Hero
Directed by: Zhang Yimou
Starring: Jet Li, Daoming Chen, Donnie Yen, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung
Rated: PG-13 for stylized martial arts violence and a scene of sensuality.
Parental Notes: The violence in this movie is all heavily stylized and largely bloodless. This should be fine for preteens and up, although more mature kids will appreciate the philosophy more.
The success of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and the heavy influence of Hong Kong martial arts movies on Hollywood action flicks make it clear that there’s a wide audience for such movies here. The dreamy, slow-motion, physically impossible martial arts, the angst and passion of the characters, and the gorgeous landscape shots have bled over from Chinese cinema to American Cinema. “Hero,” like “Crouching Tiger,” is full of a dream-like beauty rarely seen in Hollywood movies and is sure to please fans of this heavily stylized moviemaking.
“Hero” is based on historical events, but has the feeling of a myth. It takes place before China was unified under a single ruler. The Emperor of Qin (Daoming Chen) is determined to unite the six warring kingdoms into a single country with a single language, even if he has to kill thousands of people to do it. This has made him the target of numerous assassination attempts.
As the film opens, a nameless warrior (Jet Li) travels to see the Emperor of Qin. Nameless has slain the three best assassins in all of the six kingdoms: Sky (Donnie Yen), Broken Sword (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung). As Nameless tells the story of how he defeated them by turning them against each other, we see the story in flashbacks. Nameless is allowed to approach closer to the throne for each assassin he has destroyed, and soon he is within ten feet of the Emperor.
The Emperor, however, met Flying Snow and Broken Sword when they attempted to assassinate him three years before and doesn’t believe Nameless’ story. He tells his version of what he thinks happened, and we get to see his retelling. With each retelling (there are more after this first two) and expansion on the story of what happened, we get to know Nameless better and learn his real purpose at the palace.
“Hero” will draw plenty of comparisons to “Rashomon” for its use of flashbacks and different versions of the same story. However, the core of the film is its visual poetry. This is not a movie about truth and deception, as “Rashomon” was. This is a movie about the power of ideals told with a breathtakingly beautiful style.
There are so many visually compelling scenes that it’s difficult to choose just a few to describe. The fight between Nameless and Sky in an outdoor chess and tea house during a rainstorm is astonishing, particularly when Nameless launches himself at Sky with such speed that the raindrops he brushes aside scatter like sparkling gems. No doubt the Wachowski Brothers wish their bullet time moves in “The Matrix” had been that beautiful. Later, Flying Snow and Broken Sword’s young servant Moon (Zhang Ziyi) battle among autumn trees in a scene of astonishing grace. Does it matter that swinging a sword around can’t possibly cause those golden leaves to sweep into the air like a startled school of fish? Of course not, any more than it matters that the leaves change color to blood red when the loser of the fight falls to the ground. This isn’t about realism, it’s about spectacle and wonder.
Everything is allegory and metaphor, from the impossible grace of the martial arts to the colors the people wear in the different versions of the story. The ultimate message of the film is one that will be familiar to Star Trek fans: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” It is awful to be in the small group and have your needs and desires outweighed, but it may be necessary for the good of the many. The characters in “Hero” ultimately come to realize this and while it grieves them they know their sacrifice is worthwhile.
This is not a movie for folks who are just interested in action. There’s a hefty dose of political philosophy here and at times the dialog borders on the pretentious. If you thought “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” had too much talking and not enough action, “Hero” is not your cup of tea.