Life Respite: An afternoon film extravaganza with House of Flying Daggers

Today was actually rather blissful, not having a work shift and being up to date for the most part with my homework, I decided to take a few hours off trying to clean my room and settling into a thick duvet for a film. I've actually been thinking seriously about scheduling in some down time like this on a permanent basis, for a few reasons. For the most part, it's just to find a moment to take a breath and lose myself in something, namely beautiful films. And for a slightly less important (and slightly more neurotic...) reason, i've become very self conscious with the fact that of the 25 top male and 25 top female stars on AFI's 100 years, 100 stars list, i know very little about many of the screen legends listed and am in fact familiar with very little of their work (and this is someone who likes to think of himself as relatively cultivated on a good day, the absolute shame...), so I set myself a list of each month watching films of one top female star and one male equivalent and familiarising myself with their films. I am absolutely aware of how ridiculous this sounds but I just like to be aware of some of the pioneers in Hollywood and their works in film, as they've essentially fashioned what we know to be tha classic film genre. As well as this, my university tutors are always talking about the Brioni suit so-and-so wore to the 1966 Golden Globes or the Couture Alaïa gown that a particular actress changed the look of fashion in etc etc. I would just love to be a tad more educated on who they're talking about.

However, on what now makes the entire above paragraph seem fruitless explanation, I didn't actually watch a classic this afternoon, but rather one that's been on my To Watch list for ages. It's Zhang Yimou's 2004 film House of Flying Daggers. I did have a few mild apprehensions before watching as it's actually a wuxia film and i've found some of them rather annoying to watch. I was so over the moon with this film though, as it was every bit as aesthetically marvellous and heart-string tugging as I hoped, with the fighting scenes only adding to my overall wonder. Set in declining Tang Dynasty (859 AD) China, it's a passionate love story told amidst the rising tensions and imminent war between the Emperor's forces and the large rebel force The House of Flying Daggers. I absolutely refuse to be a spoiler alert but I highly recommend it, if for the colour, the outfits and the phenomenal soundtrack alone (if a Shigeru Umebayashi soundtrack can't get you biting at the nib to watch this I don't know what can {think A SIngle Man and Curse of the Golden Flower}). I was quite sad it didn't have the Western exposure it deserved but was so happy i finally downloaded it.

#movietime