Hero (2002 film)
Encyclopedia
Hero is a 2002 wuxia
Wuxia
Wuxia is a broad genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists. Although wuxia is traditionally a form of literature, its popularity has caused it to spread to diverse art forms like Chinese opera, manhua , films, television series, and video games...

 film directed by Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....

. Starring Jet Li
Jet Li
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce...

 as the nameless protagonist, the film is based on the story of Jing Ke
Jing Ke
Jing Ke was a guest residing in the estates of Dan, crown prince of Yan and renowned for his failed assassination attempt of Ying Zheng, King of Qin state, who later became China's first emperor...

's assassination attempt on the King of Qin
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...

 in 227 BC.

Hero was first released in China on October 24, 2002. At that time, it was the most expensive project and the highest-grossing motion picture in Chinese film history. Miramax Films
Miramax Films
Miramax Films is an American entertainment company known for distributing independent and foreign films. For its first 14 years the company was privately owned by its founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein...

 owned the American market distribution rights, but delayed the release of the film for nearly two years. It was finally presented by Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...

 to American theaters on August 27, 2004.

Plot

In ancient China during the Warring States Period
Warring States Period
The Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, or the Warring Kingdoms period, covers the Iron Age period from about 475 BC to the reunification of China under the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC...

, a nameless prefect of a small jurisdiction arrives at the Qin state
Qin (state)
The State of Qin was a Chinese feudal state that existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history...

's capital city to meet the king of Qin, who has survived an attempt on his life by the assassins Long Sky, Flying Snow, and Broken Sword, and therefore forbidden visitors closer than 100 paces to his throne. 'Nameless' claims that he had slain the three assassins and he displays their weapons before the king, who allows Nameless to sit closer to him and tell him his story.

Nameless recounts killing Long Sky at a xiangqi
Xiangqi
Xiangqi is a two-player Chinese board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, shogi, Indian chess and janggi. The present-day form of Xiangqi originated in China and is therefore commonly called Chinese chess in English. Xiangqi is one of the most popular board games in China...

 parlor; later to meet Flying Snow and Broken Sword at a calligraphy school in the Zhao state
Zhao (state)
Zhao was a significant Chinese state during the Warring States Period, along with six others...

, where he set them against each other until Snow killed Sword and was herself slain by Nameless. As the tale concludes, the king expresses disbelief and accuses Nameless of staging the duels with the assassins, who surrendered their lives to allow him to gain the king's trust and take the king's life.

Nameless admits that he is a native of the Zhao state and that his family was killed by Qin soldiers, and confesses that he defeated Sky without killing him and had proposed co-operation to Snow and Sword. After Snow's apparent death, Sword approached Nameless and told him that the only way to achieve peace was to unite the states under a common dynasty; namely that of Qin, which alone has the ability to do so.

The king, affected by the tale and by Sword's understanding of his dream to unify China, ceases to fear Nameless. Meanwhile, Snow learns that Sword had convinced Nameless to forgo the assassination, kills Sword, and later kills herself. At the Qin palace, the king reluctantly orders Nameless killed, being urged thereto by his officers. As the film ends, Nameless receives a hero's funeral and a closing text identifies the king as Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...

.

Cast

  • Jet Li
    Jet Li
    The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce...

     as Nameless : An unknown prefect of a small province, orphaned at an early age. Forged into a master swordsman over years of training, Nameless possesses the singular technique "Death at Ten Paces" allowing him to strike precisely within that distance. He is the primary conspirator to assassinate the king, but ultimately decides that China's unification and peace are more important than vengeance. Hero also saw Jet Li's first appearance in a film produced by mainland China, after his debut in Shaolin Temple.

  • Tony Leung as Broken Sword : Broken Sword and Flying Snow are the only assassins to ever infiltrate the king's palace, killing hundreds of his personal guard and very nearly the king himself before halting at the last moment. Of all the assassins, Broken Sword is the only one whom Nameless considers his equal in swordsmanship.

