Has anyone seen the movie HERO? How was it?

[Room101]

I'm thinking of seeing the movie "HERO". How was it? Is it in subtitles?

[sir_captain]

1. Excellent film

with subtitles, the way it should be.

[gottaB]

2. Awesome

Subtitles, yes.

It was very controversial. Many critics charged director Zhang Yimou with caving in to the authorities and presenting a fascist vision. I think it offers a more subversive reading, consistent with Yimou's earlier films. Yimou, when declining to attend the Oscar ceremonies, said the film's message was one of peace, and he wanted to protest the Iraq war.

It's meanings are complex and the narrative is not straightforward, but it is easy to follow, beautiful and fun.

[Lautremont]

3. Beautiful, a little thin.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon + Rashomon = Hero. But lacking the impact of either, somehow. Still gorgeous to look at and very much worth seeing in the theatre.

[On the Road]

4. It's Absolutely Worth Seeing

but it was not as moving as, for example, Crouching Tiger.

Much of the thrust of the movie depended on the Chinese ideal of one country, one people. The emperor of Qin, who created the Chinese state through violence, is thus to some extent justified and treated as a positive character. This is all very Chinese, but it left me a little cold.

The Emperor and the Assassin, on the other hand, had a different treatment of the same period. I enjoyed it much more.

[northzax]

5. gorgeously shot

and brilliant action scenes. It differs a little from previous versions of the story I've heard, but go see it on the big screen.