英雄
《英雄》, also known as Hero, is a radically different film from Zhang Yimou’s previous works. While there are certainly typical Zhang elements in this film, the differences are stark. Everything from the cinematography to ideological undertones is unique to Hero in a way not previously seen in a Zhang production. I would argue that this film represents a shift from Zhang’s previous experience as a cinematographer to his current role as producer/director. The camera work and political implications serve as evidence of this transformation.
In contrast to his previous films, Zhang focused far more on the characters themselves rather than the setting in which their lives play out. The overly long scenes of landscapes in which nothing was happening are gone. Instead, the beautiful scenery is merely a background to the events taking place. There are very few scenes without a character in them and almost none that are held for an extended period of time. An example of this is when Flying Snow and Broken Sword are waiting for Nameless to return from his assassination attempt while standing on mountain steeps. The camera pans far out to where you see both characters as mere white specs against the orange-brownish background, yet it does not stay there for a grueling amount of time. This insertion of people coupled with shorter time frames makes for a more continuous flow of narration while maintaining the beautiful scenic shots Zhang so favors.
The nature of Hero’s political commentary is also quite different from Zhang’s previous films. In Not One Less and To Live, the issues were mostly rooted in physical issues, like starvation and murder, rather than the ideological turmoil of Hero. While they are both contemporary problems, the extremely critical exegesis of this film is of a grander, more international scale than any of Zhang’s other works. Whether the peace-through-violence ideology is moral or ethical is a hotly contested issue explicitly expressed by the mixed reactions to this film. Many critics believe Zhang is promoting this ideal in allowing Nameless to let the Qin emperor live. I must respectfully disagree with this belief, since it is completely evident that the emperor’s tactics only bring death and destruction, not peace. In fact, as Professor Robert Eng of the University of Redlands stated in his paper “Is Hero a Paean to Authoritarianism?,” “the [Qin] dynasty went down in the flames of rebellions provoked by its cruelty.” This empirical evidence is all that is needed to prove the peace-through-bloodshed method is not only flawed, but retrogressive.
In Hero, Zhang Yimou created a truly breathtaking and powerful film unlike any of his other movies. Through his use of solid script writing and more viewer-friendly cinematography, his transition from cameraman to director is finally realized in this film. The gorgeous scenery, beautiful fight scenes, and engaging plot come together to form a dazzling movie with deep commentary, something every moviegoer can appreciate.
No comments:
Post a Comment