House of Flying Daggers: Performance

Opening Sequence (00:00:00- 00:07:12)

In the opening scene, we are introduced to the characters Jin and Leo. We can tell by how Jin almost lies down while drinking tea that he is much more relaxed than Leo, as Leo sits up with a straight posture while working on his equipment. We also get this impression from Jin during the rest of the sequence as he acts incredibly flirtatious and confident around the women in the pavilion.

Upon knowing what happens by the end of the film, we gain the knowledge that during this sequence at the beginning practically everyone is pretending to be someone who they are not. Leo is acting as a Captain when he’s actually a member of the Flying Daggers, Jin is pretending not to be a part of the army so that he can find out who’s a member of the Flying Daggers, the Madam is actually the leader of the Flying Daggers, the women in the pavilion are acting more excited than they actually are to please Jin, and Mei is acting as a blind showgirl when she’s actually a member of the Flying Daggers and not blind. On that last point, Mei does a fair bit to convince the other characters and the audience that she’s blind. This includes not blinking and actually looking slightly away from the camera when it’s a POV shot from Jin’s perspective as this tells us that Mei doesn’t know exactly which direction she’s facing.

Echo Game Sequence (00:10:33- 00:19:22)

This sequence establishes that Mei is a very skilled individual who has many talents. Mei is shown to be completely focused and unfazed by the game that she’s playing, despite the pressure that has been put on her, which presents her as being confident in her abilities. Mei does very traditional and elegant dancing, with her movements being very fluid and her sleeves acting as a sort of extension of herself. Her movements resemble martial arts which foreshadows that Mei is going to be revealed as a fighter and a member of the Flying Daggers. Furthermore, she pulls poses between the rounds of the game which are martial art positions as well to emphasise this point. Mei’s confidence is also shown as she stays completely still even as there are hundreds of beans around her.

Leo is presented as also being confident in his ability and control over the situation. This is first shown at the start of the sequence as he is taking Mei away as he stands tall and proud to reflect on his power with it contrasting with Mei’s hopelessness at this point. Before the game starts, Leo looks calm and focused with an expression of smugness which could show that he believes (or is at least acting to be) above Mei. However, at the game progresses, his smug expression turns to admiration to tell us that there may be a connection between the two and that they are much more equal than we may have initially thought. This is emphasised by how the fight between the two after the game is incredibly evenly matched.

Bamboo Fight (01:03:03- 01:10:20)

In this fight, Mei is attacked by the army by surprise. Because of this, at the start of the fight Mei is shown to be struggling as she has been caught off guard. This can be seen as her fighting style is much more desperate and raw than her much more elegant style from the rest of the film up to this point. Her struggle is also shown by her grunting and loud screams, which just emphasises that this is taking a lot of energy from her and she is at a disadvantage in the fight. This struggle is contrasted by the soldiers who act as a unit, making them seem much more powerful than Mei. However, it doesn’t take too long for Mei to gain her composure in the fight, shown by how she goes back to being in positions before she makes her move.

From the point in which Jin shows up, the scene becomes more about showing the relationship between Mei and Jin. When Jin jumps into the fight, we focus on his expressions which show that he is putting a lot of effort and passion into trying to save Mei from the soldiers. We see that Mei is clearly happy for Jin to have come back as she smiles knowing that he’s come back for her. This sequence also shows that Mei has changed Jin. For example, Jin throws his sword at an incoming bamboo without any hesitation in order to save Mei and then doesn’t care about leaving it behind. This could mean that Jin wants to leave his old life behind him and to start a new one with Mei. Affection is also shown between the two as they hold hands during their escape and while they are trapped in bamboo. Furthermore, Jin solely focuses on Mei as they are trapped and is presented as being sentimental for the first time, which emphasises that he has changed and developed as a character.