When we watched Hero in class today, it was my second time seeing the film. The first time I watched it, I, of course, noticed all of the vivid use of color and had all kinds of thoughts about what each color might symbolize.This time I watched the film, I noticed the shot choice and editing. In the first half of the film, during the flashbacks, the filmmakers frequently cross the line, use jump cuts, or present long stretches of action using only close-up's.
This makes these parts of the film feel very disorienting and sometimes even leaves the viewer feeling a little confused. During many of the moments when one character kills another, we don't even see it happen because the camera is stuck on the characters' faces or on a cut away. If the cinematography weren't so freaking amazing, I might assume that the filmmakers were amateurs and were making mistakes. In addition, these disorienting shots and edits were not used in the second half of the film's flashbacks (the sequences when the characters wore white). Also, the second half of the film featured wide shots where we clear saw characters deal each other the final blow. I am convinced that these unconventional shot choices and editing decisions were intentional. I have theories as to why they did this but I won't share those with you quite yet because I want to read your untainted opinions.
Please reply to this post with your response to the film. Your response needs to answer, in detail, at least two of the following questions:
- What did you make of the use of color in this film? What do you think the colors symbolize?
- Why do you think the filmmakers used such disorienting shot choice and editing in the flashbacks at the beginning of the film?
- Why did the Chinese government choose to finance this film? How does it advance their agenda?
- Write a theme statement for this film. Give at least three specific examples from the film that back up this theme statement.
- In what ways was the style of this film very different from the style of Hollywood cinema?
- What did you learn from the film about Chinese culture? What questions did the film raise about Chinese culture for you?
Also, bonus points for doing extra research about the film or about Chinese culture and including that research in your response.
And now, you may respond below.
from what i learned was they are really caring and respectful and their are different like the color change and stuff like their are diffent care and differnt moods it seems like idk what to say though but i learned allot from this movie allot of action and allot of romance and stuff but yeah idk what to say about this movie like im speachless every time i watch this movie
ReplyDeleteThank you, Alan, for answering the question about what you learned about the culture. Now, please also answer one of the other questions for full points.
DeleteBelieve it or not, I've actually seen this movie before. A few years ago, about in sixth or seventh grade, I was really into martial arts movies, so I was always looking at the foreign section at the library. This lead me to see Hero, and at the time, I thought it was O.K. I never noticed the stunning cinematography, the absolutely amazing use of color palette, or the jaw-dropping action sequences.
ReplyDeleteAt the time, I considered it alright and shrugged it off. I thought the ending was interesting and the story good, but I never gave it a second thought. In fact, at the time I found the fact that the character could jump high and long distances to be very stupid, but trust me, after watching it again I've change my mind.
I also can see why the film was funded by China after looking at the ending again. It gives very obvious support for who I'm assuming is the emperor who conquered all of China before, and a very clear message to people about how conquering all of the country's at war also unites them in the end.
I also think the reason they made those beginning shots so wacky was that it was from the perspective of the emperor himself, and what he believes happened, but while also making it so you in retrospect you know it's because none of the flashbacks and memories actually happened in the way they are seen. There is no clarity, or truth, in the shots because it's jarbled and untrue, while the shots in the latter half are clean and truthful.
But, in the end, I'm glad to have seen this movie again, and I would honestly rate it among my favorite foreign and martial arts movies. I think it's near perfect, and I give it a 9.7 out of 10.
Thank you, Chance, for your very detailed response. It was fun to read your personal experience. You did a good job of answering the question about the strange shot choice at the beginning and you also answered the question about why the Chinese government financed this film. Good work.
DeleteIt's odd how we grow, we gain perspective on certain things and lose perspective on others. Being young I grew up only watching the fight sequence in movies then as I got older I enjoyed the story line.
DeleteBut when I was young I'd love to watch cartoons but now anymore it's probably me but cartoons just seem to be joyless.
This is relating to how you were younger to now.
The color use in this film is amazing. For the most part I didn't really know what the colors stood for. Like when they go to the castle and everything is green I'm not sure what the green was supposed to mean, but like when they are in the forest and everything is red then that clearly stood out at jealously and lust. When they are at the game place and everything is black besides the one man wearing brown, I think stood for things being uniform and the same besides that man because he was a wanted criminal. The white was for the present day.
ReplyDeleteI think the film makers made it so distorted when they were showing the flash backs because it made it stand out and to make sure that we understood that it was a flash back. and to make it stand out that he is really thinking hard about that flash back.
When watching this film the first thing i noticed that was unique about it was the color. The color really stood out and it looked very beautiful with what is going on. The colors what i think symbolizes the feelings characters go in this story. Like for example the scene where there was a lot of red all over the place represented jealousy. Another scene would be where a scene had green cloths hanging from the ceiling, which is when snow and broken sword were working together which might represent peace.
ReplyDeleteWhat i think why the film makers used this disoriented style of shots and editing in the beginning was maybe to confuse the audience. The flashbacks that were being told to the emperor was not all true. And when the emperor knew he told his story of what he think what happened which made everything come back together.
I honestly believe, that the colors were used more to show the different sides of the story then emotion wise (even though emotion was brought to play in this). Such as Nameless's side of the story was red symbolizing vengeance. The Emperor's side was blue meaning cold-heartness. and white meant the truth. By the way did you guys notice when Nameless and Snow fought the colors symbolized the Yin-Yang, black and white? Last but least we have Swords's mini story which is green meaning peace and nature.
ReplyDeleteThe scene of the silk dropping has to be one of my favorite shot choices ever! Loved it so much.
I definitely notice the impression on the Chinese government, showing that the emperor wanted the country to stop fighting. He saw it as a whole then as individuals, which makes you think.
i did not get to watch hero but i watch Shaolin Soccer. Shaolin Monks playing soccer. This is the freshest idea for a kung fu movie in years. Stephen Chow is a very funny man. I'm a fan of the action-director (Ching Siu-Tung). He did Swordsman II, Moon Warriors, Dragon Inn ('92), and many other classics. If you like over-the-top wire-fu, special effects, and great comedy.. This movie will make you happy. Very happy
ReplyDeletethis movie allot of action and allot of romance and stuff but yeah idk what to say about this movie like im speachless every time i watch this movie
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