Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers

The House of Flying Daggers is a revolutionary group that is trying to overthrow the Emperor's regime during the Tang Dynasty. Their leader has recently been killed, providing a perfect opportunity for the authorities to bring the House down. There's a rumor that the late leader's blind daughter, Mei, is working at the Peony Pavilion, a local brothel. When her identity is discovered through an unbelievable, even by Asian film standards, and overly elaborate test, she is taken prisoner by Leo, an officer of the Emperor's army.

Jin, who is a fellow officer with Leo, has been working undercover for the purposes of a sting operation. He has used the services of the Peony Pavilion and knows Mei. He breaks her out of the prison in hopes that she will lead him to the secret headquarters of The House of Flying Daggers. Leo and Jin have even staged an attempted capture to convince Mei of the ruse. The soldiers fall down easily and only administer mild bruises.

Unfortunately, their plan is so secret that other members of the Emperor's army know nothing about it and pursue Jin and Mei when they learn of her escape. An escaped prisoner, especially one of her prominence, and her conspirator will surely be met with overwhelming force, but will Jin be able to battle against and kill fellow soldiers just for the potential opportunity to learn more about the House of Flying Daggers?

This film has some amazing action sequences that are now the new standard for future films. The amazing bamboo forest sequence and the final sword battle through the seasons are sheer artistic brilliance, although mere words cannot do them justice. Zhang tops the action from his previous work, Hero, a very good film that sat on the Miramax shelf for years for no good reason other than they employ idiots with no sense of good films, which certainly explains the Kill Bill atrocities. It's one thing when I buy a movie and don't watch it for a while. It's entirely another when a studio does it.