[Again, it's supposed to come out this year. Again, it's Miramax.]
And that rating could go up after a second viewing, since I saw this from the third row at the Cinerama, which is like watching TV with your forehead on the screen. Visually amazing and, in certain scenes, literally breath-taking, this is the crazed poetry to Crouching Tiger’s sensible prose, as well as being the closest thing to a Kubrick martial-arts movie. I don’t think it’s quite as “cold” as that Kubrick comment makes it sound, but it is the kind of movie where characters and fights are turned into icons and abstractions. That probably sounds off-putting, but Yimou’s visual imagination is so voracious (two characters fight over the still water of a lake mostly just to demonstrate all the different ways to film such a scene) that it’s incredibly easy to get absorbed into the story. One fight in particular, between Zhang Ziyi and Maggie Cheung (who has never looked as gorgeous as she does here, and that’s counting In The Mood For Love) in the middle of a million yellow leaves, is simultaneously heart-stoppingly exciting and jaw-droppingly beautiful. It’s the scene of the year, and last year, and next year.
Where we saw it: film | We deign to rate it: outta 100Hey folks out there in Readerland: Still in the process of moving, and we still don't have a phone line working in the new place, so I'm posting this stuff from the old place, which ironically still has a working phone line. Everything should be back to normal by the weekend.
Posted by: Kza at June 9, 2004 11:35 AMAlways happy to find another fan of the wonderful Hero! Although I'd hesitate to proclaim the "fight in the leaves" the scene of the year with Zhang's Shi Mian Mai Fu coming out this winter (being distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, thank goodness). I vaguely recall Zhang making a statement to the effect that Hero was the practice run, Shi Mian Mai Fu is the real thing. Now if that doesn't set up unreasonable expectations, nothing will.
Posted by: Jim Biancolo at June 9, 2004 01:24 PMThe trailer looks incredible, but I did not enjoy CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, so perhaps I will not enjoy HERO. What do you think?
Posted by: Scott at June 9, 2004 01:54 PMI saw this on June 10th, as it happens, and your description is right on. Initially it seems like it has acres of cold and unemotional land covered, but by the end it is something _way_ more than the sum of its incredibly gorgeous parts. Still don't like it better than Kill Bill or Eternal Sunshine, but easily my third favorite film of the year should it ever actually come out, and I will absolutely be catching it again in the theatre at that time.
Posted by: Daniel Jensen at June 12, 2004 05:01 PMScott: What didn't you like about CROUCHING TIGER? If the answer is "the martial arts", then, no, I don't think HERO's for you. Is it that or something else?
Posted by: Kza at June 13, 2004 08:49 PMIt's true, I'm not one for the martial arts flicks. I enjoyed the action scenes in CROUCHING TIGER (even though I'm not sure that Lee quite knows how to construct them, just look at HULK), but found everything else wanting, especially the dialogue. I'd give it a 60.
Posted by: Scott at June 16, 2004 04:03 PMI'd say give HERO a chance. I think you'll find the things you found wanting in CTHD to be better in HERO. I think the story is more interesting and more interestingly constructed. But again, it helps if you go in knowing how arty and abstracted it's going to be.
Now, let's sit back and hope it gets released!
(oh, and for comparison, I'd give CTHD a rating in the 70s-80s. I'll probably be watching it again in the next couple months or so, and I'll nail down the rating then.)
Posted by: Kza at June 17, 2004 08:26 AMYeah, I'd hate to end up seeing HERO on DVD instead of the big screen.
Posted by: Scott at June 17, 2004 03:16 PMFor whatever it is worth, Hero was, for me, an almost impossibly better version of Courching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I liked the latter, but I _loved_ the former.
Posted by: Daniel Jensen at June 19, 2004 05:04 PMHey Dan!
Yeah, I'm starting to think the exact same thing. I'm gonna put it to the test later this week by watching CTHD again. (At least it's in my personal queue; we'll see how long it takes for me to get to it.)
Posted by: Kza at June 20, 2004 09:47 AM