hero

Some people from work are going to Shoreline to see Zhang Yimou's "Hero" today. I decided not to go, since I've seen it twice already, first in Taiwan a couple years ago, and then last year at a friend's house on DVD. (Imported? Yes. Pirated? Not sure.)

I did like many aspects of the movie: the gorgeous cinematography, the casting (it's nice to see Jet Li keeping his dignity), the unhurried pace, and of course, the fight scenes.

However, I was disturbed by the "moral of the story", which seemed to imply that rebelling against authority was bad, and individuals should sacrifice to the "greater good"; in this case, a unified China under the rule of a tyrannical emperor who believed in ethnic cleansing and trapping people inside of the Great Wall.

For me, it's way too easy to draw a parallel between that ruler and the current totalitarian Communist regime, and from there, it's not difficult to see the movie as pro-China propaganda. Of course, I'm biased.

Even so, it's a little surprising to see a movie like this from Zhang Yimou, who has historically had difficulties with the Chinese government regarding the content of his movies.