Opening Sequence (00:00:00- 00:07:12)
The look of the opening titles to the film set up the setting and aesthetics of it. The background used is very like traditional Chinese calligraphy paper and is used as a way to write calligraphy on it for the contexts of the story. The text written is done in traditional Chinese and isn’t simplified due to it being set during an era when it didn’t exist. Furthermore, the text appears from left to right, being read from top to bottom as this is how Chinese is read. All of this sets up to tell us that the story that’s about to be told is going to be a traditional one. On a separate point, the colour of the text is red, which could link to sex and violence, both of which are prominent in the film (especially violence).
Later in the sequence, once we move to the pavilion, the look of the scene completely changes from having a fairly muddy and dark colour palette to a much brighter palette with a wider variety of colours used. The clothes that Jin wears are long and baggy, separating him from everyone else in the scene who are wearing shorter length clothes. This makes him stand out as the main character. Moreover, when Mei appears, she also has long and baggy clothes and so the same effect is given to her as well. Mei’s appearance is very luxurious and delicate to reflect on her beautiful talents. She has very white make up on which makes her look like a doll, which is relevant to Chinese culture at this time as having lighter skin meant that you were higher up in the social class due to it implying that you did not have to work hard out in the sun. Furthermore, Mei’s status as a member of the Flying Daggers is foreshadowed by her blending into the background of the scene, much like how she is trying to blend in with the other girls in the pavilion to infiltrate the army.
Echo Game Sequence (00:10:33- 00:19:22)
The building that this sequence takes place in is designed with classic Chinese architecture in mind, as this film takes place during a time where art culture was becoming more and more important in China, so the pavilion has lots of art around it as well as staples of Chinese architecture such as columns with art on them and blue fencing. This look gives the pavilion a sense of wealth to it, which is also matched by the people watching the game that are wearing bright fancy clothes as well to signify wealth. Furthermore, the drums used for the game have pastel colours which art of flowers on them to also present wealth. All of this helps to separate Leo in the scene as he is in a dark green uniform to contrast between the bright colours of the pavilion and the darker nature of the army/ government.
This is the first fight scene in the film, and so it’s the first time the traditions of Wuxia fighting are employed. For example, flexible swords are used in the fight which are a tradition of China and Chinese storytelling. Furthermore, is is the first time where the film almost acts as a different type of world where physics behave differently, which is another tradition of Chinese storytelling. However, the shot where there are beans all around Mei in slow motion is very reminiscent of the 1999 film ‘The Matrix”, showing that is film has been influenced by western culture in a way in which western audiences will be able to relate more to the film.
Bamboo Fight (01:03:03- 01:10:20)
The part about this scene which separates it from the rest of the film is the abundance of bamboo in the scene. This is done to further drive home that this film is a traditional Chinese story as China has the largest amount of bamboo in the world and is a staple of the country. With so much bamboo, this means that the colour palette of the scene is mostly green (a darker green to be specific). Green usually indicates life, however, here the green is used to indicate that the army soldiers are coming and that they are surrounding Mei and Jin. The bamboo is also used to showcase that Mei is gradually losing the fight while she is on her own as the bamboo is splintered and broken completely.
All of the costumes in this scene have purpose. Firstly, Mei is wearing men’s clothing in this scene and so that masculates her. Secondly, Jin wears clothes that are completely different to everyone else’s clothes. This makes it so that Jin stands out as being a true individual and that he has no allegiance to anyone. The soldiers have their green costumes which blend into the bamboo, making it so that they seem hidden and that they could be anywhere. The same can be said for the Flying Daggers, which have a brighter shade of green for their clothing, but it’s still as if they are hiding in the forest and use their clothes to be more secluded.
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