"House of Flying Daggers" is a film in which Zhang Yimou was completely knocked down by the Chinese and will never be reborn. And this film has won high praise everywhere except China, won numerous awards, and sold well at the box office. It is recognized as a film that has completed China's "cultural export".
If you are a student who has not seen it, it is strongly recommended to watch it in its entirety. If you don't want to see a bad ending, you can turn it off at 1 hour and 38 minutes. Don't hesitate, it is guaranteed to be a stunning film with endless aftertastes.
But our focus today is to study the ending that has been scolded for more than ten years.
This is a martial arts story. It has been reversed several times, but it is still very simple. The focus is love, and the appreciation is technology. Let's clarify the general plot first.
In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, because the emperor was incompetent, the imperial court was corrupt, and there were many armed people who resisted the imperial court, "Flying Swordsmen" was a relatively large resistance organization.
Not long ago, the old gang leader of Feidaomen Liu Yunfei was killed by officers and soldiers. The state government ordered Fengtian County to patrol the house. Within ten days, the new gang leader of Feidaomen must be found.
The new gang leader of Feidaomen was also eager to fight a victory to regain his prestige, so he sent a younger sister to pretend to be the blind daughter of the old gang leader Liu Yunfei, to be the first card in Peony Square to lure the enemy into it.
Liu Caitou from Fengtian’s police patrol was actually an undercover agent from Feidaomen. He and his sister were a couple. The two had not seen each other for three years. .
Liu Zoutou asked his subordinate Jin Zoutou to pretend to be a hero with the wind, rescue the little sister, escort the little sister back to Fei Daomen all the way, and find the new head of Fei Daomen, the eldest sister. In fact, this was a trick, the purpose was to deceive the state government's patrol and set up a counter-kill.
During this process of escape, only Jin Zhaotou was kept in the dark. At first, he tried his best to please the little girl. The two seduced each other, kissed and touched, and gradually got the feeling.
When Liu Zhaotou reported to the state government, he did not say that Jin Zhaotou was his own, which led to Suifeng and Xiaomei being really hunted down by the state government's patrol.
After fleeing for three days, she was close to the forces of Fei Daomen. The little girl had real feelings for Suifeng, and she didn't want to see him die in vain, so she drove Suifeng away and went on the road alone.
Suifeng had left, but he couldn't let it go, so he went back to save the little sister.
The Bamboo Forest War was full of dangers, and the two were outnumbered. At the last moment, Flying Swordsmen appeared, killed the state officials and soldiers, and saved Xiaomei and Suifeng. At the Feidaomen station, Sui Feng found out that the little girl is not blind, all of which are designed traps.
Liu Zoutou noticed that the younger sister had feelings for Suifeng, and was jealous and wanted to rape the younger sister, but was shot by the elder sister with a knife, and ordered him to go back to the court to go undercover.
The eldest sister ordered the younger sister to kill Suifeng with her own hands to appease the undercover.
Not only did Xiaomei not kill Suifeng, but instead, she promised her, and Suifeng asked Xiaomei to fly away with him, but Xiaomei did not agree. After leaving with the wind, the little sister hesitated again and again, but decided to follow the wind.
Liu Zoutou, who hadn't gone far, suddenly appeared and wounded the little girl with a flying knife. From here, there were many problems in the plot, which will be analyzed in detail later.
Suifeng, who had already gone far, turned back to look for the little sister again, and fought with Liu Zhaotou for their lives in the snow. In the end, Liu Jutou pulled out the flying knife that the eldest sister had inserted into him before, ready to make a unique move. The younger sister, who had been dazed for a long time, got up from the snowdrift and threatened her predecessor, Lao Liu, if you kill him, I will kill you. Sui Feng shouted that you must not pull out the flying knife on your chest, if you pull it out, you will die.
Old Liu refused to accept it, and wanted to see if the little girl was really willing to die for the sake of the wind. She made a false knife, but in fact she threw out a drop of blood on the knife. Fall to the ground and die. Suifeng hugged the little sister's body and cried bitterly, but the little sister woke up for a while and paid a party fee. The predecessor, Lao Liu, stopped making trouble, and left alone sadly.
