"Hero" – How Quick Thy Sword
by Homer Yen
(c) 2004
The martial arts genre is wonderfully transcended
by idealism, sacrifice, and romance in director
Zhang Yimou's saga of China some 2,000 years ago.
The movie is called "Hero," and the lineup of
Asian superstars can be considered the "Ocean's
Eleven" of Chinese films. Presented in Mandarin
with English subtitles, it is the Academy
Award-nominated picture for Best Foreign Film in
2002.
The Asian community has probably already seen
this, for the pirated copies immediately flooded
the DVD market just after its Chinese release
while Asian video stores already carry it on its
shelves. I saw it last year when a good friend
had lent me the DVD. On the 27" TV, the
presentation seemed two-dimensional and almost
boring. In fact, I couldn't immediately
understand what all of the hype was about. But
to see this glorious presentation on a full-scale
screen versus the small screen is like being at a
football game rather than watching it at home.
It is a world of difference and merits your time
and attention.
The story centers on a stirring conversation
between Nameless (Jet Li), an incredibly adept
sword fighter and the King of the Qin Province
(Chen Dao Ming). Nameless is a man of stoic
intensity who has been invited to drink with the
King because he had slain several of the King's
most hated enemies. The King is curious to know
how he accomplished this. Even this opening
scene is thrilling, as the drinking ceremony
requires Nameless to maintain a distance of 100
paces or be killed instantly by his guards.
We learn that the King is not a benevolent ruler.
He dreams of uniting all of China's warring
kingdoms under his rule no matter what the cost
(as a side note, although ruthless, he did
succeed in uniting China as one land, developed a
single currency, and created a common language
system). Nameless goes on to explain how he
vanquished foes such as Long Sky (Donnie Yen) who
is the master of the spear, Broken Sword (Tony
Leung) whose style of swordplay is betrayed by
his calligraphy skills, and Flying Snow (Maggie
Cheung) whose own martial arts skills are not to
be underestimated. And with each foe vanquished,
a flashback shows their encounter.
The fighting is deft and the choreography is
amazing. However, the tension never subsides.
Consider one of the first scenes in which
Nameless and Long Sky do battle as a blind man
plays his zither in the background as
counterpoint. These scenes are punctuated with a
rare combination balletic grace and dramatic
effect. With its lush imagery, overall breadth,
and changing color schemes, you'll certainly be
hard-pressed to find a film that is as sweepingly
beautiful. It is an enchanting and moving piece
of work.
The saga of China's nonage is a visually stunning
masterpiece that falls just short of perfection.
It is only marred by its own structure in which
several retellings are presented as the story
winds its way towards its ultimate truth. The
different points of view, unfortunately,
undermine the reality and the passion of some of
the relationships. And this causes the
characters to fall secondary to the intensity of
the cinematography. However, it is a glorious
epic production that shouldn't be missed.
Grade: A-
S: 1 out of 3
L: 0 out of 3
V: 2 out of 3
========== X-RAMR-ID: 38584 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1317891 X-RT-TitleID: 1131781 X-RT-AuthorID: 1370 X-RT-RatingText: A-
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