Hero

Cast
Donnie Yen Chi Dan - Chang Kong/ Sky
Tony Leung Chiu Wai - Can Jian/ Broken Sword
Maggie Cheung Man Yuk - Fei Xue/ Flying Snow
Jet Li Lian Jie - Wu Ming/ Nameless
Zhang Ziyi - Ru Yue/ Moon

2001 saw Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (CTHD) presented to the Art world. China's 2003 Art film highlight is definitely 'Hero'. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of CTHD, but Hero is so much better. This is something that utterly takes my breath away. When one compares CTHD with Hero, Hero wins hands down. Why?

This is not simply a love story, or finding oneself. Hero makes your mind think and bend in so many ways it's impossible to even comprehend. As I write this review myself I feel that I have no way of actually saying everything this film represents. First let's go into the storyline of the film. The subject matter of this film was deeply thought-provoking. There are many layers in which a Hero can be found.

Was it Donnie Yen at the beginning when he gave up his life in favour of the assasination? Was it Wu Ming for daring to take revenge for his parents? Was is Can Jian for being able to put down personal grievances? Was it Fei Xue for being able to stand by such a man, depsite her desire for bloodshed? Was it the little-seen Moon for her ability to stay loyal to a rebel? Was it the Emperor himself for bringing the seven warring states together, for the 'Tian Xia'?

And beyond that even. The events of the film may not even be all that heroic to some. But the depiction is so vivid. Zheng Yi Mou brings colour into it to give a visual interpretation of the meaning behind the film. Nothing is ever black and white, there is colour with everything: Passion = Red, Sacrifice = Blue, Death = White, A realisation (fresh beginning) = Green.

The interesting thing that Zhang Yi Mou has done with these colours has given them a more historical context to the seemingly obvious existing meanings already mentioned. Our dear First Emperor was extremely superstitious in the way that James I was in Jacobean England. The First Emperor was a scholar of the belief in the Five Elements: Fire, Water, Metal, Earth and Wood. Qin Shi Huang believed he reigned in the cycle of water and black is symbolic of that, hence the reason for the entire palace being black. This was one of the many quirks he possessed.

He always believed in spirits and he was very paranoid about an assassination, which is the main topic of this film. For example, there is a wonderful scene with Jet Li and the Emperor discussing the level of "sha qi" (Killing Air) by way of measuring the flame on the candles. This was one of the many ruses used by Qin Shi Huang to tell who was good and who was evil. What does this have to do with colour? In the reign of the First Emperor red was worn by outlaws and prisoners. The first sequence we see, the first story that Wu Ming describes to the audience, is red. Why? This is perhaps symbolic of the fact that not only were the assassins prisoners in the sense of the government, perhaps they were bound by something so big, so overwhelming that they became prisoners amongst themselves. The pride and the passion of the scholars represent this also. Prisoners in their own home, they had the courage to stay and die.

And it's not just meaning, it's content that makes this film so moving and believeable. We all know that Qin Shi Huang was not exactly Mr Fluffy Bunny, he was the cruellest of all the emperors in China, Mao Zedong even based himself upon him. And this desperation for rebellion is what makes this film come alive. There is revenge, hatred and bloodlust. This is something that is shared between all the assassins, in particular Wu Ming and Fei Xue, who hates the emperor because of the death of her father. It is about vengeance and justice. However, at the heart of it is nobility, which is found in Can Jian. Once a member of the assassins, sharing in the same thirst for justice, he is actually on the side of the wrong. A strong sense of righteousness comes out in him, and that decides the fate of the world: Tian Xia - All Under Heaven. He doesn't fight back against this monstrous emperor because he, like Qin Shi Huang, can see the big picture. All this suffering and all this bloodshed will unite the world and China will become strong. This is what Can Jian can see and this is what the film is about - Tian Xia.

Then in the middle of this worldly business comes a simple love story. Can Jian and Fei Xue, notorious for their martial art, wander along for so long in search of this vengeance. The only thing they really want is the simple life, the easy way where they go home. Home. This is the key of the relationship between Can Jian and Fei Xue. WHere is their home? They are so desperate and so in love that words choke them at times... and because of their sacrifice for Tian Xia... they pay the ultimate price. Fei Xue kills the only person she has ever loved and herself with him, uttering the last words - Take me home...

The philosophy of Tian Xia, something that has moved this first class assassin to death, is passed on to Wu Ming. Realising the possibilities in Qin Shi Huang, Wu Ming gives up the assassination and succumbs to a Hero's death.

Hero. Who was a Hero?
Can Jian - For Tian Xia, giving up his only love
Fei Xue - Because of Tian Xia, putting down her vengeance and going home with Can Jian
Wu Ming - For Tian Xia, dying a Hero's death
Chang Kong - For the people he died
Ru Yue - For her master... she followed to the end.

They were all Heroes

They were all heroes in their own way, but all came together for the final mission: Tian Xia.

Zhang Yi Mou pulls all of this together for an electrifying art film, it's tragic, it's pulsating, it's blood-rushing, it's Hero. Miss it at your peril.