http://my.hsj.org http://my.hsj.org en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Thu, 23 May 2013 17:50:30 GMT 15 By Dani Murnane
A Chinese film with English subtitles and actress Zhang Ziyi. No, it’s not Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, it’s the “new” film, Hero. Actually, this film isn’t new at all - it’s two years old. Its original Chinese title is Ying Xiong, and it was first released in its homeland in 2002. The film is the most expensive Chinese film ever made, and it shows; incredible special effects and costumes reflect the huge budget. The film takes place about 2,000 years ago when China was still separated into six Kingdoms, with the King of Qin attempting to overtake and unite them into one big country. However, three assassins are standing in his way: Broken Sword, Flying Snow, and Sky. One day, a warrior known as Nameless, appears before the King and tells him he has killed these three assassins. In essence, Hero is a martial arts/kung fu film at it’s finest, with amazing fight sequences, some subdued, yet fierce warriors, respect, hate, love, death, and plenty of hanging in mid air. The story is told from different points of view as well as through different brilliant colors. There’s a few surprising twists and turns in the story, and with a mere 96 minutes of film, these twists keep you guessing most of the time. Jet Li, as Nameless, does a fine job at being a hero one minute, antihero the next. Zhang Ziyi, who made her mark on America with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, also stands out as Moon, servant to Broken Sword. Director Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Vol.1) assisted the U.S. release of the film through his production company Rolling Thunder, apparently after seeing it at a certain film festival, perhaps Cannes, considering that he was the President of the festival this year. With Tarantino’s influence, Hero has had a successful run in theaters in the U.S. and deservedly so. ]]> Wed, 13 Oct 2004 14:01:00 GMT