Why I Love the Movie...Hero
I've decided to do a thing once in a while where I talk about movies I love. I'm mostly doing this to show people that I can talk about things other than politics. I'll probably do this for bands/concerts/music as well.
I've always loved Chinese/Hong-Kong movies. I can't remember the first one I saw, but I remember being completely traumatized by Farewell My Concubine. I loved it. Asian movies in general don't give you disingenuous happy endings. They keep it real. And sad.
In the summer of 2004, I guess, my friend who now lives in New Jersey came back home to visit family and friends. We met up and decided to catch a flick in a suburban movie theatre filled with teenagers. As a person who lives in the heart of Montreal, where there are only adults at movies like Shrek and Harry Potter, this was slightly alarming. I love kids, but I do not like noise during movies. Thankfully, nowadays the sound is loud enough to drown out almost anything. Unfortunately, loud sound does not drown out the kid kicking the back of your chair.
In any case, we decided to see Hero. The movie started off interestingly enough and the story seemed to come to a pretty quick conclusion. Basically, the King of Qin is engaged in a series of wars with six other pre-Chinese kingdoms. He wants to unify China. He has put out contracts on three enemy warriors who have attempted to assassinate him. An unknown warrior, Nameless, claims to have beaten one of those warriors, Sky, and brings the King of Qin his sword as proof. This means that Nameless gets some money and gets to approach the king. Moreover, Namless gives him the swords of the absolutely unbeatable Broken Sword and Flying Snow. Now, the King of Qin is safe from the assassins. End of story.
But, aha, they gotcha! No Chinese movie finishes after twenty minutes! The King of Qin figures out that Nameless is lying and proceeds to unravel the story. I won't give away the rest.
Why is this movie so great? Where to begin and where to end? The enviable imagery, the boundless colour, the actors' ability to draw you into the story, the heartbreak, the jealousy, the regret, the sacrifice and the courage. There are so many stories going on at once: one of devotion, one of bravery, one of wisdom, and a fantastic story of love. No character comes away without learning a valuable lesson. No character finishes his or her story without earning your respect. You leave this movie feeling empty and full all at the same time.
Oh, and Broken Sword is HOT!
I've always loved Chinese/Hong-Kong movies. I can't remember the first one I saw, but I remember being completely traumatized by Farewell My Concubine. I loved it. Asian movies in general don't give you disingenuous happy endings. They keep it real. And sad.
In the summer of 2004, I guess, my friend who now lives in New Jersey came back home to visit family and friends. We met up and decided to catch a flick in a suburban movie theatre filled with teenagers. As a person who lives in the heart of Montreal, where there are only adults at movies like Shrek and Harry Potter, this was slightly alarming. I love kids, but I do not like noise during movies. Thankfully, nowadays the sound is loud enough to drown out almost anything. Unfortunately, loud sound does not drown out the kid kicking the back of your chair.
In any case, we decided to see Hero. The movie started off interestingly enough and the story seemed to come to a pretty quick conclusion. Basically, the King of Qin is engaged in a series of wars with six other pre-Chinese kingdoms. He wants to unify China. He has put out contracts on three enemy warriors who have attempted to assassinate him. An unknown warrior, Nameless, claims to have beaten one of those warriors, Sky, and brings the King of Qin his sword as proof. This means that Nameless gets some money and gets to approach the king. Moreover, Namless gives him the swords of the absolutely unbeatable Broken Sword and Flying Snow. Now, the King of Qin is safe from the assassins. End of story.
But, aha, they gotcha! No Chinese movie finishes after twenty minutes! The King of Qin figures out that Nameless is lying and proceeds to unravel the story. I won't give away the rest.
Why is this movie so great? Where to begin and where to end? The enviable imagery, the boundless colour, the actors' ability to draw you into the story, the heartbreak, the jealousy, the regret, the sacrifice and the courage. There are so many stories going on at once: one of devotion, one of bravery, one of wisdom, and a fantastic story of love. No character comes away without learning a valuable lesson. No character finishes his or her story without earning your respect. You leave this movie feeling empty and full all at the same time.
Oh, and Broken Sword is HOT!
posted by Laurelle St. Laurent at 10:18 p.m.
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