Hero (2002)

I haven't seen many Chinese films but if this is the Chinese average then I may just go and live their rather than the nonsense that Hollywood’s farts out these days. The story is a complex one, filled with detail and elements of which may or may not be true. The film reminds me of a good detective story where characters recite their accounts of previous events to an investigator, in this case the King of Qin (Chen Daoming), pronounced Chin. The other storyteller is No-name (Jet Li) from Eyebrow and his friends Mr and Mrs Adams Apple from Nose (the last 12 words were a joke). The flashbacks (perhaps dreams) use colour to distinguish themselves. The customs and sets are made in shades of the scenes distinct colour (blue, red, green) including filters on the camera to tint the image. This gives a unique feel to each scene with the only certainly real part being black. The action is hyper-stylised and though the film is pretentious it is smart and confident enough to be so as well as unsentimental. There is also a noticeable political sub-text, perhaps calling for the re-unification of the Republic of China (the tiny free one) and the Peoples Republic of China (the big rich one without freedom, maybe repression works, e.g. Henry VIII did what he wanted and things were fine because the only people who really suffered were women, I'm joking of course and you can't censor me because of freedom of speech). This is most apparent towards the end and acts as the films only real flaw. Or it is the capitalists trying to kill the great socialist revolution (hence the red scenes were the outsider breaks the red clad assassins apart through lies and internal division). However, its good to see that Quentin Tarintino (he’s like Jesus’ cooler, uglier brother) helped get this film released in the west and out-does most contemporary films and looks set to be a classic blend of art and commercialism.