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Best Movies of 2004: Oldboy A very long engagement Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Bad Education 2046 Kill Bill v.2 House of Flying Daggers 3-iron |
"House of Flying Daggers"Directed by: Zhang Yimou (China)Release Date: December 3rd, 2004 Action/Adventure and Art/Foreign 1 hr. 59 min. This is a tale from ancient Chinese times. Two young men fight for the love of a girl with each other, sometimes with her and with everybody else. Plot turns, sabre fights in the air are such previous film "Hero" by Zhang Yimou pales in comparison. Not mentioning "Matrix" and "Troy". "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" (collected enormous money and received four "Oscars") has opened a new era in cinema: kung-fu fighting tales of Chinese making. They are original, in part, because not everything is done on computer: actors flight in the air and fight for real, hanging on ropes (these ropes get deleted with the help of a computer afterwards). Interesting that the major producer of this genre is now the master of art-cinema Zhang Yimou. He holds more prestigious titles than any other Chinese director. He had triumphs in Cannes, Venice, and Berlin, and several "Oscar" nominations. This film was shown "out of competition" in 2004 in Cannes. It was nominated for the "Golden Globe" award as the best foreign film. ************************************************************ "3-iron "Director: Ki-duk Kim (South Korea)Showing on DVD. A young drifter enters strangers' houses - and lives - while owners are away. He spends a night or a day squatting in, repaying their unwitting hospitality by doing laundry or small repairs. His life changes when he runs into a beautiful woman in an affluent mansion who is ready to escape her unhappy, abusive marriage. Ki-duk Kim brings one surprise after another. His films "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring" (2003, on DVD) and "Samaritan girl" are not like each other. The only common theme is combination of funny and cruel, fantasy and reality. 3-iron is a story about a man who cannot find a contact with the surrounding world. Therefore, does not have his own life and sort of borrows life of others. His intrusions are not always welcome, but he reaches the ideal: he becomes a ghost, so he can live inside lifes of others without doing any harm. Award for best director in Venice in 2004. ************************************************************ PREVIOUS |