“Hero” is the
most expensive Chinese film ever made. If my
memory serves me correctly, it is also the
highest grossing film in its native country as
well as one of the most critically acclaimed. It
was only natural that it found its way to
America, and one can only thank God that Quentin
Tarantino saw it. Miramax had the rights to the
film, but were planning to edit it (dumb it
down) for American audiences. Tarantino, a fan
of Asian cinema and martial arts films, said
he’s attach his name to it as the “presenter” of
the film as long as it wasn’t chopped up.
Miramax agreed, and thankfully, “Hero” comes to
us in intact form.
Hero is the story of a warrior named Nameless
(Jet Li) who claims to have killed three
assassins that have been threatening the king
for years. He is granted an audience with the
king and is asked to tell the story of what
happened. The movie takes place in flashbacks,
where Nameless battles the three warriors. The
twist comes when the king doesn’t believe his
stories, and then tells what he thinks actually
happened. Seeing the same stories told with
different motives from different points of views
is fascinating and resembles “Rashomon,” the
famous Japanese film where three people confess
to the same murder.
Although it is advertised as an action film,
“Hero” is actually a drama. It’s not about the
fighting, but about the people doing the
fighting. The cast is wonderful and each makes
the character his own. The action is of the
“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” variety, with
the characters defying gravity, running on
water, and deflecting hundreds or arrows with a
single swipe of their sword. While I’m on the
subject or arrows, it’s worthy to note that
“Hero” contains many, many arrows, many real,
and even more computer generated. The image of
thousands of arrows darkening the sky is an
impressive one, and the director should be
congratulated. The director of cinematography
deserves, well, an Oscar. The look of the film
is breathtaking. While of the film itself if not
the best ever made, it’s definitely in the top
20 best looking films ever made. Few films can
capture battle and character quite like “Hero.”
Few even come close to matching the symbolism
and grace that it contains. Few have used color
as effectively as “Hero.” The themes of the film
are open-ended, leaving each viewer to make up
his mind as to what this film really is about.
This could be an awful lot for the mainstream
audiences. Add this to the fact that it is a
foreign film that is SUBTITLED (by the group of
people who left 30 seconds into the film, this
was obviously not known by many), and you have a
film that is a mystery to many American
audiences, but a great change of pace for
others. Michael Bay may be raking in box office
receipts, but it’s these films that deserve that
success.
“Hero” is a fantastic film that sags a little in
the middle but more than makes up for it. For
those with the patience to understand it, it is
a trip well worth taking.
©
Written by Jacob Hall
TC Candler's Comment
"Hero" is a film that will appeal to martial
arts fans. But I think most others will secretly
be bored by this film. Why secretly? Because
this is the kind of film that takes itself so
seriously that one can't help but feel that it
possesses a deeper intellect. People will feel
that they should like this movie so as not to
appear stupid. However, I doubt very many of
them will actually go out of their way to sit
through it again.
Richard
Propes' Comment
n/a