  • Maggie Cheung
    Maggie Cheung
    Maggie Cheung Man yuk is a Chinese actress from Hong Kong. Raised in England and Hong Kong, she has over 70 films to her credit since starting her career in 1983...

     as Flying Snow : A skilled assassin, Flying Snow is Broken Sword's lover and his near-equal as a swordsman. Unlike Broken Sword, she harbors a grudge against the king. When Broken Sword convinces Nameless to abandon the assassination attempt on the king, Flying Snow kills him and later herself.

  • Chen Daoming
    Chen Daoming
    Chen Daoming is a famous Chinese actor known for his flexibility and longevity. He has been branded the Emperor of Chinese drama, having starred in all types of dramas and films....

     as the King of Qin : An ambitious leader who desires to become the first Emperor of China. Following an assassination attempt, he withdraws into his palace, which he vacates of all but his most trusted advisors, and always wears his battle armor. In speaking, he uses an ancient way of saying "I" , which literally means "lonely person", but consists of the two Chinese characters "寡" which means less, or lacking, and "人" which means man, or person, in ancient Chinese. This has the meaning of "a man who lacks morals" , and may resemble the Western "Royal 'We'" or Pluralis majestatis
    Pluralis majestatis
    The majestic plural , is the use of a plural pronoun to refer to a single person holding a high office, such as a monarch, bishop, or pope...

    .

  • Donnie Yen
    Donnie Yen
    Donnie Yen is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer, and world wushu tournament medalist...

     as Long Sky : an accomplished spearman, Sky is the first to be "defeated" by Nameless, who takes Sky's broken spear as proof of his defeat to the king. He is the least-seen assassin in the film.

  • Zhang Ziyi
    Zhang Ziyi
    Zhang Ziyi is a Chinese film actress. Zhang is coined by the media as one of the Four Young Dan actresses in the Film Industry in China, along with Zhao Wei, Xu Jinglei, and Zhou Xun...

     as Moon : Broken Sword's loyal apprentice, skilled in using twin swords.

Box office

When Hero opened in Hong Kong in December 2002, it grossed a massive HK $15,471,348 in its first week. Its final gross of HK $26 million made it one of the top films in Hong Kong that year. On August 27, 2004, after a long delay, Hero opened in 2,031 North American screens uncut and subtitled. It debuted at #1, grossing US $18,004,319 ($8,864 per screen) in its opening weekend. The total was the second highest opening weekend ever for a foreign language film; only The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...

 has opened to a better reception. Its US $53,710,019 North American box office gross makes it the fourth highest-grossing foreign language film and 15th highest-grossing martial arts film in North American box office history. The total worldwide box office gross was US $177,394,432.

Critical response

The film received extremely favorable reviews, scoring 95% at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

 and 84 at Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...

 called it "beautiful and beguiling, a martial arts extravaganza defining the styles and lives of its fighters within Chinese tradition." Richard Corliss of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

 described it as "the masterpiece", adding that "it employs unparalleled visual splendor to show why men must make war to secure the peace and how warriors may find their true destiny as lovers." Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...

's Michael Wilmington called it "swooningly beautiful, furious and thrilling" and "an action movie for the ages." Charles Taylor of Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...

 took an especially positive stance, deeming it "one of the most ravishing spectacles the movies have given us". Nevertheless, there were several film critics who felt the film had advocated autocracy and reacted with discomfort. The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...

s reviewer deemed it to have a "cartoon ideology" and justification for ruthless leadership comparable to Triumph of the Will
Triumph of the Will
Triumph of the Will is a propaganda film made by Leni Riefenstahl. It chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 Nazi supporters. The film contains excerpts from speeches given by various Nazi leaders at the Congress, including portions of...

.