In general, this is a "small plot" movie, and what the director wants to express is not the story itself, but the splendid beauty and extraordinary film and television technology accompanying the story. Even if it is a story, the focus is on love, not fighting. Most of the previous narratives were not too problematic, until the little sister returned to Flying Swordsmen and uncovered the mystery, it was still a very good story. However, there were too many problems in the design of the ending. It is rumored that the snow season in Ukraine, where the filming took place, came early, which led to a temporary change of the script, but it still could not explain a series of logical errors.
Where did it start? At 1 hour and 38 minutes, the little girl turned around to follow the wind, and her predecessor Lao Liu suddenly appeared and broke. It means that he hadn't gone far before, but when Suifeng and Xiaomei were lingering in the flowers just now, was he watching from the side? It shouldn't be!
To say that he may not have seen it, when the old Liu released the flying knife, he used a unique trick mercilessly. The little girl flew one, and the other was inserted straight into the chest. The flying knife was a few inches long, almost all If you pierce through it , everyone thinks that the little sister will definitely die. Lao Liu also said in his lines, if you want to go with him, you should die. To say that Lao Liu didn't see the two of them rolling grass before, I wouldn't believe it.
Then Suifeng came back. This time, the former Lao Liu did not use a flying knife to sneak attack, but used a machete, and was dodged by Suifeng. He may have run out of flying knives, but he still has one in his back.
Then the two men fought desperately, the snow was flying, and after a long fight, the little girl stood up again. Shout with the wind, don't draw your knife. If this was previously designed to let the little girl die to prove her sincerity to Suifeng, then the knife from Lao Liu in front of him shouldn't have hit the vitals in the chest.
In short, this ending is a forced procrastination, the emotions are in place, the shots are too beautiful, but there is a problem with the logic.
Consider several possible endings.
1
First of all, it is absolutely possible to click directly at 1 hour and 38 minutes. It's okay to let Xiaomei and Suifeng stop their horses and turn around at the same time, which is a true love decision to break through the psychological barrier, and let the audience think about the rest.
2
To entangle love, let the former old Liu wait in front to kill Suifeng, the little sister turns to follow the wind, just in time to block the fatal blow and die, the two men can work as hard as they can.
3
To deepen the contradiction, Suifeng and Xiaomei turned around at the same time. When they were about to meet, they were confronted with a decisive battle between Feidaomen and officers and soldiers. The two were separated by a ruthless battlefield. It's kind of interesting.
4
Wanting to be a little more cruel, when Xiaomei let Suifeng go, the flying swordsmen who followed him beat the couple, cleared the door, and killed Xiaomei and Suifeng. The lost old Liu came back with the officers and soldiers to destroy Feidaomen, and he also died at the hands of the elder sister. The vast white land is really clean.
It may be a bit cliché, but it's better than a little sister who can't die a few times.
I've been wondering if this is a workflow issue. I watched Walter Murch's "Blink of an Eye" before. Murch is the "godfather" of editing in Hollywood. He has a point of view that the editor is the secondary creation of the material, rather than completing the task according to the director's intention. There are a lot of movies in Hollywood where the director is not directly involved in the editing, and the editor never sees the set.
What good is this? That is to say, the editor did not experience the hardships of on-site shooting. He would look for suitable materials according to the logic of the story and his own understanding, but was more calm and objective. For example, in the snow battle designed by the director, he may think that the filming is beautiful and the mood is good, so it is not a pity, but the independent editor should be able to see that the logic is not logical, and at least he will propose how to make up for it.
Having said that, there are faults, but some people dismiss this movie as useless, which is too exaggerated.
So what are there to admire?
The first one is to accept his overall creativity.
There are so many martial arts in the world, why choose Fei Daomen? The flying knife is Gu Long's stunt, and Xiao Li's flying knife is a good example. It is different from Jin Yong's martial arts. You must know that Gulong Wuxia is very important. It will never be a group of people who fight for a long time without being hurt. Most of them will fight with each other first, or they will simply say nothing, confront each other for a long time, and suddenly kill with a knife.
