This absurd love is a theme that can resonate with any viewer living on this particular planet! Who has never felt an irrational desire, or who has never made a conventionally unwise decision because of feelings for another person? And on the other hand, who can say he or she totally understands or grasps the profound depths of what it means to have love, or to be in love? One of the most remarkable things about true love is its absurdity. Take even the ultimate act of love mankind has seen: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) What an absurd notion! Why would God so love anything so deeply as to sacrifice His only son? Why would Jesus then love us so much that He would allow His own crucifixion? It is essentially an unanswerable question. We can never know just why God loves us so much as to die for us, and to resurrect us with Him.

On a human level, which House of Flying Daggers gives us, we understand that love is perceived differently by just about everyone. To some characters, their desire equals love. To others, sacrifice is equivalent to love. But on this human level, the characters ultimately make absurd decisions that are equally part selfish and part sacrificial. The absurdity of God’s love for us is different, for He unquestionably gives so much more than we can ever give, whereas the human love of this film is muddled and filled with hurt and uncertainty, God’s absurd love for mankind is selfless, and He loves with terrible clarity and resolve.