Yingxiong propaganda?

Rating: Null/10 (14 February 2003)

I would have to disagree with the previous comments about Hero being propaganda for the Chinese government. And before I go any further, no I am not Chinese.
People who think that Hero is a propaganda film have narrow vision. Besides, if Hero is propaganda then EVERY single film to come out of Hollywood is propaganda. Why? Because they push American values onto the rest of the world. Many Hollywood films portray the enemy as either Eastern European, Russian, Middle Eastern or Asian, and sometimes South American. I pity those that see Hero as propaganda simply because it deals with the unification of China by the first emperor of China (which IS a historical event). But I am not here to discuss Hollywood, I am here to discuss Hero.
Zhang Yimou, the director, has not been liked by the government of China for some of the content of his films in the past. He does not make films to please his government any more than Speilberg makes films to please the American government. A look at some of his previous films will show that he is a director who likes to tell a good story, even if it deals with subjects that were un-Communist. For example, The Road Home tells the story of a couple who fall in love even though that was contrary to government rules for couples.
Hero is not a film about the unification of China. It is a film about three assasins trying to kill the emperor of a dynasty, who will eventually become the first emperor of China. There is another film that deals with the same period of Chinese history and that is Chen Kaige's The Emperor and the Assasin. Neither film has been made with the intent purpose of being propaganda for the Chinese government. Even if Hero was about the unification of China, then so what? It is a historical event. It's like saying that any film about the War of Independence is a propaganda film because it shows a country being born and therefore we shouldn't watch it! Please, give me a break. Pull your heads out of the sand and do some research before you flap your lips!!!