Li (writer)
Bin Wang (writer)
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Contact:
View company contact information for House of Flying Daggers on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 January 2005 (USA) more
Plot:
A romantic police captain breaks a beautiful member of a rebel group out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 16 wins & 36 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(46 articles)
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 (From Dark Horizons. 10 January 2010, 9:30 PM, PST)

Us Trailer for Jet Li’s Epic – The Warlords
 (From HeyUGuys. 3 January 2010, 3:50 PM, PST)

User Reviews:
A feast for the senses, a fully satisfying cinematic experience. more (392 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Takeshi Kaneshiro ... Jin
Andy Lau ... Leo

Ziyi Zhang ... Xiao Mei (as Zhang Ziyi)
Dandan Song ... Yee
Hongfei Zhao ... Performer
Jun Guo ... Performer
Shu Zhang ... Performer
Jiusheng Wang ... Performer
Zhengyong Zhang ... Performer
Yongxin Wang ... Performer
Dong Liu ... Performer
Qi Zi ... Performer
Xuedong Qu ... Performer
Liping Tian ... Performer
Hongwei Zhao ... Performer
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
House of Flying Daggers (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Attack from Ten Directions (International: English title) (literal title)
more
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for sequences of stylized martial arts violence, and some sexuality.
Runtime:
119 min | Australia:118 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The scene in the bamboo forest is very common in Chinese martial arts movies. Yimou Zhang felt that he had to stay in that tradition and added the scene in the bamboo forest. more
Goofs:
Continuity: As Mei is in the bamboo forest, split between the two bamboo trees several bamboo spears are thrown at her. Two pierce and get wedged in the bamboo trees level with her head. As Mei is sliding down the bamboo they are gone. more
Quotes:
Jin: You're right. If I won, I wouldn't let you go. more
Soundtrack:
Beauty Song (Jia Ren Qu) more

FAQ

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37 out of 48 people found the following review useful.
A feast for the senses, a fully satisfying cinematic experience., 20 April 2005
8/10
Author: budmassey (cyberbarrister@gmail.com) from Indianapolis, IN

Shi Mian Mai Fu belongs to a growing body of work that embodies a clearly Asian aesthetic packaged just as clearly for Western consumption. It is no coincidence that, each time I paused the DVD for whatever reason, the still image on the screen was as beautiful as any classic wood block print by Hiroshige or Hokusai. Xiaoding Zhao's elegant cinematography imbues every scene with haunting beauty. Think Tak Fujimoto times ten, with no disrespect meant to Fujimoto, who shoots Western movies and still manages to inject his refined visual sense into such great films as Silence of the Lambs and Sixth Sense.

Director Yimou Zhang's work in Hero was more epic, more heroic, but SMMF has a more refined sense of story. The cast, the scenery, the music, including vocal performances by the legendary Kathleen Battle; all elements conspire brilliantly to convey subtle and nuanced meaning in moments. The story, as do all good stories of this genre, revolves around a delicate interplay of love, betrayal, deception and heroism of many different kinds, and, oh yes, those stunning ballets of combat layered with evocative sounds and effects.

In a nutshell, the plot goes something like this. A beautiful blind showgirl is captured as a spy. Her captors conspire to trick her into leading them to her leader. Along the way, both hunter and quarry become entangled in a web of subterfuge and deception. Add in a beautifully tragic romantic story line, again, as all such movies must have, and never forget that the essence of all truly great tragedy is inevitability.

This movie is also known as Ambush From Ten Sides, and in that more literal translation of its title you will find its essence. A worthy successor to Hero, though not as magnificent as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, in which Ziyi Zhang gives the performance of a lifetime and the one against all her other roles will be judged, and in this case, fall short, House of Flying Daggars is nevertheless a feast for the senses and a fully satisfying cinematic experience.

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please help me think of the name of this movie ccr152
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Did anyone actually like this better than Hero? JamesT-Havinfun
Actress' name who played Peony Pavillion madame? jussum1
style over substance again JoeyRamone
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