The first time I saw this movie was in 2017, more than ten years after the movie was released. In the past ten years, the Chinese film and television industry has changed rapidly, from the "big history" and "big narrative" of the fifth-generation directors Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, to the simple and sincere stories of the sixth-generation directors Wang Xiaoshuai and Jia Zhangke, to the huge commercial film kingdom now . Looking back, the style of Chinese-language movies in the past is still there, but nowadays there are fewer and fewer Chinese-language movies that can be talked about deeply. Who would have thought that there was "Hero" back then, but now only "The Great Wall" is left. Although "Hero" is not as profound as "Farewell My Concubine" and "Red Sorghum", it can be regarded as a work with heart. In addition to the story, it is also rich in its production technology. The powerful forces of the Qin state, the majestic momentum of the Qin soldiers, and the beauty of Chinese swordsmanship are all displayed through delicate photography techniques and film lenses and tones.
"Heroes" tells the story of a strong man named Qin King assassinating the three major assassins of Zhao State. I was impressed by the shots, sound effects and tone in the film. The four tones in the film: red, blue, cyan, and white, and the rhythm of the story is closely linked to the emotions of the characters. The story is divided into three parts, the story written by Wuming himself (red), the speculation of the King of Qin (blue), and the truth (white).
In the first part, Wuming, a strong man, recounted to the King of Qin the process of assassinating the three major assassins of Zhao, Changkong, Canjian, and Feixue. This part uses bright red tones. Speaking of "Heroes", the most impressive scene is Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi fighting in an autumn forest. The bright red clothes are in strong contrast with the golden autumn leaves, and the actors' soft figure perfectly interprets the beauty of Chinese martial arts. The red tones in the film create a tragic atmosphere, and in this segment, the unnamed characters are trapped in emotion, and their love-hate relationship culminates in a series of tragedies.
In the second part, King Qin sees through the nameless and expresses his speculation. The tone of the movie in this clip is blue. Compared with the red tone, the blue is much milder. Although it is less tragic, it is more profound, which also implies the relationship between Wuming and the three assassins. The King of Qin thought Wuming's statement was false, and stated that the three assassins wanted Wuming to assassinate him so that Wuming could be rewarded, so that he could move forward a hundred steps and have a conversation with the King of Qin at a distance of ten steps. Kill" to assassinate the King of Qin. The relationship between the characters in this part is different from the previous part: the sparring in the previous segment is born of love and hate, while the sparring in this segment is born out of loyalty and love.
There are several similar details in the film worth noting:
The scene of Feixue and Wuming fighting in the second part corresponds to the scene of Feixue and Wuming fighting in the first part under the watchful eye of Qin Bing; the blood drop on the sword after Feixue stabbed Ruyue in the first part corresponds to the second part. In some of the stories, Wuming and Canjian had water droplets on their faces after they fought each other in artistic conception; in these three stories, Canjian's abdominal stab wounds were all caused by flying snow.
The King of Qin finally pointed the finger at Wuming. The film cleverly uses visual effects (the direction of the candle) to suggest the mental state of the warrior.
In the third part, Wuming tells the real story to the King of Qin. The color tone in this clip is white, which is a metaphor for the chivalry and expectations for "the world" in the hearts of warriors and assassins. King Qin finally slapped himself in the face. It turned out that the assassin he had always wanted to kill had the same desire as him, that is, peace in the world.
There is a clip in the film about the story of the broken sword and flying snow, and this part uses green tones. Green symbolizes hope, here it represents stability and comfort, and it is a metaphor for Canjian Feixue's expectations for future life. Three years ago, Canjian Feixue went to the mansion to assassinate the King of Qin, but Canjian finally gave up. He knew that the King of Qin could not die, because only the King of Qin could bring peace to the world. At the end, the green curtain falls quietly, and Canjian Feixue's life comes to an end in summer. In order to abide by the principles of the state, the King of Qin finally ordered Wuming to be killed, and later established a powerful kingdom in history.
"Hero" has always been regarded as a milestone in the era of Chinese blockbusters and the beginning of Chinese commercial films. The audience's praise for "Hero" is also mixed, with some giving high marks, while others commented that the content of the story is empty and overall gaudy. The screening of "Hero" symbolizes the commercialization of Chinese film and television, and also symbolizes that China's film technology is gradually moving closer to that of Europe and the United States. Every time I see someone commenting that a movie is a commercial movie, I always feel that it is not a good thing. I am a little disappointed in the commercialization of movies, but the commercialization of movies is not all bad. Entertainment and business are closely related. No one can say that movies are just Art, because in the beginning movies were created for entertainment.
Fortunately, there are still directors who are willing to maintain the pursuit of film art in their hearts. As for the phenomenon of blindly pursuing commercial film production in China, perhaps the biggest factor is the audience. The empire of film is born because of the audience. If more audiences support art films, the development of the domestic film and television industry will become more and more healthy. Art films It can also achieve a balance with the number of commercial films, rather than the flood of commercial films and the mentality of the audience blindly chasing stars. I can only hope that there will be more profound, sincere, and weighty movies in China, instead of making movies just for entertainment.
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