I have just seen Hero. Count me wow-ed.

[permetaform]

DUDE. I've squee'd about this movie when I first saw the trailer.

I am SO GOING TO VID THIS. yes. I've already started plotting it.

I just need a song...and I know I'm going what seems like ass-backwards in choosing source and reason *before* the song but.

I think I did that for practically every vid I've currently made/am making...the source and a connecting idea that I want to express through a vid has to be in place while I'm choosing the song, even though the song itself dictates the structure of the vid. It's like the Zeroth Law for me or something.

Anyways, I *loved* Hero. I loved the magical realism, the historical opera (complete with greek chorus!), the legend and the mythology of it, the Nameless Citizen and the Son of Heaven. The translations were fairly good even though it still missed the boat impact-wise, some nice wire-work, very neat motion and storytelling.

Speaking of which, dude, the *colors*. Neat stuff with the storytelling, it very much seems as if it's 'tinted' world views...literally, POV's made visual.

for instance:
black-white-gray-yellow = outsider POV, objective POV, 'truth' POV
red = Nameless' POV
blue = Emperor's POV
green = Broken Swords' POV

This says interesting things about the story told at the moment, when taken in context of the whole story with Nameless as Every Man ie. Average Joe and the issues of People = Country. What is Our Land if not the sum of the people?

Who is trying to kill the emperor if not the People (the Country) themselves?

Supposing that hypothesis is true (take all these words as argument and discussion, not any statement of fact), then the scenes in red is Nameless' view of the country as affected by the Emperor...it's his 'truth', it's the story he tells, the story he *repeats* (ie. gossip/hearsay), there is blood imagery, the people are turned against one another, there's the students and the *truth* that remains whole in the midst of the battle, and with the camera shots (the turning hallways) and imagery (washes of red, hair in disarray) implying anger/chaos. This view is of a country, of a people, turned against one another, being torn apart and ridden with hate. The red view is raw, close; it's the People of China, and everyone dies (because of the emperor).

Then we have blue; as cool and distant as an emperor is by default to his people, bloodless, sanctified, deified, Heaven's Son. We have the emperor's view of a melodrama of a romance, of a people that makes sacrifices for each other and for a greater good, swords that lie together, hair that's perfecly in place, a fight on water that is more honor and dance than it is about fury and hatred and actual intent to kill. Even though he knows these people are trying to kill him, there is the sense of admiration, respect, this is a country and a people that is loved by the man who is trying to unite them. There is no blood. The killings done in blue never show up on the clothes, whereas the killings in the red POV bleeds into *everything* and the killings in the black/white/grey just turns brown and is isolated or is cut away/ignored/moved beyond. Death is a necessary component of the blue POV, but it's graceful instead of awkward (compare them to those of the red death scenes), and there's always renewal and rebirth lingering around the corner (water, the fake fight, the fact that two lives on). Blue is heaven.

Then we have green; it's cool, but glowing. It's *change* and Broken Sword's intent to change, intent for growth, for betterment of himself and his country. It's him and her finding each other (in blue, blessings of heaven?), them growing together in and through the sand (the cradle of china), it's him and her in green fighting through this sea of black and grey and red to get to the emperor, and they're there, in this sea of change, in this hall of green, and...then Broken Sword *realizes* and all his dreams come crashing down, like the green (curtains torn down by the emperor himself), because he *realizes* and he *can't* kill the emperor, but this destroys the change that he thought he was making and the goal that he thought he was working towards. This is hope, this is change, this is the dream that both Broken Sword and the Emperor share, and during the battle between them, Broken Sword finally recognizes that they share the dream. Death, the country's and the people's, does not exist in the green POV. (faceless military don't count, don'tcha know ;) ) And so green is a sort of hope and a peace.

And yellow is the land, is the origin, and the black and white and grey is the truth, is an ending, is *uncolored* by people's views. It's stark and, yes, Sky was killed in the first act as assuredly as if he'd actually died, the 'parents' die (the old view?) but the child lives on. And Nameless exits in red, Middle Kingdom's colors, bright against the black, Nameless because he is every name, faceless because he is every face...and he is a hero.

God, I need icons.

~

A historical note (that may help with understanding these wacky chinese historical operas): You know that sandy/hilly area that's shown a lot? That's the Yellow river basin aka. the cradle of Chinese culture aka. the birthplace of the soul of the country. (more info here)

~

And! bangles has made a vid of the movie already, to E.S. Posthumus' Ebla! It's available [here], and makes great use of movement and reaction shots and is editied beautifully to the music and uses the colors *wonderfully*.

~

[edit] More meta! (spoilers!)

guede_mazaka discusses the history of it in the comments here.

sockkpuppett discusses her reaction here.

Any more out there? ::pokeity::

~

[edit2] Just got off the phone with my mom chatting and ravind about Hero. Pretty much went over everything discussed but she commented that apparently the movie caused a lot of controversy in China, because it gave a more sympathetic view of the book-burning emperor. Heh, that's POV for you.

[]

Happy Birthday aesc, aetherius, akioohtori, courtney_beth, and isiscolo! May your years be filled with color!

