August 26-September 1, 2004

movies

Fighting for Truth

SWORDS OF WISDOM: A pensive Maggie Cheung Man Yuk prepares to kick ass.

In Hero, it's not just a matter of who wins, but who tells the story.

Hero

by Cindy Fuchs

"I was orphaned at a young age. I had no name, so people called me Nameless. Being a nobody, I studied swordsmanship." A local sheriff and renowned warrior, Nameless (Jet Li) is solemn and solitary, without apparent master or mission. As Hero begins, he is summoned by the king of Qin, Emperor Qin Shihuang (Chen Daoming), who reigned from 221 to 207 B.C., and who here listens carefully to the young man's testimony. Well he should, for the story changes shape from chapter to chapter, as Nameless recalls his complicated life's journey, the events that have brought him to this time and place.

Nameless' storytelling serves as the fundamental framework of Zhang Yimou's elegant wuxia, though it hardly provides a fixed structure. Set in 220 B.C., that is, before the first emperor ruled over a united China, the tale is about shifting loyalties and brutal battles, the building of an empire out of six warring kingdoms. Announcing his intention to unite the realm, the king of Qin educes the enmity of any number of foes, not least the three great fighters Sky (Donnie Yen), Broken Sword (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung Man Yuk). Appearing before the king in a gargantuan hall, Nameless is called on to chronicle the fate of each would-be assassin that the king had charged him with defeating. As he concludes each story of confrontation, Nameless is allowed to come nearer to the king, though it's unclear whether he means to carry out the assassination or offer his services to the warlord. The king suspects the worst.

Li brings his singular mix of sorrow and self-confidence. As the film goes on to consider the qualities of and demands on a hero, Nameless appears to bear an impossible burden, at once ethereal and visceral, as he realizes that his decision — essentially, to kill or be killed — will change the course of history. The events he recounts prove as elusive as his motivations. Arranged in a series of flashbacks that gradually fold into one another, comprising multiple versions of what may have happened, the film explores the subjective nature of truth, the ways that stories become histories and personal experiences bleed into imperial sagas.

Shot by the ever-inventive cinematographer Christopher Doyle (a frequent collaborator with Wong Kar-Wai), each segment takes on a hue to designate mood and character. For his first flashback sequence, Nameless recounts his battle with Sky — set in a rainy courtyard, the deliriously wireworky fight, choreographed by the great Ching Siu-Tung with gleaming sword edges, water drops and rivulets shown in spectacular detail.

Every moment in Hero is stunning, with autumn leaves, snow and bright desert sunlight providing glorious backdrops. But the fight scenes are especially distinctive, at once sensual and precise, emotionally moving and works of austere art. Even the melodrama — centered on the romantic triangle of Broken Sword, Flying Snow and Moon (Zhang Ziyi), Broken Sword's lovestruck disciple — is most profoundly expressed in martial-arts contests: Moon and Flying Snow face off in bright red garments, set against swirling yellow leaves; Flying Snow and Nameless clash on the surface of a lake, their swords tipping into the blue water in order to launch themselves into full-on contact.

Retelling China's founding myth as a martial-arts epic, Zhang's film has its own convoluted and controversial history. Released in Asia in 2002, it set box office records in mainland China, taking in some $27 million, and has been available in the U.S. on imported and bootlegged DVDs for months, while also drawing criticism for its mainstream appeal and its eliding of the horrific massacres ordered by Qin Shihuang (including that of his own family, shown in Chen Kaige's The Emperor and the Assassin). Neither does the film get into his achievements, including his completion of the Great Wall to protect his new empire (in particular from the Huns).

Long revered as an "outlaw" director of films such as Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern and The Story of Qiu Ju, all starring Gong Li and earnestly critiquing Chinese historical oppressions, Zhang has recently been portrayed as a "sellout" for Hero's "sympathetic" view of China's first emperor. But the film is more complicated than this description suggests. Briefly retitled Jet Li's Hero for its U.S. opening (suggesting the promotional importance of name of the man playing Nameless), it is less concerned with history per se, or even the sort of action typically associated with the star, than with the director's usual themes, reshaped to accommodate grand and gorgeous action sequences.

Hero displays and deconstructs the very process of making history, insisting on the ways that deception, self-interest and self-delusion influence not only individuals but also national identities. Finding poetry in both mendacity and veracity, it investigates not the means or end, but the limits of honor, the concept at the heart of wuxia, imperialism and nationalism. Despite many delays, its arrival in U.S. theaters is timely.

Hero Directed by Zhang Yimou A Miramax release Opens Friday at area theaters

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