Political meaning and criticism

This film has faced criticism, as well as praise from abroad as a perceived pro-totalitarian
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...

 and pro-Chinese reunification
Chinese reunification
Chinese reunification refers to the bringing together of all of the territories controlled by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China under a single political entity...

 subtext. Critics also cited as evidence the approval that had been given to the film by the government
Central People's Government
The Central People's Government is the central government of the People's Republic of China in Beijing. According to the 1982 Constitution, "Central People's Government" is synonymous with the State Council.-History:...

 of the People's Republic of China. These critics argued that the ulterior meaning of the film was triumph of security and stability over liberty and human rights, analogous to the "Asian values
Asian values
Asian values was a concept that came into vogue briefly in the 1990s to justify authoritarian regimes in Asia, predicated on the belief in the existence within Asian countries of a unique set of institutions and political ideologies which reflected the region's culture and history...

" concept that gained brief popularity in the 1990s.

The film's director, Zhang Yimou, purportedly withdrew from the 1999 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

 to protest similar criticism,. Zhang Yimou himself had maintained that he had absolutely no political points to make.

Translation of "Tianxia"

There has been some criticism of the film for its American-release translation of one of the central ideas in the film: 天下 (Tiānxià)
All under heaven
Tianxia is a phrase in the Chinese language and an ancient Chinese cultural concept that denoted either the entire geographical world or the metaphysical realm of mortals, and later became associated with political sovereignty.In ancient China, tianxia denoted the lands, space, and area divinely...

. It literally means "all (everything and everyone) under heaven", and is a phrase to mean "the World". In fact, for its release in Belgium, some two years before the U.S. release, the subtitled translation was indeed "all under heaven". However, the version shown in American cinemas was localized as the two-word phrase "Our land" instead, which seems to denote just the nation of China rather than the whole world. Whether Zhang Yimou intended the film to also have meaning with regard to the world and world unity was at that time difficult to say. Zhang Yimou was asked about the change at a screening in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 and said it was a problem of translation: "If you ask me if 'Our land' is a good translation, I can't tell you. All translations are handicapped. Every word has different meanings in different cultures," he said. However, in Cause: The Birth of Hero – a documentary on the making of Hero – Zhang mentions that he hopes the film will have some contemporary relevance, and that, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks (which took place just before the movie was filmed) the themes of universal brotherhood and "peace under heaven" may indeed be interpreted more globally, and taken to refer to peace in "the world." The phrase was later changed in television-release versions of the film.

Miramax release

Miramax, the film studio, owned the American-market distribution rights, but delayed the release of the film, a record total of six times. Import DVDs of the film were sold online and Miramax demanded that the sites cease selling the DVD. The movie was finally released in American theaters on August 27, 2004 after intervention by Disney executives and Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...

, who helped secure an uncut English-subtitled release. He also offered to lend his name to promotional material for the film in order to attract box office attention to it; his name was attached to the credits as "Quentin Tarantino Presents". In addition, a sword held by Jet Li's character in the original promotional poster was replaced by weapon resembling a katana
Katana
A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...

, a Japanese weapon, in the North American promotional poster, which was both anachronistic and culturally misplaced. The United States version of the DVD, with Mandarin, English, and French soundtracks, was released on November 30, 2004.

Awards and recognition

  • Hero was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 2003 Academy Awards
    Academy Awards
    An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

     but lost to Nowhere in Africa
    Nowhere in Africa
    Nowhere in Africa is a 2001 German film directed by Caroline Link and based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Stefanie Zweig. It tells the story of a Jewish family that emigrates to Kenya during World War II to escape the Nazis and run a farm...

     (Germany).
  • Zhang Yimou won the Alfred Bauer Award at the Berlin International Film Festival
    Berlin International Film Festival
    The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...

     in 2003 for his work in Hero.
  • The National Society of Film Critics
    National Society of Film Critics
    The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...

     awarded Zhang Yimou their Best Director award.
  • The New York Film Critics Circle recognized cinematographer Christopher Doyle
    Christopher Doyle
    Christopher Doyle is a cinematographer. He has won the AFI Award for cinematography, the Cannes Technical Grand Prize, Golden Osella, the Golden Horse awards , and Hong Kong Film Award . Doyle is an affiliate of the Hong Kong Society of Cinematographers.-Biography:Doyle was born in Sydney,...

     with its award for Best Cinematography.
  • The Chicago Film Critics Association
    Chicago Film Critics Association
    The Chicago Film Critics Association is an American film critic association.-Members:Current members include:*Sarah Knight Adamson*Zbigniew Banas*Shelley Cameron*Dave Canfield*Vittorio Carli*Erik Childress*Camerin Courtney*Bonnie DeShong...

     awarded Hero Best Cinematography, alongside Martin Scorsese
    Martin Scorsese
    Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...

