Use of sound in House of Flying Daggers

Analysis of the use of sound
House of Flying Daggers
Yimou Zhang
2004 China

House of flying Daggers uses both enriching colour and intriguing sounds to capture and maintain its audience. The smooth mixture of diagetic sound and non-diagetic music allows the spectator to follow what is happening, whilst forming opinions of the characters and situations.

The scene of the bamboo forest fight begins with silence. Mei has just left Jin and segregated herself in the forest, and the silence shows her isolation from the world. Diagetic sounds are introduced in the form of birds, to establish the setting to the audience. The effect of this is that the audience feels nervous because of the silence, as something is bound to break it soon. The spectator is also being manipulated to feel sad at her segregation, as this abrupt loss of music shows Mei’s emptiness at being separated from Jin, and so the spectator begins to wish that he will come looking for her, even though up until now he has been viewed a the bad guy.

The silence is then broken by the diagetic sound of bending bamboo and swords. This sudden change puts the spectator on edge as they are informed by the eerie swooshing of bamboo upon Mei that this is an enemy attack, not Jin re-appearing as hoped. Her loud screaming punctuates the quiet, and so the scene is filled with louder and fiercer sounds. The sounds of bamboo and of the blades of swords are exaggerated, and so the audience is put in Mei’s perspective, where her hearing would be heightened to try and protect herself, and also because she is believed to be blind.

The diagetic sounds of heavy breathing, punching, bamboo and swords are the only sounds, which mean the spectator has no non-diagetic music to distract them from the action on screen; the focus is fully on the fight.

The first non-diagetic sound is introduced in the form of a high pitched whistle. The sound is uncomfortably high, and so puts the spectator on edge. It is used as a re-affirming sound as well however, and seems to spur on Mei to fight harder, giving the audience hope. The sound also hints at another side to Mei. Throughout the film she has been shown without music, implying her life should be taken at face-value. However, the introduction of this strong, spurring sound suggests that there may be deeper layers to her character.

The diagetic sounds of the soldiers fighting (bending, climbing and sliding down bamboo, swords, heavy breathing and grunts) seem to reach a climax, which alerts the spectator to the end of the fight nearing. All sound suddenly drops to leave the audience, again, in Mei’s perspective, as she is shown (through sound) to be listening hard to predict the soldiers next movements. The spectator is in Mei’s perspective, so they are manipulated to be on her side, hoping for her prevail.

Non-diagetic music is finally introduced, as the camera follows Jin’s entrance. The audience are relieved to see him, as the music informs them that he is there to rescue Mei, not help the soldiers. The music is reminiscent of a halleluiah chorus, and so assures the audience that he will save the day. The music occasionally slips into minor chords, which also informs the audience that his arrival is bitter-sweet and is punctured with sorrow/regret.

The music contrasts with the diagetic sounds in the scene. The serene song that entered at Jin’s arrival seems strange whilst it is paired with the sounds of swords and war cries. This subtly suggests to the audience that all is still not what it seems, and that there will still be twists in the plot to come.

Finally, this non-diagetic music can be compared to that of Lord of the Rings. Both have a biter-sweet song playing as the main characters are running through a forest to escape an attack. This furthers the idea that sadness is destined to follow the bamboo forest fight scene in House of Flying Daggers, and the music prepares the audience for what is to come.