Exquisite
While I was watching Hero, I began to realize that, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, it was a film that surpassed the boundaries of a typical martial arts movie. It is a movie in which the action scenes are merely a vassal for the poet's pen or the artist's brush. The story is quite classical in its telling, as it is told from several viewpoints, and you aren't exactly which is the truth until the very end of the movie. As in CTHD, the characters exceed their normal roles, becoming much larger than life, to the point where they become legends.
A lone warrior who goes under the identity of Nameless (Jet Li) has been summoned by the King of Qin. Nameless has claimed to have killed three of the greatest assassins in pre-unified China, and the King would like to reward. Passing by thousands of soldiers, he comes within 100 paces of the King. Another step, and he will be killed. The King then wishes to hear in detail how Nameless came to kill these three assassins, and so a great tale begins. The rest of the movie is told in the form of a flashback, told through the perspective's of the King and Nameless.
The dialogue between the two is punctuated with such harshness with each pause. It is easy to see that the two men do not trust each other. As their distrust rises over the course of the film, the tension is palpable, and you'll be on the edge of your seat waiting to hear what they'll say next. I felt more exhilerated watching these quiet scenes than the dynamic action sequences, which are filmed in the same manner and beauty of CTHD.
In a Hollywood blockbuster, the settings of the fights would be used only to enhance the coolness of the main character. But here, it is a celebration of film-making and the subtle brilliance of martial arts. Perhaps the most beautiful of these sequences is the fight above a lake. The combatants fight above it, and as they fall towards it, they swoop their swords into the water, propelling them back up. Their is even a fantastic shot from beneath the waves, showing the two men running across the surface. My favorite sequence would have to be two men fighting in a grand hall, with large yellow curtains billowing in a strong wind. The curtains dance almost as gracefully as the fighters, and creates such an otherworldy appearance. There isn't one single "traditional" fight sequence in the entire movie, something that should please anyone.
Hero is full of beauty, both in story in effects. A calligrapher continues to teach his class as a rain of arrows falls upon them. His students may be killed, but they will never take their written word, he explains. Speaking of arrows, I doubt you've seen so many launched at once. This onslaught is the reason the King of Qin is so successful in battle, he decimates the enemy with no mercy. You may not realize the moral of this movie until the end. It sets you up, and leads you down several twists and turns before the final act. Hero is a movie that recognizes the grace and poetry in martial arts, rather than overly flashy moves or gratuitous violence. It realizes that it can set down the sword, and still deliver a masterful tale. Few American directors could accomplish what this movie has, and few would even try. CTHD is the better of the two, but Hero is easily one of the best movies released this year.