impressions of 'Hero' by Tsang Yimou, nom. Best Foreign Film

[foray]

Things I like:

. The new spin on the history of Qin Shih Huang Ti. This is the tyrant who ordered the making of the famous terracotta soldiers & The Great Wall. The film makes him out to be a hard king who is soft inside, and who only did what he did for a higher ideal i.e. peace. But history teaches us that he was a king obsessed with finding an elixir of life so he could be immortal. He was also a great despiser of culture (hence the caligraphy school scene in the film) and ordered the burial of scholars and burning of books. According to him, books corrupted the people's minds.
The actor who portrayed Tsang's version of Emperor Qin deserves accolades as he came across both vicious, sharp and compassionate.

. The melodrama of the martial arts action - this is what martial arts movies are traditionally like. Everything is over the top; however, they are based on legends that tell us the old masters truly could propel themselves in the air thru the manipulation of 'qi'.

. Colours, colours, colours! Obviously red is for the most passionate (and reckless) emotions displayed while the white robes indicate the truth.
In the scene where Maggie Cheung fights Zhang Zi Yi, the leaves are a symbol of death. For autumn was the period that prisoners were executed back then.

. The three movements, where three interpretations of the story are told, represent for me three things. They are all connected by the theme of Love. First, is the 'basest' of loves: the jealous and rash kind. Second, is love for each other. Third, is love for something Higher.

Go watch it.

foray

 

[brettig]

I reviewed an Aussie film today - Swimming Upstream
Tomorrow I'm going to review a Finnish film - Man Without A Past...meant to be some kind of surrealist, Lantanaish kinda thing, hope its good...

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

I haven't watched it, but it's got very mixed reviews here. Hero, I mean. The general concensus is that it's a good film, but all in all it could have been better, especially since a lot of talent (Zhang Yimou, Jet Li, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi and so on) was involved. However, if you're just dying for some more Crouching Tiger...

 

[foray]

I haven't watched those films you mentioned, betts.

yertle, was it Whang Yee-Ling?


foray

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

God, how did you know?

She's in a pretty bad mood these days, methinks.

 

[foray]

She gave Two Weeks Notice more stars than Gangs of New York. That chick has access to ganja, me thinks.


foray

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

I enjoyed Two Weeks' Notice. If she had access to ganja, the government would know. I have not seen Gangs of New York as it got a censorship rating here, so I'm waiting for the DVD.

 

[foray]

In any case, she's a lousy reviewer. Yes do watch Gangs of New York. Fantastic acting by Day-Lewis, just fantastic. He ought to get the Oscar, not Nicholson...

My back is aching.


furs

 

[TripThruUreWires]

i thought it was a well done movie.
it's interesting to contrast the traditional western definition of a "hero" to that of the East.

 

[foray]

Yes and the question a lot of us (viewers) were asking was, who was the real hero in the movie?

foray

 

[ouizy]

thank you foray - I will have to go check this out...

 

[cloudimani]

Watched it this afternoon on VCD (official release). God knows if I'll ever get to see it in the cinema

As already said, one of the most striking aspects of the film is its sheer beauty, the landscape of course is breathtaking, but the cinematography is amazing, some really neat touches throughout the film, the arrows flying is a sight to behold, and the swirling leaves create an amazing visual impact.

It is often the little touches that matter, and the idea of battling with a single drop of water is so wonderfully obscure, and yet so effective

One of the most notable things is the use of colour. Colour is everywhere here, and I really loved the way the different colours; red, blue, white, and green were used to identify the different concepts of how Nameless came to be sitting before the King.

Acting (yes there was some of that too ) I thought was also excellent. The main characters all shone brightly, and I loved the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) changes in character in each strand.

The seige is an amazing scene, the sheer scale of the army and the amount of arrows is incredible. As is the sight of Flying Snow and Nameless fending them off. The scene with Nameless laying waste to the library is also a fantastic set piece.

I dont suppose its to everyone's taste though, it certainly was to mine. People seem to tend to be put off by the "flying" but I quite like it, the whole mysticism of the martial arts is intriguing really

So I suppose you could say I kind of liked it

 

[deep]

I look forward to seeing this film.

I enjoy foreign language films. (non ?English)

Many are screened in my area.

I have recently seen two excellent French films.


1. He loves me, not. Starring Audrey Tautou (Amelie)

2. Chaos

I enjoyed them both. I think Chaos is a most outstanding film.

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

Ooh, He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not was excellent. How can our darling Amelie be...nevermind.

 

[deep]

This is a love story or not





check out Chaos
it is not a male friendly film.


i will see Hero