    's The Aviator.
  • The Online Film Critics Society
    Online Film Critics Society
    The Online Film Critics Society is a professional association for film critics who publish their reviews, interviews, and essays on the Internet.The OFCS was founded in 1997...

     awarded Hero Best Cinematography and Best Foreign Language Film.
  • Hero received seven Hong Kong Film Awards
    Hong Kong Film Awards
    The Hong Kong Film Awards , founded in 1982, are the most prestigious film awards in Hong Kong and among the most respected in mainland China and Taiwan. Award ceremonies are held annually, typically in April. The Awards recognize achievement in all aspects of filmmaking, such as directing,...

     in 2003, including Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound. The movie was also nominated for seven other awards, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Song, and Best Director.
  • Hero won joint Best Film at the Hundred Flowers Awards
    Hundred Flowers Awards
    The People's Hundred Flowers Film Festival or Hundred Flowers Awards, equivalent the China's Golden Globes, are considered, together with the Golden Rooster Awards, the most prestigious film awards in China...

     in 2003.

DVD release

An extended edition with eight minutes of additional footage was released in China. However, it was rumored that the original film was slated to be some 20 minutes longer, with critical character building of the five main characters (Nameless, Broken Sword, Flying Snow, Long Sky and the future Emperor of Qin). It features minor differences in story, music, and fight sequences from those of the theatrical version. One particular difference in the extended version of Hero was Moon attempting to take her life before Nameless stops her after Broken Sword left with his sword and words. Hero is one of very few titles to be released on EVD
Enhanced Versatile Disc
The Enhanced Versatile Disc is an optical medium-based digital audio/video format, developed to provide a means for playing HDTV content using existing optical media. It was announced on November 18, 2003, by the People's Republic of China's Xinhua News Agency as a response to the popular...

 as well as DVD.

Music

  • The film was scored by Tan Dun
    Tan Dun
    Tan Dun is a Chinese contemporary classical composer, most widely known for his scores for the movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero.-Early life in China:...

    , a famous contemporary classical composer.
  • The theme song Hero (英雄) by Zhang Yadong and Lin Xi is sung by Faye Wong
    Faye Wong
    Faye Wong is a highly successful and influential Chinese singer-songwriter and actress who is usually referred to as a diva . Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong . Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong in 1987 and rose to stardom in the early 1990s by singing...

    . It is unavailable in the American version of both the film DVD and soundtrack album.
  • Wind & Sand (風沙) is a theme song inspired by the film and sung by actor Tony Leung. It is only available in his album of that name.
  • The musical instrument seen and played during the fight in the weiqi courtyard scene is a guqin
    Guqin
    The guqin is the modern name for a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family...

    , the Chinese seven-stringed zither. The music was performed by Liu Li on a guqin.

Other media

  • The comic book version of the story by Ma Wing-shing is faithful to the film's story for the most part, until the ending. In this version, all of the heroes survive.
  • Drum n' bass group Evol Intent
    Evol Intent
    Evol Intent is a hardstep drum and bass group formed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. in 2000. The group is composed of The Enemy , Knick , and Gigantor ....

     have a song entitled "Broken Sword" which appears on the Dieselboy compilation album The Human Resource on both discs. The song samples the film's soundtrack.
  • R&B artist Bobby Valentino samples from the movie on the single titled "Tell Me".
  • Hero (Music from the Original Soundtrack) Itzhak Perlman, Kodo & Tan Dun.
  • This movie's theme song was produced by Albert Leung
    Albert Leung
    -Education:He was educated at the boys school Chan Sui Ki College and La Salle College, and graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1984.-Songwriting career:He has been a cantopop lyricist since 1985, using the pen name Lin Xi...

    .

External links

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