Nine things you didn't know about "The House of Flying Daggers"

I really should be sleeping now. I'd love to be sleeping now, but I'm still bloated from a day of unspeakable gastronomic indulgence capped by almost single-handedly (not to denigrate bunj's contributions, but I think we know who had more rice and baby octopodes) upholding our party's honour at a Korean barbecue house. Still, how often do I get to celebrate my own brother's birthday? That's right: Once a year, tops, so I intend to make it count!

Sorry I didn't get to this earlier, but we all know my event-planning skills aren't the bestest. Chances are you probably know at least some of these facts--particularly those gleaned from the IMDB--but I'll be very surprised if anyone reading this knows all nine of them. Since there do exist even worse procrastinators than I and I never know what counts as a spoiler for some people, the cut tag is our friend. ( Auf eignem Gefahr hier klicken. )

What did I think of the film overall? I was less disturbed by the political themes than with Hero, but more annoyed by the breaks in continuity. A little poetic license is forgivable, but the twists of the finale were a bit too much to bear--in retrospect, that is. At the time, I was so completely absorbed by the ravishing mise and melodrama that even the distractions of the mentally unwell man in the preceding row couldn't pull me out of the film. And, like bunj, I was rooting for Andy "Not in the Face!" Lau Dak-wah's character throughout.