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Rob watches an early test screening of Zhang Yimou's & Jet Li's HERO!!!
Hey folks, Harry here... I met a great deal of the crew for this film whilst in China on KILL BILL, and heard huge tales of the epic shoot, thousands upon thousands of extras commanded for the film. There had been some screening of the fight scenes that some of the crew had seen and they were raving and discussing the strong points and weak points as per each of their expectations, but this is the first full length review of the film I've seen and I'm dying... DYING to see this film upon the big screen... Unfortunately it seems we'll have to wait till some point next year, but in talking to Hiromi (aka That Miramax Lady), Miramax wants to release this film with the respect it deserves. So far it sounds good so far... Here ya go....
Hi, Harry and Co --
Just wanted to drop a line about Miramax's screening of Zhang Yimou's and Jet Li's epic HERO. Although I like and admire Zhang's and Li's work, I had not heard much about this film before, so when I received a pass to attend tonight's screening, I jumped at the chance to attend. I last wrote in about the Lincoln center Lord of the Rings event; this report occurred just a few blocks away.
The screening was held at the Sony Lincoln Center cinemas in the Upper West Side. This was the same theater where Ian McKellen hosted the first midnight showing of Fellowship last December. The line was populated by a good cross-section of New York demographics -- young and old, black, white and Asian.
We got in about an hour before screening, just before which a Miramax guy (I think) thanked us all for coming, then passed around cards for the audience to sign promising not to reveal what we were about to see to any news outlet or Internet web site. He gave us the usual disclaimer that this was a work in progress, that any imperfections in the film stock would be corrected before the film's release -- so, yes, HERO will be receiving distribution in North America, it seems. After the cards were collected, the movie started.
The guy who had given me my pass mentioned that HERO would be similar to CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON in feel and scope, that this was a test to see whether Western audiences would be open to another film of the same type.
It opens with titles explaining that 2000 years ago there were 6 kingdoms in what was later to become unified China, all fighting for supremacy over the other kingdoms, that the King of the Qin kingdom is the most ruthless, powerful and successful of them all, and that there are many legends about him and this time. This is one of those legends...Jet Li's character, "Nameless" or "No Name" arrives at the King's palace (which appears to be the Forbidden City), having completed a feat of such magnitude that the king himself is shocked and summons him to the palace to reward him.
No Name claims to be a prefect of a very small province, but he has the martial arts ability of ten men. The King and he share a drink and discuss what No Name has accomplished, setting the stage for the rest of the film, which is a series of flashbacks detailing No Name's encounters with three of the greatest warriors of the time, Sky (Donnie Yen, whose screen time was unforgivably short but mesmerizing), Broken Sword and Flying Snow (Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, last seen together in Wong Kar-Wai's IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE).
The film is absolutely epic in scope, as can be seen in sequences such as when The King sends his formidable forces against the neighboring Zhao kingdom. Thousands of warriors storm through the desert on foot, wagon, and horseback, thundering through the desert until they reach their target city, at which point they mobilize like some vast unfolding war machine.We learn the Qin's devastating power is in its vast array of archers, who unleash volleys of lethal arrows in such punishing force that nothing can withstand them. The skies fill with what looks like millions of arrows whistling through the air and punching into posts, walls, and people with terrifying accuracy. One memorable shot actually has the camera in the midst of one of these arrow clouds as they sail high overhead, focusing in on one arrow in particular in its trajectory into a calligraphy school where 2 of the major characters are hiding out.
HERO will inevitably be compared to CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON, and this is its major weakness. It bears the same feeling of melancholy, and its fight scenes could easily be mistaken for each other -- characters soar through the air with silent grace; they skip over water as if it were land, and their fighting combines frenetic action and balletic grace. It even shares a co-star, the luminous Zhang Ziyi who here plays Moon, the maid to Broken Sword who secretly loves him and is a martial artist as well, although nowhere in the league of her character in CTHD or the other characters in HERO.
