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Laramie Movie Scope:
Hero (Ying xiong)

Operatic, Shakespearean kung-fu flick

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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August 28, 2004 -- “Hero” (Ying xiong) is a big, epic martial arts drama reminiscent of opera, or Shakespearean plays about bygone kings, assassins, star-crossed lovers and heroes. While it maintains enough Oriental inscrutability to keep Western audiences off balance, it is a colorful visual feast with some universal themes appealing to a wide audience.

Jet Li stars as the mysterious man with no name, who receives a personal audience with the King of Qin, one of seven kingdoms that occupied the territory of China 2,000 years ago. The king has a dream of conquering the other kingdoms and uniting the Chinese people, giving them a single government, a single written language, and an end to the constant wars among the various kingdoms. Three dangerous assassins, powerful enough to defeat entire armies, threaten the king. When the king learns that a mysterious hero has killed all three of the assassins, he summons the hero, called Nameless, to come to the palace and drink with him, only 10 paces from the throne. This is an unprecedented honor for Nameless, a man of low birth, but amazing fighting skills.

As the king and hero talk alone in the great hall, Nameless tells the story of how he killed the three mighty assassins, but the wise king begins to wonder if there isn't a lot more to these stories than Nameless is revealing. The stories that unfold reveal tragedy, revenge, love, and finally, a vision of a better future for the land now known as China. The stories, shown in flashback scenes, reveal different versions of the truth. Each story is dominated by a single color, one story is drenched in red, another in blue, another in green, and so on. Some flashbacks are even shown in black and white. The colors seem to represent emotions. Director Zhang Yimou (“Raise the Red Lantern,” “Ju Dou,” “To Live”) has always been known for his masterful use of color, and he outdoes himself in this film.

Another outstanding aspect of this film is the music. The music sounds a lot like the great score of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and that's because the composer is the same, Dun Tan. In that other outstanding martial arts film, a world class musician was recruited to play the cello solos, Yo-Yo Ma. In this film, the virtuouso Itzhak Perlman plays the violin solos. The music is haunting and filled with emotion. A large number of wire stunts are used in this film. People are flying all over the place. The fight scenes, like the rest of the film are far more fanciful than realistic. In fact, martial arts fighting does not play as large a role in the film as you might expect. The movie is more about the characters and their relationships to each other than it is about action scenes. It is also about the stuff legends are made of.

Jet Li is an actor with limited range, but he isn't asked to cover much emotional range in this film. Neither is Daoming Chen, who plays the king. The main acting duties are performed capably by Tony Leung Chiu Wai, who plays the assassin Broken Sword, Maggie Cheung, who plays the assassin Flying Snow, and the lovely Ziyi Zhang of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” who plays Broken Sword's friend, Moon. While some of the bizarre plot turns will have Western audiences scratching their heads, there is no denying the emotional power of this film. As with most martial arts films, deadly fights break out for no apparent reason. It goes something like this, “I love you. Now let's fight to the death!” Sometimes the Oriental mind really is inscrutable. Still, this is clearly one of the best martial arts films in years. I think “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” was better because the plot was more cohesive, and “Iron Monkey” had better fight scenes. “Hero” has a compelling, complex story, good action, good acting, and it looks fantastic. There are few martial arts movies this accomplished, including “Kill Bill.” It rates a B+.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Copyright © 2004 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to) referring to)