Practicality, not propaganda

Rating: 10/10 (23 May 2008)

This is not a piece of communist propaganda. It *looks* like propaganda in order to get past the censors, but the underlying message is subversive. Look at the cold sterility of the imperial scenes, the facelessness of the imperial armies and servants, the isolation of the emperor. Look at Nameless' very namelessness, showing us the destruction of the individual that the emperor's plans have brought about. Look at the way the imperial empire crushes the calligraphy school, a place of learning and spirituality, and the master calligrapher's statement that the emperor's archers may destroy their school, but they can never destroy their culture. Look at the way the rebel Broken Sword remains the most wise and noble character in the film, and how his nobility, and the final nobility of Nameless, is not to kill for peace, but to die for it. And at the end, Nameless doesn't spare the emperor because he's been brought round to his point of view, he spares him because he sees that, thanks to Broken Sword's calligraphy, the emperor has finally seen the value of peace; and Nameless' final words are to exhort him to remember the terrible cost of his great plan.
Zhang Yimou has had a lot of trouble with the censors in his career. Before Hero he was known as a rebel, making dangerous, subversive movies, many of which are still banned in China. He hasn't suddenly turned his coat. He's learnt how to sneak his message past the censors.
Wherever you stand on the politics, Hero is a truly masterful film. The direction, cinematography and choreography are some of the most creative and beautiful in the history of cinema. And the acting is similarly masterful. Where most directors would have cast established wuxia artists, Zhang Yimou cast two of his favourite actors, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, who are usually to be found in highly psychological Hong Kong dramas, and it was a great decision. The two of them have the ability to break your heart and convey the most complex emotions with the tiniest changes in expression, and they play off each other wonderfully. No wuxia star could have done this so powerfully. Especially impressive is the subtle distinctions they make in their characterisation between the different tellings of the story.