Thread: The House of Flying Daggers is Pretty in Pink

Greg Arganda
FILM 160/8290
12/1

The House of Flying Daggers
is
Pretty in Pink
a film comparison

Even the ultra violence in The House of Flying Daggers cannot keep the film from being nearly thematically in sync with John Hughes movie Pretty in Pink. For all of there minor differences and the distance and time between the settings of both films, the unrequited love, the love triangle and the class clash are themes that run throughout both the films and are done in the same ways. Even the characters themselves are nearly identical from a broad sense that each of them plays their roles in the films and each mirror one another. Jin is Blane, Mei is Andie and Leo is Duckie with a worse attitude a knife chucking attitude. Which makes me wonder if the director and creator of The House of Flying Daggers took notes from John Hughes when making the film because of how alike they truly are.

Leo is in love with Mei, has been for years, three years to be exact, it is downright odd that Mei does not love Leo the same way because that is exactly what happens to Duckie and Andie (The House of Flying Daggers, 2004). Maybe it is different that it is not clearly set-up that Leo could have been Mei's friend for years, but them being part of the same faction is a huge indicator that they could be secret best friends for life. We are not talking Beavis and Butthead friends who hate each other, we are talking about a close-nit group of rebels who even though they are anti-government, they are still very close to each other because they want the government out and how do the rebels get something done? Unity, the same unity found in Duckie laying beside Andie, consoling her problems and seeking to be more than just her friend and failing to do so because she just likes him as a friend no matter how futile the effort. These movies are almost absolute copies of each other when it comes to lover boys not getting the love back in return.

Even the love triangles are absolutely the same, Mei loves Jin, Leo's the nerdy friend who can't seem to get Mei to love him no matter how much he loves her (The House of Flying Daggers, 2004). That scene in Pretty in Pink where Duckie finds out that Andie is going on a date with Blane and becomes enraged saying "if you got any troubles, don't come crying on my shoulder" because of his jealousy which is a replica of Leo confronting Mei over rejecting him for Jin (Pretty in Pink, 1986). Duckie's speech about not ever being a shoulder to cry on is Leo's throwing a dagger into Mei's heart. Duckie and Leo act the same way to being shot down by the love interest, they lash out against the person that they love in a jealous rage. Childish in their stubborn selfishness in wanting their women yet powerful in their forms of harming the love interests. The main love interests Jin and Blane both share the dangerous rebel style of character which is an on-going theme throughout the films because they are from different classes than the women.

The love both Mei and Andie share are taboo because they are structured in a way that it is a clash of classes, the old Romeo and Juliet theme of where the lovers are a part of feuding factions. Andie is aware of how rich Blane is, the thing is is that Blane's friends and family are the taboo nature of things because of how uncompromising they are about not welcoming Andie to be anywhere near Blane because they believe her to be trailer trash (Pretty in Pink, 1986). This is exactly the same for Mei, whose group is unwilling to accept Jin even though Mei is in love with him, they want him dead. Mei is a rebel for not only being a member of a rebel faction, but for letting Jin live and trying to get him to safety just like Blane who rebels against the wishes of his friends who don't want him near Andie and ends up with her anyways, symbolizing his descent from a rich bastard to a rebel with love from what his friends would call trailer trash. Something as complex as enemies loving each other seemed to be simply the same between these movies because the characters are the same, they have the same problems and make-up.

The thing that makes these themes so much alike are the characters, Jin is Blane, Leo is Duckie and Mei is Andie. Jin's from the rich corrupt side, yet he loves someone from the poor side just like Blane. To both of them it seems like the class difference will be a huge deal but in the end love conquered for both of them. Leo is a jealous lover of all things Mei and cannot stand being rejected exactly like Duckie. They both are the nerdy friends of the babe who is into someone else. Mei who comes from the poor side loves Jin, Jin's a hot piece of man meat from the wrong side of the tracks and she likes that, she's totally unwilling to turn on him for being on the opposing side. The same opposing side that would see someone like Andie not be able to hook-up with someone like Blane. These characters interweave in these complex themes, the characters themselves being even more the same than the themes themselves.

Six thousand miles of water and earth between film locations couldn't even keep Pretty in Pink and House of Flying Daggers from being nearly identical thematically. The films are so identical that it makes one wonder if Zhang Yimou was secretly taking notes from John Hughes in the making of his film because even though Yimou's film came out eighteen years later it feels like I am watching the same movie. Unrequited love is the same theme used in both movies, they both have guys loving someone that don't love them back. The love triangle is the same theme as well with the exception of the guy from Stargate wanting to sleep with Andie for a second, Mei is involved all the same in three way hell. Something as detailed as a rich person loving a poor person must be different between two movies right? Wrong! These movies follow the same archetype to a T. They all may have different skin color, accents and birthplaces, but that does not change the fact that The House of Flying Daggers is Pretty in Pink, or should I just call both of the films The House of Flying, Pink Daggers?

LOL I know man, I was just trying to do give shit to James Spader, I love the guy.

Originally Posted by stealthborn

You know, I never thought about these comparisons before! This certainly caught me off guard! Now when I watch this film, I'll be imagining Molly Ringwald like never before! lol! Great and fun comparison Greg! Oh, and the guyn from Stargate you're thinking of is James Spader.