Director: Zhang Yimou Screenwriter: Li Feng, Zhang Yimou, Wang Bin Producer: Li Feng, Zhang Yimou, Wang Bin Actor: Jet Li (unknown) Tony Leung Chiu Wai (broken sword) Maggie Cheung (flying snow) Chen Daoming (Qin Wang) Zhang Ziyi (Ruyue) Donnie Yen (Sky) Literature Planning: Wang Bin Photography Director: Du Kefeng Photography: Zhao Xiaoding Martial Arts Director:. Opening remarks. At the end of the warring States period, the six countries fought, and Qin was the strongest. Zhao Zheng [1][2] (Chen Daoming), the king of Qin, has the ambition to unify the whole country, but he has become the target of assassination by many assassins. On this day, Zhao Zheng [3], the king of Qin, will summon a small official named Wu Ming (Jet Li). Unknown dressed in black, imposing, walked into the blue-black hall. This is perhaps the most empty palace in the history of China. There is no maid-in-waiting bodyguard, no decoration, and it is cold. The king of Qin sits on the throne alone, far away from the unknown. Since one day three years ago, two assassins broke through the block of three thousand guards and entered the temple, the king of Qin has been in deep fear. In order not to give the assassin a hiding place, this hall became the most empty palace in the world. Even the guards can only wait outside the temple door. Unless, who can kill the king of Qin like nobody? [Unknown, as opposed to the king of Qin, begins to tell how he killed the king of Qin's first menace, the assassin Sky (Donnie Yen). ] Second, the chess hall, black. A nameless story. On a rainy day, in the chess hall, in the sound of the blind old man's fiddling, the sky defeated the seven masters of Qin, and was about to leave the chess hall, but he was stopped by a nameless voice. "Slow down!" In the sound of guqin, the rain flowed along the dark eaves of the chess hall, and two men in black flew up and down. It looks like a dance, but it is a life-and-death contest. The nameless sword stabbed out. Compared with the rapidity of the sword, the dripping of rain beads turned into a slow slide. The sky fell to the ground. He who kills the assassin in the sky can get twenty steps closer to the king of Qin. In addition to the four rewards, Wuming was allowed to be separated from the king of Qin by a hundred steps. He began to talk about how to kill two other big worries that made the king of Qin unable to sleep for three years, the assassin's remnant sword (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and Fei Xue (Maggie Cheung). Third, Zhao, red. A nameless story. Unknown dressed in red, in the name of begging for words from Canjian, he came to the seclusion of Canjian Feixue, the Zhao Library. Canjian is practicing calligraphy in the sand. Although he is dressed in red, he can't hide his loneliness. Ruyue is also dressed in red, serving beside her. At this point, Qin Jun soldiers, arrows came like migratory locusts. Everyone in the library has been hit by an arrow, but those who have not been hit by an arrow still insist on practicing calligraphy. Zhao's calligraphy is famous for its fortitude. In the arrow, the remnant sword is writing hard. Flying snow nameless struggled to stop the arrow. The arrow array stopped. Canjian finished writing his words. It was a blood-red word "sword". In order to deal with the two top experts, Unknown decided to take a deviant approach. When he made an appointment with the two men, he said that before being killed by himself, the sky asked him to give something to Feixue. While giving something like that to Fei Xue, Wu Ming put jealousy in the heart of the remnant sword. It was night, and the remnant sword tore the clothes like the moon. Ruyue smiled impudently, as if laughing to Fei Xue. Jealousy is a powerful poison mixed with honey. There is no antidote to this poison. When the poison carefully concocted by the unknown finally broke out, Feixue's sword passed through the wooden door, and the remaining sword slumped to the ground. The beautiful yellow leaf forest, like the moon seeking revenge on the flying snow. They seem to stand on tiptoe on the blade and dance in despair. Yellow leaves are flying and beating them, as if that suffocating love. Only when they fly on the top of the yellow leafy forest, the blue sky occasionally appears, but they will be abandoned or abandoned more quickly. Ruyue made desperate attacks again and again, and her bleak youth was once only illuminated by a man for an instant. Now, she just wants this so-called youth to be ignited by hatred and then burned out. She is just a maid, and she can only have a maid's martial arts and all her sorrows. She was killed. Everything became red, and the yellow leaves and the blue sky were all immersed in blood. Fei Xue was so distracted that he was stabbed to death by an unknown sword. When the unknown finished speaking, he presented the huge word "sword" to the king of Qin. The king of Qin announced a more generous reward. At the same time, the unknown was allowed to be separated from Zhao Zheng by ten steps. Between them, the candle was burning towards the king of Qin, and the king of Qin suddenly said, nameless, you are lying. Fourth, blue. The guess of the king of Qin. Three years ago, the king of Qin had an unforgettable contest with the remnant sword flying snow. In the impression of the king of Qin, Canjian and Feixue are quite chivalrous. How can they be