Hero (2002/2004)
Starring: Jet Li (Nameless), Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Broken Sword), Maggie Cheung (Flying Snow), Donnie Yen (Sky), Zhang Zi Yi (Moon), Daoming Chen (King of Qin)
The King knew that the story Nameless told him about how he was able to defeat Broken Sword, Flying Snow, and Sky was a lie. It had been conjured up and choreographed perfectly to portray the facade of him being the king’s saviour, so that he could get near him and assasinate him; Sky, Broken Sword, and Flying Snow were actually still alive. Sky and Flying Snow had been working with Nameless all along to help kill the king; during the previous assassination attempt, Broken Sword, however, had seen and understood something in the King’s eyes and decided not to kill him; after that, things had never been the same between Broken Sword and Flying Snow; Broken Sword begs Nameless not to kill the King. He writes 2 words in the sand and asks Nameless to read it and think about it. The words say “our land” and Nameless tells the king these words; a human side of the king is revealed. He is happy that one person finally understood his motivation for uniting the 5 kingdoms under his rule, and having a stronghold of one-ness; Nameless is taken aback by the King, as he had always thought he was a brute whose ego led him to blind destruction; the King then throws his sword at Nameless, giving him the opportunity to kill him. Having understood how the calligraphy of the word “sword” shows a man’s strength, swiftness, and sense of duty, and also shows a sense of restraint and a unique sense of caution, Nameless decides not to kill him ; Flying Snow’s servant waves a flag to signal that the king is still alive; In a rage, she attacks Broken Sword, but he allows her to kill him to prove he really does care. Overwhelmed with guilt over killing her lover, she kills herself as well; Nameless is executed as an assassin, but is buried as a hero. He had given his life away instead of taking the King’s life in the hopes that the kingdoms will unite and find peace under his rule; The Hero, therefore, is one who has learnt that restraint is as powerful as combat, and one who is not blind to what the greater good really is; to this day, the people in China still refer to it as “our land”.
Personal comments about this movie?
One of THE BEST movies of all time! I like it just as much as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, probably more. The scenery and special effects were spectacular, the costumes and sets were astonishingly beautiful, the martial arts looked swift and powerful yet so graceful. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is the battle between Flying Snow and Moon where leaves of different colors were flying everywhere. When Flying Snow “killed” Moon, the leaves all turned bright red because all she saw was bloodshed. You’ve just got to check this movie out!
Want to know more?
Read more about this film at The Internet Movie Database.
|
|
One Response to “Hero (2002/2004)”
October 16th, 2004 at 9:09 am
I like this flic as much as Crouching Tiger, Hidden dragon. The setting is perfect — it seems to portray a mystical zen that only the chinese can understand. Nature is law, and force and power of humans is drawn from nature. They are so reverend when they use they fight.. I love how artful they made everything.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.