Hero takes the cake

[Becca]

Very nice insite, SPJ! Thankyou!

[GeneChing]

The Emperor and Assassin is a much better film to compare to Hero than CTHD, but CTHD will be the standard because of the Oscars. I can't say that I enjoyed E&A. In fact, it put me to sleep. I'm not sure why. Maybe I was expecting better fight scenes...

[omarthefish]

...It's beacause Americans have short attention spans....

[BM2]

Originally posted by Serpent
Gene, this is a great post. Exactly how I feel about the movie in every respect.

I also crave nacho ninjettes....

Wait a minute.... you're not me are you?

UGGGHHHH!!!! UGGGHHH!!
Yesterday I agreed with Kung Lek, today its Serpent. I have to stop reading this forum before I vote for kerry. No, I'd rather put a sharpened stick in my eye as to prevent that from occuring.

I have the Chinese DVD and after viewing it I thought this was much more than a martial art movie. This is an impressive Chinese movie that actually makes you think.

[CFT]

Originally posted by omarthefish
Really, it's a better film than "Hero". "Hero" is just eye candy. Most people in China jsut groaned at the calligraphy metapore. My GF was like, "Oh...you gotta be kidding. PLEASE don't tell me their going with the calligraphy metaphore..."

But it is a valid metaphore that has been used before my other martial artists (don't ask for references).

If you just think it was cliched then that's fine.

[Judge Pen]

This movie reminded me more of "Battleship Potempkin" than CTHD. Pure PRC propaganda, but a brilliant and beautiful film nonetheless.

[GeneChing]

It's more than a metaphor. You should come visit our office. We have a lot of calligraphy from many famous masters, so much that we don't even have enough wall space to hang it all. Every day I pass by a beautiful peice by GM Chen Xiaowang that he did just for us - the characters shu & jian (book & sword).

[SPJ]

Good points.

Both calligraphy and sword play require use of the wrist.

One ponders if one may meditate and find the method (Fa) of sword play from the way (Dao) of one's brush writings.

QSH said: (or the script writers or film producers said)

3 levels:

1) The sword wielding is from the extension of the body. Sword and the body become one.

2) The body is from the mind. You may use a piece of grass and wield it like a sword. You do not need a sword. You may fight with anything to take the place of the sword.

3) The mind is from the heart. There is no sword in the heart. There is no fighting nor kylling.

Meaning to know how and why not to kyll or fight is the highest level of understanding of knowing why and how to fight with a sword.

[omarthefish]

Originally posted by Judge Pen
This movie reminded me more of "Battleship Potempkin" than CTHD. Pure PRC propaganda, but a brilliant and beautiful film nonetheless.

Well not PURE propoganda. I have more respect for Zhang Yi Mo than that. And it was more about nationalism than communism anyways. I never saw "Battleship Potempkin" but the more recent movie "Pearl Harbor" comes to mind.

And I really can watch it both ways. I can enjoy it just as much as you supporters did. It was a real pleasure for me. But I am really sensitive to propoganda. I have a hard time watching anything political without decoding it. It bothers me more than a but that we have an action star as a governor. I bothers me tremendously that nobody seems to notice that out own movie theatres are flooded with propoganda flicks these days. As we rolled out into Iraq hollywood rolled out one war flick after another.

"Starship Troopers" was one of the most disturbing movies ever for me. I seemed to be the only person in the theatre who noticed the humans were the Natzi's and the bugs were the Jews. I later was shown an interview with Verhoven where he said outright that one of his points with the movie was to show how easily Americans are manipulated into supporting anything as long as its hip, good looking etc. He deliberately made the humans fascists and based the anti-bug "go get'em !!!" propoganda reels after anti-Jew shorts he had seen as a child.

I had to talk to a LOT of people before I met anyone who picked up on any of this. To most folks it was just a sci-fi flick about giant bugs.

[Judge Pen]

I agree, omar, that several movies are laced with propoganda and messages, both subtle and blatant, that several less inclined may not see. And I can concede a nationlist message to the film in lieu of a communist message; however, "nationalism" can come in all shapes and sizes. PRC nationalism is the most convenient vessel for Hero, but the metaphor can certainly be drawn more broadly than that.

Regardless, some of the best films ever made, imo, contained messages that I disagreed with on a personal level.

To paraphrase Woody Wilson: Film can re-write history in lightning.

[joedoe]

Well, to be fair if you are going to call Hero pure propaganda then you could call most Hollywood action flicks propaganda as well. I think everyone has a tendency to portray their way of life as correct and superior. Labelling it as propaganda may be a little harsh.

[GeneChing]

Sure you can call any film that has some sort of agenda propaganda. In that light, I prefer films that are propaganda over franchise films like Spiderman, X-men, Harry Potter, that are jsut merchandising. That's a form of propaganda too, but the only thing they are trying to propagate is product sales. We are clearly in an age of propaganda films, and rightly so since the world is in a dreadful state. However, I didn't really see Hero as a propaganda film. To me, it was a classic wuxia and if it propagates anything, it's wude. I really reminded me of Kurosawa in it's perspectives on the way of the warrior. It's all about the sacrifice - to make sacred with sangre, with blood - that's the essence of the way of the warrior.

[MasterKiller]

Originally posted by omarthefish
"Starship Troopers" was one of the most disturbing movies ever for me. I seemed to be the only person in the theatre who noticed the humans were the Natzi's and the bugs were the Jews. I later was shown an interview with Verhoven where he said outright that one of his points with the movie was to show how easily Americans are manipulated into supporting anything as long as its hip, good looking etc. He deliberately made the humans fascists and based the anti-bug "go get'em !!!" propoganda reels after anti-Jew shorts he had seen as a child.

I had to talk to a LOT of people before I met anyone who picked up on any of this. To most folks it was just a sci-fi flick about giant bugs.

It was a film about jingoism in general, not Nazis. Don't fall into the trap of associating every similarly themed book or movie with anti-Jewish movements.

[red5angel]

I'm going ot take a guess here Omarthefish and say you've never read the StarShip Troopers book either?

[red5angel]

I personally think that Hero was put out by the KErry organization to promote his campaign for president. It was obvious that Sky and Flying Snow were symbolic of the struggle of the everyday westerner and the everyday muslim, just trying to get a long. Then along comes Nameless - if you'll notice Bush has an S in it and Nameless has not one but 2 "s" in it.