One of the most beautiful films ever made

Rating: 9/10 (2 May 2004)

Ying xiong, or Hero, is one of the most visually beautiful films I've ever seen. The cinematographer is to be congratulated, certainly, but the film's visual design likely springs from the director's imagination. Each shot is brilliantly conceived and composed for color, movement and light. The director, Yimou Zhang, does for drapery in film what Sandro Bottecelli did for drapery in Renaissance painting; he gives it a suppleness and volume that makes it come alive. At times, the beauty of the setting and staging was so audacious I gasped, and so I was set up perfectly to be moved by the drama and the characters.