"Early in Zhang Yimou's 'House of Flying Daggers,' the hero, Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro), unsheathes a sword to slice the buttons off a showgirl's robe. This scandalizes onlookers despite the setting - a brothel. Later, the drunken Jin pulls the dancer to the ground, flips her over and tears her dress. The scene is tame by Western standards; not much is revealed beyond shoulders and prettily disheveled hair. Still, Jin's display of lust is an expression of a significant, if subtle change that is starting to brew in Chinese film," Jean Tang reports in the New York Times.