I wouldn’t label myself a fan of martial arts films, but when M. Night Shyamalan recommends one such movie, it makes sense to watch it.
Hero (Yīng Xióng) is a (slow) Chinese film that chronicles the journey of an assassin, ‘Nameless’, who has sworn to kill the king (who later becomes the first Emperor of China). Three other assassins (Flying Snow, Broken Sword, and Long Sky) meet Nameless at various points of his journey, and their interactions form the mainstay of the movie.
Events are imagined and shown from different points of view, with the chain of events being shown in varying colours and in a series of flashbacks. One colour is used for the narration by Nameless, one colour for the way the Emperor imagines the events to be (for he does not believe Nameless), and one that depicts reality. Jet Li plays Nameless, and I was impressed with the (older) heroine who played ‘Flying Snow’.
The cinematography and background scores are first-rate. Watch this fight sequence between Flying Snow and Moon, and this spectacular sequence of quelling arrows, and calligraphy.
It made for a good change from the routine.
Hero (Yīng Xióng) is a (slow) Chinese film that chronicles the journey of an assassin, ‘Nameless’, who has sworn to kill the king (who later becomes the first Emperor of China). Three other assassins (Flying Snow, Broken Sword, and Long Sky) meet Nameless at various points of his journey, and their interactions form the mainstay of the movie.
Events are imagined and shown from different points of view, with the chain of events being shown in varying colours and in a series of flashbacks. One colour is used for the narration by Nameless, one colour for the way the Emperor imagines the events to be (for he does not believe Nameless), and one that depicts reality. Jet Li plays Nameless, and I was impressed with the (older) heroine who played ‘Flying Snow’.
The cinematography and background scores are first-rate. Watch this fight sequence between Flying Snow and Moon, and this spectacular sequence of quelling arrows, and calligraphy.
It made for a good change from the routine.
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