It's all Japanese to me

Monday night I watched my first movie entirely in Japanese. I had seen previews on rental DVDs for a Chinese movie called Lovers (American release title is House of Flying Daggers). I assumed that since it was a DVD I would have my choice of Chinese, Japanese, English, and probably Spanish and French as well. Teach me to assume anything in Japan! I indeed had language choices: Mandarin, Cantonese, or Japanese. Crap! Figuring since I rented the damn thing I might as well at least try it, I watched in Japanese. I surprised myself by actually following the dialogue enough to enjoy it. Obviously I didn't catch every word, and I have only a rough idea of the political intrigue, but I was never completely lost either.

My language issues aside, it was an absolutely beautiful movie. I highly recommend it just for the costuming, scenery, and choreography. At times the fight scenes were so highly stylized they reminded me of the near-dancing of stage fighting in Broadway musicals. The action was surreal like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but I thought it was more aesthetically pleasing. Complete eye candy.