In Zhang Yimou’s Hero, last week’s #1 film in America, Hong Kong matinee idol Jet Li is Nameless, a mysterious stranger who engages a battle of wits with the Emperor. Li spins a series of pastel tales that open one into another, like Chinese boxes, as the Emperor & the audience try to puzzle out truth from lies.
Yimou drenches – some would say smothers – the movie in sensual poetry: sheets of arrows riddling a garrison, Maggie Cheung’s swirling many-colored silk sleeves, a balletic duel across the surface tension of a lake, raindrops, blood-red leaves. Images crowd out the characters, & only Tony Leung, with his heartbreak eyes, & scene-thief Zhang Ziyi manage to hold their own.Is it a fascist movie? In the film, an assassin aborts a plot against the Emperor, concluding that the kingdom needs a strong hand. Yimou: “My idea was to convey the message of peace.” Li: “It talks about how violence is not the only solution.” It does? This is a movie made in Communist China, a totalitarian state where only ghosts bear witness to Tienanmen Square, & filmmakers can only comment on society via metaphor & the panorama of antiquity.
The message of the film isn’t pacifist, it’s passivist (much like America’s confused ‘antiwar’ crowd), its rebels finally endorsing the iron fist of the Emperor, a brutal warlord with imperial ambitions. No wonder Beijing likes this message of peace. American movie reviewers – one hesitates to call them critics – who previously gushed all over Agitprop 9/11, have been just as forgiving to Hero. Notable exceptions:
• Joshua Tanzer, OffOffOff: “A beautiful parchment on which is written, in the most elegant calligraphy, a manifesto for evil.”
• Andy Klein, LA Citybeat: “The moral of Hero supports all the worst aspects of Chinese communism, disguised as support for the ‘benevolent despotism’ of the First Emperor.”
• Jeffrey Chen, Window to the Movies: “If we follow this logic through, we could find ourselves pitying any fascist-leaning dictator who believes peace is only available through forced submission.”
• J.Hoberman, Village Voice: “There’s more than a bit of Leni Riefenstahl. Hero’s vast imperial sets, its glorification of ruthless leadership and self-sacrifice on the altar of national greatness, are all redolent of fascinatin’ fascism.”
Don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing artistry, & I tend to Oscar Wilde’s view: “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well-written, or badly written.” Hero is well-crafted propaganda. It’s also a wrenching love story. CAST:
• Jet Li: Born Beijing 1963. Began studying wushu in 1st grade. Won 1st martial arts gold medal at age 11. Performed for Richard Nixon on White House lawn in 1974. Paid 12ยข a day for 1st movie 25 years ago. Manager shot to death by organized crime. Pissed off Jackie Chan with High Risk, which featured no-talent sellout actor played by ‘Jacky Cheung’. Turned down lead in Crouching Tiger because wife pregnant. Next up: Unleashed, aka Danny the Dog, with Morgan Freeman.
• Maggie Cheung: Born Hong Kong 1964. Family moved to England in 1972. Runner-up 1983 Miss Hong Kong. Has made over 80 films. Best Actress, Cannes 2004 for Clean, directed by ex-husband Olivier Assayas. Memorable movies: Irma Vep, In the Mood for Love. Next up: sci-fi 2046.
• Tony Leung: Born Hong Kong 1962. Quit school at 15 to work as paper boy. Tempestuous tabloid love life. Best Actor Cannes 2000 for In the Mood for Love (with Maggie Cheung). Played gay expatriate in Buenos Aires in Happy Together (Cannes Best Director 1997) with Cantonese pop star Leslie Cheung (Farewell My Concubine), who committed suicide last year. Also memorable: Infernal Affairs, Chungking Express. Next up: sci-fi 2046 (with Maggie Cheung & Gong Li).
• Zhang Ziyi: Born Beijing 1979. Trained as dancer, joined Beijing Dance Academy at 15. Zhang Yimou cast her in first movie The Road Home. Rumors of affair led Chinese press to dub her Little Gong Li, after Yimou’s previous dalliance/protege Gong Li. Ang Lee passed over more well-known Hong Kong actresses to cast her in Crouching Tiger (Best Actress, Toronto Film Festival). Next up: Memoirs of a Geisha with (gulp) Gong Li.
• For a remarkably stupid take, see Liza Bear’s interview with Yimou, in which she’s not just oblivious to fascist overtones, but tries to connect red, white, & blue color sequences to American ’empire’.
• Also see detailed report on Human Rights Violations in China, and interesting Taiwan blog A Better Tomorrow: “Hero is a complete sop to the Chinese Communist Party.”
Posted by jeff at 07:08 AM