Beautiful, moving, historical fairy tale

Rating: Null/10 (26 September 2004)

This was known as "Hero" in US distribution.
The famous Chinese book on its history, "Three Kingdoms," begins with words something like this -- "It was ever thus -- China long divided must unite; long united, must divide."
This movie captures one phase of the efforts of one king, the Emperor of Qin, to unify a land of six warring kingdoms.
A notice at the end of the movie says that the events of history were treated "compositionally" meaning, I suppose, that several emperors who were instrumental in unifying China and the events of those eras were distilled into one.
The movie has a striking beauty and often a ballet-like motion all its own; some scenes are reminiscent of those in "Crouching Tiger..." in which a wire and flying seemed to take place. But many others are quite original, such as those seemingly shot from under the surface of a lake while the swordsman run and duel across its surface. There are many striking scenes -- the machines of war unleashing arrows; or horsemen riding with their lances and banners; or scenes inside the palace, the palace grounds, and soldiers in formation there.
"Hero" unfolds a story from several points of view, somewhat as "Rashomon" did. But "Rashomon" did that to raise the profound question of what is the nature of reality -- is there a single one or really multiple realities, each one dependent on who experiences it?
The alternative realities in "Hero" are not used for that effect or question, but as different hypothetical story versions, one set told by a swordsman who wants to kill the emperor and uses his versions to get closer to his quarry; the other versions are by the canny emperor who proposes the same events can be cast in a different way.
But "Hero" does raise some important questions -- when one leader wants to transform a country and end recurring warfare, is it justifiable to kill many innocents to accomplish that end? Does that accomplish the greater good? And when one's native land and one's people are endangered or killed by that emperor's actions, how justified is it to oppose him and his goal? And who suffers most from revenge? -- the target or the person harboring it? Are words and ideas ultimately far more powerful (and preferable) than using deadly instruments (the pen vs. the sword)?
Those questions have been faced in ancient times. They also can be quite pertinent today.