Visual Poetry

Rating: 8/10 (29 July 2005)

"Hero" is a jaw-droppingly gorgeous film that is truly worth seeing for its lush production design alone. Director Zhang Yimou brings a visual elegance to the kung-fu genre film, and a magical realist sensibility to the narrative itself, the results of which are a very violent film where the violence seems to have consequences, and the line between hero and villain isn't so much a line as a vast field of shaded grey.
The film is reminiscent of "Rashomon" in its fragmented approach to telling its story; one is never sure whether or not the version he is hearing is the truth. That may be because in the world of "Hero," the truth is very open to interpretation--one man's noble act is another man's crime.
The film pays its respects to various art forms, all of which are compared to the artistry of swordplay: music, literature, dance. Just as a skilled swordsman can yield nearly unstoppable power, so can the artist impact the world around him.
No one will accuse Yimou of being a subtle director, and I do have to say that the continuous fighting gets ever so slightly monotonous. Yimou does a good job of combating this monotony by changing the color palettes and showcasing increasingly dazzling choreography, but when the character of Snow challenges the character of Broken Sword to a duel for what feels like the fiftieth time toward the film's conclusion, I sympathized with Broken Sword when he says, "Must violence always be the answer (paraphrased)." Still, this is a minor quibble, and one must also remember that this film is working within the confines of its genre, and that that's just how these films are.
Grade: A