epic

Rating: 10/10 (23 December 2007)

Anyone who thinks this film is pro-fascist or making apologies for the Communist government of China knows dip about history and less about politics.
If this film were but apology for central government, the Hero would not have received a hero's funeral. The whole point of this finale is that the characters have all backed themselves into terrible corners, and st least one of them has to die to allow any opportunity for change for the others. Only in this way can history be allowed to be the record of human decision-making again; and all involved in the finale understand this, even the Emperor, who by then knows he has allowed his passion for order to create suffering for too many people to hope for history's forgiveness. Thus the Hero's funeral procession becomes a march into history itself, an admission that what at the time seems grand design will also fade into a past only poorly remembered. Politics is not history, it is whatever can be accomplished in the moment.
The drama of this film works that in in subtle and remarkable ways, becoming a film about memory and achievement; and the visuals emphasize this beautifully. And there is the acting and direction - splendid throughout.
A thoughtful, troubling, beautiful epic.