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MIFF - Day 03 

Film Screened: Hero (Ying xiong)
Time: 3:00pm
Type: Feature
Genre: Martial Arts/Drama
See it for: The amazing set designs, costumes, score, and cinematography.
Avoid it if: You didn’t care much for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Celebrity Sighting: None
Rating: 3.5/4

Missed my first film at the festival yesterday (Baadasssss!) because I had been awake for more than 32 hours and I just didn’t have the energy to haul myself back into the city for another two hours of watching a film. I definitely would have fallen asleep within five seconds of the opening credits and MIFF attendees would have thrown me out for drooling on the person next to me. Luckily, the film will most likely get a theatrical release within the next few months so I haven’t missed any golden opportunities.

But onto the film I did see - Hero. As you can see from the second picture above, I got there about an hour early this time around and not far from the front of the line. Yep, this was another sell-out at the festival and I’m guessing as the festival progresses, more and more sessions will be fully booked, so get there early!

Is Hero any good? Oh yeah! This is a fantastic companion martial arts flick to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon! While not quite the masterpiece of the latter, Hero is by far the best example of Chinese martial art cinema to come out since. Directed with amazing visual flair by Yimou Zhang (1992’s Raise the Red Lantern and soon to be released House of Flying Daggers), Hero takes the martial arts of CT, HD and makes them even more unbelievable and hypnotic. We’ve all seen wire work done in these types of films countless times before and here it’s almost constant but you really feel like you’re watching a ballet rather than hand-to-hand combat. There’s one sequence where two of the central characters literally battle on a lake and it’s just breathtaking to watch. Another fight occurs during spring with the yellow leaves on the trees falling (see the top picture above) everywhere and eventually turning red. The set designs and costumes are nothing short of brilliant. And how could I not mention the Emperor’s army of flying arrows which just has to be seen to be believed. The score should also get special mention and I particularly loved the obligatory appearance of the bearded, old man who plays a tune at the request of one of the characters. Cheesy but hilarious!

The only thing that prevents Hero from becoming a four-star movie is the story itself which doesn’t impress on the same levels as CT, HD. Apart from a fairly average love story between two of the central characters and the ‘hero’s’ mission, the story is relatively simple and straightforward. From what I’ve heard there is a director’s cut of the film floating around, 20 minutes longer that probably fleshes the story out a little more. I would have liked the MIFF to have got their hands on that version since it would have made the screening a tad more special. But that’s a very minor complaint of an otherwise fantastic film.

Later on today:

Seeing Bill Pullman in yet another trippy film Rick.