Defines the true meaning of art in film...

Rating: 10/10 (13 April 2005)

I never even saw this movie in theatres, and my sister wanted to see this when it was available for rent and I still didn't really want to see it. I thought it was going to be a pointless film showing off the vast array of wild moves that martial artists are capable of. Yet, when we rented it, I sat down and saw it. I was truly in awe when I did, it's one of the two movies that have actually gotten that reaction from me. Yes, the theme is complicated, and the movie itself is hard to follow (if you don't pay close attention)-the only inferring factor I've found is that people seem to focus too hard on the subtitles, or from what I know of. But, in all honesty, I appreciate art in true form; this is a piece of it that I highly appreciate for many reasons, the reasons being that this has an elegant storyline (depicting the birth of a nation: China), with each story being beautifully told with a predominant colour to emphasize the mood), the astonishing fight scenes (the movie, surprisingly, was not built upon one fight scene after another... which made them even more enjoyable to watch), the fluent dialogue (though all of it was subtitled-thank God, I hate dubbing in film-if you paid well enough attention to it without being distracted from the overall beauty of the movie, you'd understand that it was worded and translated masterfully), the scenery used, and the brilliant cinematography, which goes hand in hand with what I said about the colours. There's not much else I can say without spoiling at least something about the movie... but I recommend this for anyone who appreciates a brilliant piece of art shown through film, as well as follow along with a movie that has a rather sporadic way of storytelling and subtitles... whole-heartedly. 10/10 - This definitely is my favourite movie of all time!