|
Reader comments on Hero
Subject: U can make up stories but you can't change history
Date: Aug 30, 2004
Politics aside, some judging the film from a westerner's point of view are not pleased with the finale of the movie and keep wondering pointlessly who really is the hero as the title of this movie goes. The emporer? Namless? Sword? I was wondering how this question could get to exist in their heads in the first place? Would they be happier if the ending were that Nameless simply assassinated the "tyrant" and becomes the real hero as the title of this film goes? Or is it because Namless finally gives up killing the emporer that makes some of you guys think this film is pro-government and fascistic? Holy xxxx, "the emporer's death from assassination" wouldn't be real history, would that? You wouldn't kill a guy in the past who had survived all asassinations and had died in some other form.
In the eyes of most westerners, the kind of hero are usually those who exercise justice and kill bad guys and culminate in their apotheosis like the Spiderman. To understand a deeper kind of heroism in chinese, Americans need to realize heroism is not just in the form of killing off bad guys. It is way more than just that. What really reaches the apothesis of all heroes, ocasionally if not always, in the history of china, entails a sense of sacrificialism for the greater good, which is where some westerners have fallen down on understanding the finale of the film and then jumping into concludion that the ending is an off-putting one. It is off-putting enough of themselves to have such a comment over an ending of a foreign film which is simply beyond their cultural understanding.
Previous: Joshua, I totally agree but for different reasons | Next: Re: U can make up stories but you can't change history
Respond to this message |
Return to original article: Hero
|
Response to this comment:
Joshua, I totally agree but for different reasons
Ok, so what if Hero is nationalistic. We shouldn't expect anything else. It's a Chinese film after all. When was the last time you saw a violent picture from China that was critical of the government in any way (think about it, the cops are always the good guys). That is not why the movie fails, though I suppose it surely didn't help. Essentially, the ending is off-putting to Western sensibilities because it's not clear who we're supposed to root for. Who is the hero anyway? If it was Nameless than he should have been rewarded with something more than a state funeral. If it was the Emperor than he missed a perfect opportunity to demonstrate his bold new vision to his chanting blood-thirsty subjects, wouldn't you say? If it was Broken Sword, then we would have been treated to the complete story of his meeting with the Emperor. Instead, Broken Sword dies to prove his love. A most noble, and cinematically sound, cause to be sure but nothing really to do with the main plot. No. I think the story fails because it never follows through on the development of its only true hero - all those who oppose violent oppression in favor of empowering a nation with a unified language. Of course, that never actually happened. At least until much later in history and in different parts of the world. But it is fantasy after all and it would had gone together much better with the Crouching Tiger-like fight scenes and the over-priced diet coke.
|
Comment index:
Hero from Emily, Aug 25, 2004
truth from What's American, Sep 7, 2004
thanks from barb, Aug 28, 2004
» U can make up stories but you can't change history « from Clairvoyant Gay, Aug 30, 2004
Awesome from Dan Omlor, Sep 13, 2004
Re: But from skeptikos, Dec 26, 2004
hero from tso t'an, Feb 21, 2005
ask from mujahid, Mar 31, 2006
Re: ask from Bubba Hotep, Apr 11, 2006
??? from Kessel, Nov 4, 2007
Bravo from tsering, May 29, 2010
Hero from Emily, Aug 25, 2004
truth from What's American, Sep 7, 2004
thanks from barb, Aug 28, 2004
» U can make up stories but you can't change history « from Clairvoyant Gay, Aug 30, 2004
Awesome from Dan Omlor, Sep 13, 2004
Re: But from skeptikos, Dec 26, 2004
hero from tso t'an, Feb 21, 2005
ask from mujahid, Mar 31, 2006
Re: ask from Bubba Hotep, Apr 11, 2006
??? from Kessel, Nov 4, 2007
Bravo from tsering, May 29, 2010
|
|
|