So what Zhang Yimou does is not pure ancient dragon martial arts. Xiao Li's flying knife has no process but only the result. Director Zhang chose flying knife and bow and arrow as the main weapons to show the process. That fluid lens language is the point. There is also the dance of the younger sister in front of "The Immortal Guiding the Way". The listening position of hidden weapons and the drumming of water sleeves are also the same feeling. Later, the officers and soldiers of the state government cut bamboo to make weapons. It is also a beauty of the process .
If you can accept this general mood, the movie is absolutely beautiful.
Zhang Ziyi is a professional dancer. She made such a film at the best time, showing her strengths. It has attracted worldwide attention and no one can be black. Her acting skills are much more mature than the previous "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero". The two dances in Peony Square have become classic bridges in film history. The music melody, dance moves, costumes, props, and editing are all perfect.
Hero Suifeng took a blind girl through the woods and took care of him in every possible way. No wonder the little girl fell in love with him. It is said that the blind girl's groping movements are also really good. It is said that Zhang Ziyi has lived with a blind girl for two months, and she is wondering how the blind person feels. In that era, the lines of the hero with the wind were very dirty, as expected of the wind everywhere, and the flirting actions were very bold.
The little girl bathing in the pond was also very interesting. Suifeng didn't know that she was bright-eyed. She used the sound of a knife to indicate that she would not peek when she walked away. As a result, she grabbed a little squirrel and ran back to take a peek. The little sister figured it out. The key is that the moment the little girl put on the men's clothes, she turned her head back and was stunned for a moment.
Broken, that's what it's like to be in love.
Those who criticized Takeshi Kaneshiro for his lack of acting skills were probably all single dogs.
The ex Lao Liu said that if I waited for you for three years, it would be better for him to accompany you for three days? This means that the risk factor of long-distance relationships is very high. It is not surprising that if this movie is made now, there will be more people who can accept it.
In short, it is running, fighting, falling in love, the important thing is this process, it is the place where the flowers bloom, the mottled birch forest, and the beauty of the bamboo forest. It is a pity that Zhang Yimou does not watch landscape photography in his movies. Good use of color, never seen a movie use green so beautifully.
When a woman finds an excuse to lose her temper, a man must know that this is a signal of true love, otherwise you will not be able to commit it.
After the most exciting battle in the bamboo forest, the romantic journey is over, and finally we have to face the cruel reality.
So here we need to understand, what is the meaning of the title "House of Flying Daggers"? In fact, Jin Chatou and Xiaomei have always known that there will be pursuers, and there must be pursuers. The purpose of Xiaomei's visit is to lure the enemy into the depths. At first, Jin Zaitou thought that only his own people were following falsely. To intervene, he also knew that he must come to the truth, this ambush is meaningless.
The little girl is called Xiaomei, and she doesn't even have a name. There are many little girls in Fei Daomen, and it is not the first time to use beauty as bait. This is a sad life. Without freedom, there is no future. The fake name of the wind is very good, whether it is windy or drifting with the wind, it is an unattainable freedom. Why do people have to stick to a position, what is the purpose of fighting and killing, and now there is a chance to live a life like the upper hand, why not?
Therefore, in this "House of Flying Daggers", the ambush is a personal obstacle. Family affection, friendship, love, birth and class, sect and position sometimes become a habit and burden. Knowing that there will be no good results, you still have to maintain it desperately. It is very difficult to change your position and break the routine.
Why domestic films, especially the works of famous directors, are always sprayed, of course there is a problem, but many Hollywood films have many logical loopholes.
For example, the villain always talks a lot, waiting to be killed.
For example, choking seldom kills people, and those who are choked will definitely grab something and knock their heads.
It is also evil to knock on the head. The villain will die as soon as it is knocked. The positive characters are basically knocked out, and they will wake up when needed to save the protagonist or complete important tasks.
We seem to be used to these things. Let’s entertain foreign movies, but if domestic movies dare to shoot like this, they must be sprayed to death.
Recently, I have been thinking about a question, why do we always praise other people's children when we go out, they are smart, beautiful, and obedient.
After returning home, my own children were not so lucky. "Don't eat candy. If you eat too much, your teeth will rot. Hey, why is this child disobedient? You talk back, you're as stupid as a pig..."
My children are so sad!
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