Comments

[luminosity]

Morrrninggg!!

I loved "Hero" too and had been champing at the bit to see it ever since I saw the previews on Kill Bill. I don't think I can bring myself to vid it, though. It's already a vid to me, since I don't know the language, and the voices are just part of the music to me--and I feel like it's a vid already. Go figger.

I think your take on the colors is very interesting. I didn't see it that way, but I'm a westernized American person and have no Chinese historical background at all. After seeing it three times, I put my own spin on the colors, which I think is valid if not as poetic as yours. :)

Red - What didn't happen (a lie, to reach the emperor)
Blue - What could have happened (another lie, but a supposition or an explanation)
Green - What might have happened (a romantic view, not necessarily the literal truth, but the spiritual truth--metaphor)
Black/White/Grey/Yellow - What *did* happen (the truth, and a mournful one at that)

Nevertheless, there are some images in "Hero" that will stay with me for years--the yellow leaves, the green curtains coming down (which I also took to mean that the veil was lifted from Broken Sword's eyes), the red-red-red. Wow.

I thought that the music was a little bit intrusive at some points, and interestingly, I saw the film with two sets of subtitles. The idea was consistent, but the words were not.

--and all of this before a cup of coffee. Go me!

[permetaform]

morning! would you believe that I have been awake music hunting? 'cause yes. aheh.

::covers eyes::

I think I need either sleep or food...but yeah with the music...also some of the cries don't translate to Western, it was interesting hearing it from two different 'ears', where sounds of distress is quite literally *different*.

erg rambly, perhaps more when am coherent.

or have found a song. whichever comes first.

[guede-mazaka.livejournal.com]

And y'know, the whole film also touches on the habit Chinese have always had for rewriting history. My Dad and I had this talk on the ways the First Emperor is usually portrayed--he comes off way, way worse than here--and I've been studying Chinese history, which is taken much more personally by the Chinese than Westerners take Western history.

*breaks into squeeing*

If I could figure out a fic angle for this...but it just seems so complete in and of itself.

[permetaform]

And y'know, the whole film also touches on the habit Chinese have always had for rewriting history. My Dad and I had this talk on the ways the First Emperor is usually portrayed--he comes off way, way worse than here--and I've been studying Chinese history, which is taken much more personally by the Chinese than Westerners take Western history.

::nods:: seriously, and that caused aLOT of controvery when the movie came out. My mom was talking about how people were like "DON'T BUY THE MOVIE! Blasphemy!" to her for it, but she wanted to see the cinemetography. BUT!! That means she has a copy which means I get to vid! ::dances madly::

And I totally see what you mean by the fic angle, it's such a full story already...I adore how they made the assasins artists though, and the collasping of the books scene, because that punched in the corruption of culture thing that the people hated him for.

[guede-mazaka.livejournal.com]

I adore how they made the assasins artists though, and the collasping of the books scene, because that punched in the corruption of culture

Bigger'n that. It's Confucianism vs. Legalism. Confucius basically says that above all, be a gentleman-scholar, which means you've got to know arts and rituals and stuff like that. One must be benevolent, and concentrate on self-cultivation in order to teach by example. One must also honor the past, even if that shite doesn't make sense in a modern context, and one has the right to criticize authority that isn't behaving in a gentlemanly way. Legalism, which was the philosophy under which the First Emperor ruled, is sort of proto-Socialism. Everything is done towards the good of the state, cold practicality above all--they saw the Confucians as weak and a threat to centralized power, which in many respects it was. Major, major persecution of the Confucianists during Huang-ti's reign, and then the Confucians came back into power and badmouthed him for centures. Legalism didn't come back into style till the second half of this century (it does have some good parts to it).

[permetaform]

heee! neaaaat.

Philosophy dump

[guede-mazaka.livejournal.com]

Er...it's late, I've spent half the day and all the night fixing comp, and I really dig my Chinese history class?

*scurries away*

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I just knew you were going to love that film! I've seen it 3 times now, because I kept having to take people to see it :-) It's so utterly beautiful, every shot thought out to a degree I've simply never seen. It's not just the colours - it's the symmetry and the angles of it, the use of diagonals and motion.

I saw the colours differently - to me, red is the lie which is all about emotion (love, jealousy, revenge), blue is the lie which is about cool, rational decision-making and white/gold is the truth. Green is all about the land and hope, the land that Snow and Broken Sword are so desperately fighting for and hoping to get back to, the future that can't be and the peace they can't have.

But then it wouldn't be such a great film if it didn't make people think and come to their own conclusions.

[permetaform]

It's not just the colours - it's the symmetry and the angles of it, the use of diagonals and motion.

::nods:: when people say it's every vidder's dream, they weren't kidding...

In a way, I think our interpretations of the colors are roughly the same...or perhaps just reoccuring threads?

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I think the end result is much the same, but we've come at it from different angles - I was putting more emphasis on the themes, and you seem to be concentrating on the individuals. If I'm reading you right!