so narrow and trapped by lust as described by the unknown? And the biggest possibility is: Unknown is also an assassin! Unique martial arts, a nameless practitioner of "Ten Steps and One Kill", can quickly kill each other in ten steps. However, Qin Gong is heavily guarded. Only by killing the famous assassins, such as Sky, Broken Sword and Flying Snow, can we get a chance to get close to the king of Qin. Sky, actually a nameless friend, is willing to commit suicide. Chess hall scene, in fact, is two people to discuss good, in front of the state of Qin catch fast staged a good play. In order to save each other, the remnant sword and the flying snow rushed to die, but finally they were ambushed by the flying snow. The flying snow ambushed the wounded sword and died alone. The king of Qin also guessed that Canjian and Unknown had a real contest between gentlemen on the lakeside of Jiuzhaigou. There is a small pavilion floating on the lake, and the body of Feixue lies there. Two men, flying over the lake gently, seemed to be dancing and surprised. They seem to be dancing sadly on the water. In order to have a mission, we must let love and tenderness drift. Under the huge word "sword", the king of Qin tells his speculation and his ambition to unify the world. "It will be a big territory." Between him and the nameless ten steps, the candlelight whizzed. The king of Qin went on to say, "Do you know how I guessed it? I felt the murderous look in this candle light. But, "he asked doubtfully," why does it start to sway again? " Five, green, white. The nameless tells the true story. Three years ago, the remnant sword and flying snow joined hands to stab Qin. At that time, there were huge green draperies in Qin Gong. However, when they broke into the green Qin Gong and met the King of Qin, the remnant sword gave up. In the long process of practicing calligraphy and martial arts, Canjian realized something. Fei Xue didn't say a word to Canjian for this reason for three years, but she refused to forgive him, and his failure stopped. Now, the unknown once again mentioned the word "stabbing Qin" in front of them. The library pavilion, unknown, demonstrates his precise swordsmanship. His sword accurately cut a slender brush and passed through the nib. His sword can accurately pass through two acupoints of the human body, thus ensuring that the victim's fall to the ground at that time was only a temporary suspended animation. In fact, the sky is not dead. And the remnant sword and the flying snow don't have to die. However, after all, it is still an adventure. The next day, the broken sword flew snow for an appointment. On the way, both of them were ready to start work, but in the end, Feixue robbed them first, and the remnant sword watched Feixue die. When the unknown man went to the road to stab Qin, the remnant sword stopped him and wrote two big characters on the ground. Six, Qin Gong, black. What are the two words? "The world." In the face of these two words, personal hatred seems insignificant. This is the reason why the candle between the unknown and the king of Qin wavers. The king of Qin threw his sword at the unknown table and said, "You choose." When he turned his back and faced the huge word "sword" written by Canjian, the king of Qin suddenly understood what Canjian had learned three years ago: "The first realm, there is a sword in your hand and a sword in your heart;" "In the second realm, there is no sword in hand, but a sword in heart;" "The third realm, no sword in hand, no sword in heart;" Unknown dropped his hands. He turned around. He walked out of the hall. He came to the door of the black palace. And three thousand black guards have come. In the surging black, their red caps and tassels stand out. "Kill or not, please decide." The king of Qin pondered. "If you don't kill it, it will violate the laws of Daqin and hinder the great cause of reunification." The sound is surging. The king of Qin waved his hand down. Ten thousand arrows were fired at once. Seven, Yadan landform, white. The ending. The news finally came. Feixue waved her sword angrily and competed with the remnant sword. Finally, the flying snow sword stabbed out, but the residual sword did not escape, and accepted it calmly. No blood flowed out, because everything was so white. Flying snow committed suicide. "Broken swords fly in snow, people don't leave people, and swords don't leave swords." There, the emperor practiced the ideal of "the world". Unknown was buried with great solemnity; Here, they have fulfilled their promise of never giving up. The wind moved their white dresses. Voice-over, the sky abandoned martial arts in memory of three good friends.
Production Company: China Film Group Corporation Beijing New Picture Film Co., Ltd. Distribution Company: Beijing New Picture Film Co., Ltd. Yindu Institution Co., Ltd. Elite Entertainment Co., Ltd.
Awards
Best Foreign Language Film Award of American Film Critics Association;
Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Alfred Bauer Award at the 53rd Berlin International Film Festival. Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the 75th Academy Awards. The 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards: Best Photography; Best original movie music; Best clothing styling design; Best production designer; Best action design award; Best visual effect award; Best sound effect.
