Special Exhibit: HERO

Year: 2002

Duration: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

Where to Watch: HBO Max

One of the most beautifully shot films of the century, with one of the best uses of color ever committed to celluloid, Hero stands out as much for its use of point of view as for its gorgeous aesthetic.

Directed by Zhang Yimou, also known for the visual spectacle of films like House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower, as well as for helming the unforgettable main ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Hero remains one of the most expensive and financially successful movies ever made in China. It's also gained quite a following overseas, with Quentin Tarantino driving an effort that eventually saw the picture being released in USA on 2004.

Often referred to as a modern, Chinese take on Kurosawa's Rashomon, the film indeed deals with unreliable narrators offering different accounts of the same events,

The titular, unnamed hero is played by martial arts legend Jet Li, a prefect who returns to his King's palace to announce his successful slaying of three assassins who have been making numerous attempts on the monarch's life. As a result, the King has become extremely reclusive.

This is where a series of conflicting versions of the hero's exploits are presented, and where the filmmaker uses striking monochromatic color palette's in order to identify which "timeline" we are following at any time. This makes the narrative flow quite easily for a film of this type, and the plot is always kept clean and clear.

The three assassins are played by stars who are almost as recognizable as Li: Long Sky is accomplished martial artist Donnie Yen (Ip Man Trilogy, Rogue One), Broken Sword is Tony Leung (famous for his numerous Wong Kar-wai collaborations), and his lover is played by Maggie Cheung (Leung's costar in In the Mood for Love). The cast is rounded by Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Memoirs of a Geisha) as Broken Sword's apprentice.

As with any wuxia film*, a good deal of it deals with the carefully choreographed fighting sequences, but even if you're not an action movie person, I believe the beautifully staged, dance-like shows of skill put on screen can be enjoyed by most audiences.

*Educational segment: For those who are unfamiliar with the term, "wuxia" refers to a traditional Chinese genre of fiction involving the exploits of those who've mastered the martial arts. Usually, the feats displayed, while based on real techniques, are exaggerated to a superhuman, heavily romanticed point. Well-trained martial artists can defy gravity and use their inner energy to a wide variety of purposes. While films based on this (originally literary) genre were always popular in China, some exportsin the new century have expanded its appeal to the western world, with Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon being often credited as an important landmark, as well as the films by Zhang Yimou, like Hero itself. Even if you're only into western films, you'll probably recognize that the definition fits with such mainstream products as the Kung Fu Panda series and the live-action version of Disney's Mulan.

Though you'll find a large number of analysis of the supposed "meanings of color in Hero" all over the internet, it's important to mention that the director himself has denied any kind of purpose behind his chose of colors, other than to diferentiate the narrative sequences. Even if you wanted to argue that there's some hidden symbolism in there, take in consideration that the color conventions of the western world are very different to those of a Chinese author. So don't believe any of those articles that argues that the green segment expresses "hope" and the white one conveys "peace". They're just projecting their own ideas into the piece, as often occurs with so many artworks.

If there's a bone to pick with the film is that the finale is based on a moral dilemma with an objectionable resolution. though I doubt the narrative is really trying to make a political statement. In any case, it's not a strong enough motive to not watch this masterpiece and enjoy it's cleverness and a beuty which, even 20 years later, has rarely been matched.