[permetaform]

kinda, or rather that the themes *come* from the individuals...they used blue *because* the emperor is cold and distant and logical and...surgical? He's willing to destroy culture to bring people together. Meanwhile the red is passion because it comes from the people, the culture, the soul of china itself...and etc.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

But the red as passion is a lie - it's not really coming from the people at all, because they weren't like that. As the emperor says, none of them were as narrow-minded and superficial as that version of the tale suggested. The emotions portrayed in it weren't real.

The blue - yeah, I can see where you're coming from there, because the emperor is very much like the version of events that he recounts, but that isn't true for Nameless. Revenge is why he's there, but he tempers it at the last, and proves himself different from the tale he invented, so there's a clash there between the story and who he is.

[permetaform]

But the red as passion is a lie - it's not really coming from the people at all, because they weren't like that. As the emperor says, none of them were as narrow-minded and superficial as that version of the tale suggested. The emotions portrayed in it weren't real.

The emperor you have to remember is speaking from a cold/ruthless standpoint. Just as you can't take truth spoken from Nameless, you can't take truth spoken by the emperor as well, because his viewpoint is flawed. Remember, from what Nameless has seen of the couple, she was willing to stab Broken Sword in the leg and open herself up to death so that the emperor would die. The viewpoint is anger-filled, clouded, and literally (the tilting hallways) and metaphorically skewed. The emotions portrayed in it weren't real because they were filtered through Nameless' POV, ie. the red tone.

From the viewpoint of Nameless at that time, he was filled with hatred at the emperor. This, he seems to say, is the country that you have created. The emperor, in return, paints a picture of what the country he has created seems to be, which is just as flawed as Nameless' view, it is just as much of a lie because the emperor has no perspective.

Then we have Broken Sword's viewpoint, which is actually the only viewpoint that changes as we watch, metaphorically (he stops trying to kill the emperor) and literally (green becomes black). Which is interesting in itself because green is the color of growth.

Revenge is why he's there, but he tempers it at the last

Here's the thing, we never see Nameless' viewpoint change, colorwise, because it's reverted to omniscient(?...or third person?) POV. At the time of the red-washed story, Nameless is still filled with rage at the emperor, and determined to kill him. (heh, and the candle flames know it too ::winks::) With this in mind, it isn't so much as a clash between the story and who he is, but a clash of the story he *had* told and the man he has *become*. He is no longer red-tinged...he's accepted the black-white-grey of it, at the end

...which is an utterly different thing than him while he was telling the story and still planning to accomplish the assasination. =)

[permetaform]

clarification:

...the emperor has no perspective.

I more specifically meant that he has no perspective on the average people.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Okay, you've convinced me :-) Like you say, the end result of what we're thinking isn't all that different.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

Yes. Though Tiggy's points are good too.

Also? I want Broken Sword's babies, like now.

[permetaform]

Also? I want Broken Sword's babies, like now.

omg yes.

[of-carabas.livejournal.com]

*claps* I'm loving your breakdown of the colors--I'm loving everyone's breakdown of the colors, actually, it's so interesting to watch and see all the slightly varying interpretations of this movie! But all the interpretations seem to have a similar emotional feel behind them, if that makes sense, and I'm babbling, I'm sorry, didn't mean to do that. Loved your interpretations. Yes.

And I so completely want to see what you do with that vid, because your vids are always good, and this movie just screams out to be vidded.

[permetaform]

But all the interpretations seem to have a similar emotional feel behind them, if that makes sense,

it does! =) I think the way my interpretation is slightly different is that I'm attributing the lie and the coldness directly to the emperor himself and the same for all the different POV's and Nameless as China itself...

and...I need a song!! ::weeps::

Hero vid!

[oboros.livejournal.com]

I am SO GOING TO VID THIS. yes. I've already started plotting it.

squeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I CANT WAIT! Ok maybe I can.

I just watched bangles vid and *sniff* that was beautiful.

I own the movie. Bought it from a HK import DVD online store (legal!) a year ago. It's REALLY hard to find the english subtitles when there is not ONE iota of the english language anywhere on the DVD! After about an hour of selecting every option I found it.

When I found out the movie was coming to the states I was so happy that others could partake of the beauty that Hero is. However, I have not seen it in the theatre. I've already seen it 5 times at home. I'm not really a movie goer at this time in my life. The audiences where I live are so rude. Anyway -

Ever since I've seen the movie I have been plotting for a kanji tattoo for "All Under Heaven". I'll get it one day. It's been a while since I've seen the movie. Is that the Hero's saying first, and the the Emperor's second? or visa-versa? When Broken Sword writes it in the sand - that was just very powerful to me.

Re: Hero vid!

[oboros.livejournal.com]

Is that the Hero's saying first, and the the Emperor's second? or visa-versa? When Broken Sword writes it in the sand - that was just very powerful to me.

never mind I remember. Emperor said it to Broken Sword then Broken Sword told it to the Hero.

Re: Hero vid!

[permetaform]

I own the movie. Bought it from a HK import DVD online store (legal!) a year ago.

=) hee! neat stuff! I can't wait to get my hands on my mom's copy of it so I could actually start vidding.

And wow...neat idea for the tattoo!

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much!

[permetaform]

::hugs:: many blessings on this beautiful day!