Hero
Two thousand years ago, the nation of China was divided into a number of warring states. The king of the Qin province wished to unify them all and bring about peace: unfortunately his noble objective could only be brought about through war and as a result he had made many enemies. When a nameless warrior arrives at the palace claiming that he had killed three of the most notorious assassins of the neighbouring Zhao kingdom, it appears that he has saved the king’s life. But could this supposed hero be yet another enemy who wants the king dead?
Hero is one of the three major martial arts films that have come out of China in the past six years: like its companions House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero combines picturesque photography, powerful drama and spectacular action scenes to create a truly memorable piece of Eastern cinema. Comparisons are perhaps inevitable considering that Hero shares the same director as House… and the same soundtrack composer as Crouching Tiger… but they are by and large justified.
Firstly, the camerawork is superb - the use of colour and gorgeous Chinese landscapes gives the whole film an almost dreamlike feel. What director Yimou Zhang does so well here is portray the epic (such as the battle scenes) and the details with equal skill: a mass army looks impressive enough, but the camera draws attention to the smallest details such as a drop of water or breath of wind, giving an overwhelming sense of natural perfection.
If you are not watching the film for the backgrounds you are probably paying close attention to the swordplay, so it is good to know that martial arts legend Jet Li is cast as the nameless character of the title. He is renowned for his fast moves, but there is also a lot of slow-motion photography that makes the combat seem like some sort of delicate ballet rather than violence: it is quite literally poetry in motion. As with much of the movement on screen, the fights are choreographed with absolute precision; surprisingly neither of the female leads had anything more than the most basic martial arts training prior to production, which is not once apparent during the film itself.
The grand scale of the film does give one shortcoming to the story however. In portraying the enormity of the events that unfold the individual personalities are left in the shade and the sheer visual beauty of the piece detracts from the human side of things. The main message of the film that is outlined by Qin’s king is that the greater good matters more than individual suffering; sadly this means that the characters are dwarfed by the film’s lofty ideas and it is sometimes difficult to connect with them at an emotional level. Similarly it is easy to get swept away by it all and miss finer points in the plot so you would do well to watch it a second time around to appreciate them.
In Summary
As a martial arts film, Hero is breathtaking thanks to the sumptuous photography and polished performances from its stars. From a character point of view it scores less highly but the sheer sweeping scale and striking camera work make it a visual feast that stands up well to repeat viewings.
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