HERO
Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
Miramax Films
Grade: B+
Directed by: Zhang Yimou
Written by: Zhang Yimou, Li Feng, Wang Bin
Cast: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung Man-yuk,
Zhang Ziyi, Chen Daoming, Donnie Yen
Screened at: Loews E-Walk, NYC, 8/29/04
Your history teachers may have given you the same message
that they imparted to me in high school. History is interesting not
only for itself, i.e. allowing for exciting reading and intense
moviegoing, but also because the subject transcends itself as a
message for the present, since no matter how the customs and
technology change, events from even prehistoric times repeat
themselves century after century. Watching Zhang Yimou's
"Hero," you might think of how events in America, particularly
since 9/11, are a mirror of the happenings of far-away China
during the Third Century B.C. How so? Consider that the Bush
administration in the U.S., given the chance, would probably like
to unite the "freedom-challenged" countries not as annexations to
America but as representatives of American values. Iraq, then, is
hardly likely to become the 51st state (or the 52nd after
Afghanistan) but our president would like to "unify" that Middle
Eastern country with American values.
OK, this is farfetched, but look at what the king of Qin (Chen
Daoming) would like to do. Qin, which is now part of China
thanks in no small part to that regal presence, was a separate
nation over 2,000 years ago. A half dozen or so other kingdoms
existed in what is now China, speaking some nineteen different
dialects of what is now Chinese. The king's ambition was to unify
the entire land mass under his rule, just as Bush would like to
unite Iraq and Afghanistan under an umbrella of American
values. The king of Qin, like the president of the U.S., must be
careful to avoid assassination. While our chief executive
surrounds himself with secret service personnel, the king of Qin
is guarded over by a thousand troops. Moreover, no one given a
hearing by this king is allowed to come closer than 100 paces
from the king on fear of death–all to avoid the possibility of
regicide. Yet, lo, a simple sheriff without even a name of his
own, a man called Nameless (Jet Li) was invited to come ever so
much closer until he was within ten paces of the royal throne, an
easy distance to commit murder. Why did the king allow this
man to do this? Nameless claims to have killed three sword
masters who are enemies of the would-be emperor, top fighters
whose dispatch would make the king's task quite a bit easier.
"Hero" emerges as a Rashomon style of story wherein the king,
not quite willing to trust Nameless's story of unqualified bravery,
suggests something else: that Nameless is lying in order to be
allowed to get closer to the throne and that, therefore, Nameless
is an enemy of Qin. When it is revealed that Nameless is from
the nation of Zhou, at war with Qin, Nameless's story is revealed
to be full of holes.
As Nameless talks, director Zhang Yimou ("Raise the Red
Lantern") takes us to a dazzling, remote Chinese region full of
color, pomp, and the kind of swordplay that was introduced to
moviegoers with Ang Lee's masterful "Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon." In fact, as good as the story is, allowing the audience
to guess which of the Rashomon-style versions is true, "Hero"
exists primarily as a cinematographer's dream, an ideal
candidate for an Oscar for that very category. Battles take place
not between armies, but between Nameless and particular
swordmen sworn to kill him. (Think of Uma Thurman's situation
in "Kill Bill.") The chief rivals are Broken Sword (Tony Leung),
Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung) and Long Sky (Donnie Yen), all
three of whom were allegedly defeated and killed by Nameless,
who explains just how he was able to use psychology to
eradicate them. Ijn one situation, a swordsman's calligraphy
betrays him. In another case, since Broken Sword and Flying
Snow were a number together, Nameless is able to arouse their
jealousy.
The visuals are even more dazzling that what we got from the
"Lord or the Rings" trilogy, coming not simply from the martial
arts demonstrations which have the participants literally flying
across stretches of land, walking on water and turning huge
somersaults but, even more impressive, with the sights and
sounds of thousands of arrows all directed toward a single
building. In the movie's most colorful scene, the leaves, already
a natural shade of red, become drenched in a pool of the
deepest russet color you could imagine, dwarfing even some of
the visuals of Vincent Ward's "What Dreams May Come." Neither
Anglophilic period pieces like "Vanity Fair" and "Persuasion" nor
past Zhang Yimou's delightful films such as "Raise the Red
Lantern" can hold a candle to this most expensive Chinese movie
in history.
While one might have questioned the popularity of a pic with
subtitles, particularly one with little obvious resonance with the
present mores and folkways of people, "Hero" did top the box
office list on its opening weekend, number one and deservedly
so.
Rated PG-13. 96 minutes. © 2004 by Harvey Karten
at harveycritic@cs.com
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