a great dramatic film

Rating: 10/10 (29 August 2006)

most of the reviews of this film referring to its politics, that i've read so far, have failed to see it in what once was called 'a world-historical perspective'. first, it should be pointed out that all films by Chinese - including those made in hong Kong, Taiwan, and even in the west - avoid direct presentation of domestic political issues. i don't know why, and it's too broad a topic to discuss here. but i mention it because when a Chinese film reflects Chinese politics in a strong way, even if indirectly, we should definitely pay attention and give it a chance.
secondly, i remind the reader that during the 20th century c.e., the Chinese suffered through two major revolutions, two civil wars, and two world wars, not to mention the chaos of the gang of four's 'cultural revolution' and the disaster in tianaman square.
throughout this period the Chinese experimented with a different governmental and economic structure with each of these bloody affairs, tampering with democracy, fascism, socialism, Marxist-socialism, Stalinist-Marxist socialism, 'back-to-the-farm' cadre organizations similar to the kibbutzim of Israel, and western style capitalism. no other highly populated nation in the world has suffered through so many violent changes in so short a time - ever.
'hero' is a film about forgiveness. the Chinese will never progress if they simply dismiss the revolution of '49 as a big mistake; nor can they continue to follow Maoist state-socialism. if they make tianamen square a critical political issue, they could end up back in civil war; but no one in china is likely to forget it.
so what else can they do, but to admit that everyone was wrong, and everyone was right. few Chinese participated in these violent crises in order to turn a profit - i.e., the instigators of all these violent moments hoped to produce good - and usually did, if only in a small way. if the Chinese can forgive each other of their own past, they will certainly produce the world's next super-power - and they know it. and that's what this film is about.
the cinematography is beautiful; the editing may seem a little leisurely, but i found it graceful. the acting is highly impressive, and the actors have a fine script with sparse dialog to work with. the story is moving and elegiac, but never 'sad'. it is, after all, a movie about hope.
as for jet Li fans - well, this is not a 'jet Li action movie'. this is just a great dramatic film that happens to star jet Li - and does a great job with it.
see this without preconceptions; and i am not saying forget the politics - i'm saying, think about it.
that's what a great dramatic film is supposed to do - get us to think about it.