Film Review
Hero, a grand image narrative between business and art, is an important symbol of the famous director Zhang Yimou's artistic transformation in the face of the background of film globalization and commercialization. "Hero" is full of stars, with grand scenes and exquisite pictures. The martial arts design is freehand, which combines China's traditional artistic conception with the violent aesthetic modeling of action movies, creating a new round of box office myth and film industrialization mode in mainland China. The American Wall Street Journal said: "Hero really opened the curtain of China's blockbuster era". At the same time, Hero's grand narrative strategy between business and art has also caused heated debates among intellectuals, the general public, official ideology and film professionals. The theme of Hero has always been the focus of debate. The theme of the movie Hero comes from the story of Jing Ke stabbing Qin. Since Historical Records, the story of "Jing Ke stabbing Qin" has been praised by people, among which the spirit of independent individuals resisting power is the core, and "Xia" is also defined as "using force to violate the ban". The social function of martial arts literature and later martial arts movies is to use the image of Xia to break through social taboos to a certain extent, confront power politics, and provide readers or audiences with pleasure that they can't get in reality. After 198s, both Zhou Xiaowen and Chen Kaige have rewritten this theme in images, in which the resistance to mainstream ideology and the psychological reconstruction of historical figures such as the prince reflect the influence of modern enlightenment narrative on film images. However, in Hero, Zhang Yimou changed his narrative strategy, and his theme wandered between business and art, which dispelled the rebellious meaning of enlightenment and reflected the ambivalence of the middle class towards grand narrative in the current domestic cultural context. It can be said that "Hero" reflects the basic understanding of power in current society: worshipping rights and dreaming against power coexist, and the film tries to reconcile this contradiction. It is the unique creativity of this film to organize the two opposing requirements of consolidating rights and challenging rights into the story side by side. The author provides two positions for the audience to choose at the same time: the powerful and the powerless challenger. The author tries his best to balance the relationship between these two people morally by various film means. This reflects the author's contradictory view of heroes, and he tries to dress them both up as heroes. It is this seemingly ambiguous attitude that leads to the mutual dissolution of the two, which makes both types of characters not conform to the heroes in the traditional concept. However, the image of the film is touching, and the audience habitually first agrees with the chivalrous people represented by the nameless, the broken sword and the flying snow. They are the rewriting of outlaws like Jing Ke who turned to work for the rich and noble, showing people in a new identity, which is the synthesis of scholars and chivalrous men. The move of Wu Ming symbolically stabbing the king of Qin with the hilt is the crowning touch of the whole film. This narrative may be far-fetched, but it is very symbolic, which reflects the author's good intentions: it is more important and effective to influence the rulers' ideas than to destroy their bodies. It is impossible for the nameless and the broken sword to seize the rights of the rulers by violence, so they can only turn to the second best and convey their ideas of calling for peace by exerting greater discourse power. It should be admitted that the director has put a lot of thought into smoothing the gaps and covering up contradictions, which is an inevitable choice for commercial films. The popularity of a film is likely to satisfy many interests and wishes of different audiences. From a rational analysis, they are likely to come from conflicting and uncoordinated ideologies. The key to winning the audience is not to stress one ideology over others in an attempt to fundamentally solve the contradictions that cannot be solved in reality, but to find a way to reconcile, so that various interest groups can find factors that satisfy them from the text. Hero is also quite innovative in the combination of art and business. In addition to the "Rashomon" narrative strategy, drawing lessons from Hollywood blockbuster mode, it is also quite innovative in martial arts scenes, video screen design, audio-visual effects and so on. It can be said that Hero is a visual feast. All the visual symbols about China are spared no effort in Hero: Go, calligraphy, sword, guqin, landscape, bamboo tube, bow and arrow, towering buildings, endless yellow sand, green mountains and clear waters, red walls and green tiles. As far as color is concerned, in Hero, it is the opposition and collision between "red" and "black". "Black" is the representative color of the Qin Dynasty, symbolizing the pressure of grand narrative and the majesty of mainstream ideology, while the film uses red as a metaphor for national enmity and hatred, red as a symbol of the internal strength before the volcanic eruption, and red as a declaration of a unique determination and ambition of Chivalrous Man. At the beginning of the film, it shows the powerful army of Qin State, the palace buildings of the matchless world, the thick smoke and calm black. The serious king of Qin, dressed in black, wore a black crown on his head, black boots and black armor, and sat firmly in a black Qin Gong with a black dragon column. He was heroic and dignified. In the fragments describing the chivalrous, the bright red occupies an absolute dominant position. The costumes of the characters such as the remnant sword, the flying snow and the moon are all red, which are fused with the less dark red scene space to form a fiery red tone, giving the audience a strong visual impact. For example, if the moon vows to avenge the master, it will be a life-and-death showdown with Feixue in the Populus euphratica forest. In this scene, the fast-moving opponent, Zhong Jian, is killed, and the blood looks at the world, making the picture and space red, which is quite shocking. In terms of hearing, "Hero" also promoted the sound effects of martial arts films to a new level. The soundtrack of the film is Tan Dun, a famous musician. He no longer emphasizes the strong exaggeration of swords, fists and flying as in previous martial arts films. On the contrary, the hero's dubbing and onomatopoeia are quite restrained. They pay more attention to the artistic conception of "long" and "remote" and emphasize the texture of the sound. Fully accommodate all kinds of expressive detailed sound segments: not only drums, piano, Ezzat and Paalmann's violin, but also all kinds of natural sounds in martial arts scenes. What has been expressed after these restraint has opened up the "ear" world. For example, facing the picture, the background sound is as quiet as a clear lake. In the middle and low tones of waving clothes and drums, the sharp sound of swords piercing the air matches the sound of figures prancing. The quavering sound after the collision of guns and swords is very tough and textured. What is impressive is that in order to describe the accuracy of Jet Li's swordsmanship, he crossed the brush with one sword, from splitting the bamboo of the pen holder to the change of the hair sound of the pen tip. And the sword in Jiuzhaigou.