Well worth the wait, "Hero" finally plays in our land
I feel like I have been waiting a long time to see this movie and that the trailer for "Hero" ("Ying xiong") has been teasing us for at least a year. I have to admit that I fully expected to see an epic full of battle scenes and massed armies of men. My mistake. This film from China is a pointed fable, distilled from legend that may well be myth, and with a point that may well be lost on Western audiences. This is clear from those viewers who are unwilling to accept the conventions of wire work in Chinese martial art pictures and whose standard of realism refuses to allow for the poetic ballet of combat.
The prologue makes it clear that this story takes place in China before it was China, when the land was made up of seven warring provinces and the King of Qin (Chen Dao Ming) dreamt of conquering the other six provinces and uniting the land. For years the king has been unable to have a peaceful night of sleep because there are three assassins who are out to kill him...
Blu-ray: I love this film so much but no lossless Chinese audio soundtrack is disheartening for the hardcore fans!
Beautiful, artistic, poetic...an enchanting martial arts film that will captivate you with every scene!
These are the words I feel about "HERO", the 2002 film directed by Zhang Yimou ("Curse of the Golden Flower", "The House of Flying Daggers" and "Happy Times") and a film that would feature cinematography by Christopher Doyle ("Chungking Express", "In the Mood For Love", "Fallen Angels", "Happy Together") and music by composer Tan Dan ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "The Legend of the Black Scorpion").
The film would also star Asia's top talents which include Jet Li ("The Warlords", "Fearless", "Once Upon a Time in China", "Fist of Legend"), Tony Leung Chiu Wai ("Lust, Caution", "Red Cliff", "Tokyo Raiders", "Infernal Affairs"), Maggie Cheung ("Ashes of Time", "Sausalito", "In the Mood for Love", "Comrades: Almost a Love Story"), Daoming Chen ("Peace Blossom", "My 1919', "Infernal Affairs III"), Zhang Ziyi ("House of Flying Dagger", "My Wife is a Gangster",...
A Visual Feast and a Cleverly Told Tale
Much as Ang Lee demonstrated his directorial virtuosity in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, Zhang Yimou has applied his magnificent talents to the martial arts genre with HERO. This is movie not only worth seeing, but worth watching two or three times, or more. Each viewing unveils new appreciation for Zhang's artistic direction, Chris Doyle's cinematography, Tan Dun's musical score, and Itzhak Perlman's violin performance, not to mention fresh insights into the story line and character interrelationships.
The story line is simple enough on its surface, based loosely on Chinese historical fact. The king of the Qin state seeks to unify the Seven Kingdoms some 2,000 years ago, and three assassins from the defeated Zhao state wish to kill him. An unknown warrior named Nameless, from the Qin state, succeeds in killing the three assassins and returns to collect his reward in an audience with the King. As we view segments of Nameless's explanation of how he defeated three such...
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