In Defense of Zhang Yimou

Submitted by jim on Wed, 08/11/2004 - 09:46
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Layers of Truth, Shades of Meaning, a defense of Hero and Zhang Yimou:

If To Live represents Zhang Yimou at his most scathing, Hero is Zhang at his cleverest yet. We might do well to ask which of the many points-of-view in the movie actually constitute the authorial voice. I'll wager it’s not the most straightforward one.

SPOILERS for Hero and The Story of Qui Ju abound! Click through at your own risk. Great piece though, with lots of ideas I'd only half-formed or never even considered.

jim08/11/2004

Oh, while we're on the subject, Cinecultist recently saw Hero and raved about it:

"While the fight scenes are fun, in particular an early sequence where Jet Li fights an assassin in a rainy chess house, they aren't something so spectacular and ground breaking. However the spectacle of all of those colors swirling from the screen, the most shocking reds and cooling blues and vibrant greens, made Cinecultist's jaw drop for nearly the full two hours. The most stunning of all though is indeed Zhang's use of black. According to his research, black was the official color of the Qin court, and the sea of baroque courtiers peering around the black columns in the all black receiving room for the Emperor is something really worth seeing."

I also echo this sentiment:

Cinecultist urges you to disregard the pretentious Quentin Tarantino Presents over the title with the single billing of Jet Li on the American posters (he's good but he's not the whole story) and support this movie when it comes to your town. Art house meets ass kicking and it's a happy union, we are pleased to report.

No disrespect for Tarantino for my part though, as he was instrumental in getting this shown in theaters.