However, HERO is still unmistakably a Zhang Yimou film, and his use of billowing sheets in one gorgeous scene (one of many in this visually stunning film) is one indication of that. Another is his use of color, particularly in a series of flashbacks, all detailing the same event but differently, RASHOMON-like, where a different color dominates each version (first red, then blue, then white -- you'll see what I mean). The red-dominated scene is more the most passionate recounting of the event, the blue id the most rational, the white the truest, etc. It reminded me a bit of the restaurant in THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE AND HER LOVER, where each room had its own unique color scheme, except that this time, the same scene was presented differently each time according to the mood of its color.
The cast are stand-outs. Maggie Cheung is especially effective as Flying Snow, whore graceful, serene fighting style makes her seem like a supernatural entity, paricularlyin one beautiful forest sequence where she uses golden leaves on the ground as weapons, whipping them into a swirling frenzy, a golden cloud of aggression. Tony Leung is excellent as the tortured Broken Sword, as is Zhang Ziyi as Moon, Jet Li as Nameless, and Cheng Daoming as the king of Qin, an actual historical figure who went on to build the Great Wall of China. There is not a weak performace in the film. I also liked the unexpected complexity of character motivations and emotions. The King has unexpected reasons for doing what he does in the brutal manner he does it, and one of the major characters displays a surprising attitude about the whole affair a well.
Problems...well, bearing in mind that this was a work print, and although loathe to provide Miramax with any reason to mutilate yet another Eastern film, HERO drags a bit in spots, and it does run a risk of being unfairly dismissed as a CTHD ripoff. Wu Xia as a genre will of necessity have similarities in technique and story elements, though, so this is unavoidable, perhaps. However, HERO is well worth watching when it comes out. This is a project by a master of the medium, a grand epic. I will see it again when they release it in the States.
Hope this helps. Take care,
Rob
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That's all I wanted to say.
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Been drooling for this for a while. Hope it will be as great as CTHD. But should be judged on its own terms. I'm sure it will be wonderful. However...what it needs is for Bret Ratner and JJ Abrams to do an American version. I'm sure they would do great. They are such geniuses. Are you listening WB? Please. Let them do every movie. Can they remake Casablanca? Sorry. Just glad a REAL intelligent action film is on it's way. Go Zhang. Loved Shaghai Triad!
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It's really getting to the point where I don't care anymore. You think the Western world won't care because it'd be deemed a CTHD rip-off; imagine if they knew about ALL the wire-fu, mystical, period pieces that Hong Kong has put out in the past 10 years...
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If they say they're going to give it a respectful release, we should believe every word of it. Look at their track record. They would NEVER take a movie away from a director and randomly hack away at it over his vocal and public objections, and then bully him into spouting the Miramax party line when it finally came time to release it in the USA. I never heard of such a thing. So we can all sleep easy knowing that a great director's martial arts epic is caring and nutruring hands. Just kidding - I can almost hear the sounds of scissors on celluloid, and the Miramax dubbing teams warming up their fake-ass Krusty the Klown Chinese accents as I type.
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BlackDeath 2000 is dead long live the JUGGERNUT!!!
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Jet Li kicks ass!
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makes me want to see the movie even more!
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and the cast is amazing, i don
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Sep 24, 2002 10:29:55 AM CDT
PLANT!!! HE'S A PLANT... STUDIO PLANT... CORPORATE SCHILL...
by fearsme
Actually, he's not. He's one of the chatters and a real nice guy, i just love when people accuse reviewers of being plants.+-------------- Oh, and Peters and Abrams suck balls so bad, that i would like to extend my hatred for them in this talkback too.
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as joe pesci might say. sorry. didn't mean to get rude, but just cos someone is incredibly honest about a film they like, does not make them a plant. is it just me or is this whole "cynic chic" gettin really old really fast?
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Sep 24, 2002 11:09:15 AM CDT
by the way, i realise you were joking, i just wanted to agree wi
by sackley whistle
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Damn...I don't know if I can wait until next year to see this film. I absolutely love Asian cinema, and HERO just sounds like it will be incredible. If it's anywhere near as good as CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON I'll be happy (because I loved that movie).
