Hey folks, Harry here... Seems the lucky folks in Palm Springs got an early look at HERO on the big screen and I'm jealous. Having met several of the people that worked on HERO while I was in China, and hearing about some of the battles and the sheer scope of the picture... I just need to see it bad. Here ya go...
I was lucky enough to catch the first North American public screening of Zhang Yimou's Hero this evening at the Palm Springs Film Festival. It's hard for me to put into words just how amazing this film is.
To keep it simple--the story takes place over 2000 years ago where Jet Li is Nameless, an assassin who has crafted a way to kill the King of Qin by faking the deaths of some of the king's greatest enemies. Only the King is on to Nameless' scheme and this confrontation is the centerpiece for a Rashamon-like story focusing on the people Nameless claimed to have killed or (mainly Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Donnie Yen and Zhang Ziyi as a student of Leung's). From here on we see different versions of similar events, each version told in it's own color--so we see many of the same scenes, sets and costumes numerous times, each in a different color.
While Hero is definitley light on story, it is basically 95 minutes of sword and arrow-play. Each set-piece builds on what came before it and every single one of them is done to perfection. I don't think there will be a single review from any website or newspaper that will not include a comparison to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon but it's definatly because of that film that Hero can be seen in the states. Yes, there's a lot of gravity-defying fights and while CTHD definatley works better in the story and character department, this is a far more ambitious effort, especially when it comes to a straight-forward action film, which is what Hero is. Those who wanted less musing and more fighting are going to get exactly what they want this time. I don't think there is more then a 5 minute break between ANY action sequence, and the short running time makes sure things are always moving.
But all of this would have been in vein had it not been for Chris Doyle's astounding cinematography. Hero is one of the most vivid films ever shot and coming on the heels of Conrad Hall's passing, it's nice to know that there are others out there that go above and beyond the call of duty and become a true master of the motion picture frame. This is the kind of cinematic imagry that people are going to look at for years to come.
Hero is already a hit in Asia, I hope Miramax comes to it's senses and relelases it here soon. I mean, for crying out loud, it was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes WITHOUT any advertising campaign whatsoever and a handful of industry screenings, if that much. Everyone will get their chance to see it, I just hope it's sooner rather then later.
