Cinema Tuesdays Review

A Hero Defined
By Nathan Cone

Advertised on the box as being a film for those who found "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" amazing, director Zhang Yimou's "Hero" is less about personal relationships, than personal sacrifice. As Yimou explains in a making-of documentary featured on the recent DVD release of the film, the word "hero" in Chinese is the same whether you're referring to an individual or a group. And in "Hero," star Jet Li may be the focal point of the heroism referred to in the film, but it is not his sacrifice alone that defines the story.

The movie's story is told like a legend, set some 2,000 years ago, during China's Warring States period. The ruthless King of Qin (Chen Dao Ming) is setting out to conquer all of these states, and a nameless warrior (Jet Li) from Zhou has come to assassinate him. As the king questions Nameless, we slowly learn the series of events that enabled this assassin to carry out his task. These events are told Rashomon-style through a series of flashbacks. Some of what happens in them may have indeed taken place, or none of it. Eventually, the king offers his own version to Nameless of what he thinks has happened, and it is his story that resonates with the most truth.

Supporting performances are given by Zhang Ziyi (of "Crouching Tiger" fame), Tony Leung, and Maggie Cheung, whose performance I found to be the most emotionally satisfying of the bunch. There's also a great fight scene between Jet Li and Donnie Yen, who last appeared together in "Once Upon a Time in China, Part II." Their fight is staged in their minds, and we see them leaping through the air and beating away raindrops like they were blobs of jelly. Color-themed sets and costumes are used to illustrate scenes of passion, vulnerability, truth, and nobility. There are plenty of beautiful moments in the film, including a fight among the falling leaves between Ziyi and Cheung, and the sound effects in these scenes are also impressive, especially when heard on a surround-sound system.

"Hero" was nominated for a 2002 Academy Award as Best Foreign Film, but was only given a wide release this year, billed as "Quentin Tarantino Presents 'Hero'." The "Kill Bill" director does appear on this DVD, in a short feature called "Inside the Action: A Conversation with Quentin Tarantino and Jet Li." It's obvious that QT is a Jet Li fan, and loves "Hero," and this 13-minute-long feature starts out good, but inexplicably derails from the interview format about 6 minutes in, and becomes a press package with other stars of the movie chiming in. The DVD also includes an informative backstage look at the making of "Hero," and a storyboard-to-film comparison feature.

As gorgeous as a film as "Hero" is, despite its 99-minute running time, it could have been slightly shorter, perhaps due to the "legend"-like nature of the story. It does not have quite the emotional heft of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," but it is its visual equal. And though it is not necessarily the intent of the filmmaker, there are interesting parallels with the king's plan to unite China and the current White House administration's foreign policy, which should provide plenty of coffee-table discussion amongst viewers!

12/15/04

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