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Sep 24, 2002 12:00:52 PM CDT
Gee..."No Name" - Original, Right Mr. Eastwood and Mr. Leoni?
by hipcheck13
...and the "billowing sheet scene" was mezmerizing? Criminy, you must sport wood every time you see someone flap out the sheets before a bed's made.
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Seeing as the story is based on centuries old chinese mythstory. Or maybe it did originate in Spaghetti westerns and the Chinese stole it using a souped up Delorean with a Flux Capacitator
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Umm, what? If that was an insult or a putdown, it wasn't very impressive...
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Weren't most the friggin' period pieces based on centuries-old myths?
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Now that film was frickin' awesome..... " O Emperor of Qin, hast thou forgotten thy duty to thine ancestors and to thy subjects? "
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Sep 24, 2002 5:42:24 PM CDT
Damn, I was hoping for a huge battle between Donnie Yen or Jet L
by thematarife
It could have been awesome. Theyve all got great skills, and I'd love to see that happen. Oh well.
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First of all... NOTE TO MAGGIE CHEUNG: please lay off the plastic surgery. You're one of the most beautiful women to ever appear on film but if you don't stop, you're gonna end up like an Asian version of Joan Rivers. Seriously. NOTE TO BRETT RATNER: You are a rice king rat fuck. Everyone in Hollywood hates your ass. Your intolerable body odor is quickly surpassing your shitty films in terms of triggering gag reflexes in those forced to bear witness to both. Most importantly, the staff (and many of the customers) of Asanebo restaurant in Studio City CA (plug) wish you would disappear. The waitresses think you are repulsive (so you can quit sexually harassing them), the customers think you are a loud, obnoxious, graceless pig (and they are correct) and your sycophantic entourage of losers are almost as clueless as you are. Please do everyone a favor and kill yourself. But take a shower first. Even LA coroners have a sense of smell.
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don't these people use spell-check?? there is no such thing as whore graceful!!
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Then CTHD. CTHD is actually a VERY average story in the wuxia genre of films. If you take a look at the Hong Kong cinema there are TONNES of much better movies of that type.
Why would hero be better? The cast already speaks. Zhang ZiYi is already shown us her stuff on CTHD. Donnie Yen from iron monkey and once upon a time in china, he was brilliant. Tony and Maggie are already legends in many martial arts movies. And Jet Li, no need to explain there. There will be war scenes with huge production, thats already a big difference in CTHD where there were mainly duels. The overall production and art see in the screenshots already look more exciting than some scenes in CTHD.
I think Hero should not be compared to CTHD but instead to "The Emperor and the Assassin". A HUGE epic on the SAME Qin dynasty story starring Gong Li.. made just a few years ago. There may not be the superhuman martial arts fights in E&A but the theme and presentation both aim to the same area. -
Been waiting for this movie for a long time. Like with Shaolin Soccer, the import should be on dvd within a month or so after it comes out in HK. Ready your import playing DVD players!!! :)
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I wish Chow Yun Fat had taken the lead from Li like he did in Crouching Tiger, Li can't act and his cinematic fighting is crap. I know in real life he'll kick Jackie Chan's ass but on film his stuff is all wire fu.
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Sep 25, 2002 3:37:57 PM CDT
I think the sequel should be called We Could Be Heroes with Hulk
by chaffro
"Just for one day, brother."
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nuff said
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I don't know how good Hero will be because I haven't seen it yet but from the all-star cast and Yimou directing and Ching Sui-Tung (Swordsman 2) doing the fight scenes, there is no way this movie wil be anything but spectacular. The movie is like the asian version of pulp fiction in terms of superstar actors and Jet Li fighting Donnie Yen to the death-WHAT MORE COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT!!!! As for CTHD there is a movie better that is not well known. If you were impressed with CTHD, you will be blown through the back of your living room wall when you see "BLADE OF FURY"
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To the uninformed person whom commented that Chow Yun Fat was given the lead in CTHD over Jet Li, sorry pal, but Jet Li was originally asked for the part but he refused.
I will agree that Jet Li is not that great of an actor, but face it, he's known for his kung-fu, not acting...
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