House of Flying Daggers shows Zhang's attachment to the traditional Chinese Wu Xia Pian sword genre previously tackled to great acclaim in his 2003 blockbuster, Hero.
As the film was given its world premiere, Beijing Weekend caught up with China's most celebrated director to ask him about his latest movie.
Q: How do you compare Hero and House of Flying Daggers as both are large-scale martial art films?
A: They are different styles. Hero is somewhat avant-garde, but House of Flying Daggers is a typical mainstream commercial film.
In fact House of Flying Daggers is a love story in the form of a martial arts film. The film takes the viewer on an emotional journey into the heart of passion. You'll see how three people suffer because of their love for the other and how much they can endure. Love tears us apart, yet we are ready to sacrifice everything for it.
As is true for most of the martial arts novels, the story is totally an invention of imagination. And then inject elements of action to punctuate the romantic saga. It was very important for me to do something new with a traditional martial arts film.
Q: Why are you so interested in martial arts films? Will you shoot more films in the genre?
A: Of course I will. Martial arts films are full of possibilities and I want to exploit those. It is an endless challenge for a director's imagination, for instance, to create unique and new visual and acoustic effects.
Q: So what parts of the movie reveal innovation in House of Flying Daggers?
A: I think two segments: the heroine's dance in the Peony Pavilion at the start of the film and the fight in the bamboo forest in the middle of the story.
Q: Some say the content of film is inane and empty. What do you think of that?
A: I don't agree. I often joke that there are two endless sentences in film reviews: "The plot is empty. The characters need strengthening. " I think that the evaluation itself is empty.
I will never think of such words. In fact House of Flying Daggers is one of my few movies with complicated plots. There is always suspense -until the last moment, the audience is left wondering if the flying dagger will kill.
Of course I find unsatisfactory details everywhere in the movie, but movies can never be made without regrets. This is its rule and magic.
Q: What if the movie fails?
A: You mean the box office? It is normal that a movie gets low box office revenue. But if it does fail, I will not feel pity since we, especially Beijing New Picture Film Co have tried our best. There are many uncontrollable things, for instance, pirated DVDs will still be the biggest barrier. Nevertheless, I think we took the right direction and I will not be discouraged and stick to it.
Some say that it is a miracle that Hero has made a box office record of 250 million yuan (US$30 million). If House of Flying Daggers again earns more than 80 million, it will prove such a thing is no long a miracle in China. I believe this will give us inspiration. Our movie market really can be big, but only if we have good products and promotions.
Q: Japanese and Korean movies are growing very fast. What do you think of the movie industries in those two countries?
A: I notice one feature of Korean movies. That is, most Korean movies are usually successful on the domestic market first and then head for the international market. In contrast, many young directors in China still follow the old path of fifth generation directors -- to send their movies to international movie festivals to win awards first and then explore the domestic market. I think the most important thing is to get the support of the domestic audience and success in domestic market.
Q: What's next after House of Flying Daggers?
A: I am now preparing a literary film. I try large-scale commercial movies with big investments and at the same time I explore small-scale art movies. It is very hard to shoot a successful commercial movie. I would be exhausted to death if I kept working under the goal of "large scale, high box office. "
(Beijing Weekend July 20, 2004)
