HERO, by Zhang Zhimou.

This film tells us a beautiful story, and accomplishes this with a beautiful photography. The story is that of the man who would be Emperor of all China ("all under the sky", as ancient Chinese scholars wrote) and those who would be his assassins.

The structure of the film resembles that of RASHOMON, by Akira Kurosawa, with different versions of the same events. The director declared that this film was also a tribute to Kurosawa.

Despite the conflict narrated in the film, there is a sense of harmony throughtout all the film. There is the harmony of music, of caligraphy, of martial arts, and of Nature itself and, in the end, the very harmony of the peoples...

The acting is superb. The actors and actresses adapt well to the very different moods of the different parts of the film. The powerful and expressive use of colour (á la Kieslowsky) does its share to set these moods.

On the criticism side, it has to be noted that a part of the audience may find the hight number of combats tiresome, even when they are justified. Some of these fights are extremely suggestive and beautiful (for example, the imagined combat on the lake). This is no MATRIX II nor one of the imitations of the trilogy. Also some have established comparisons between HERO and TIGER AND DRAGON. I have to agree with most of these comparisons: HERO is better by much, and much less commercial.

The special effects are great and most of them are in the service of the story, not in a protagonist role.

To sum up, a beautiful, artistic and entertaining movie, maybe not for all but that certainly will be enjoyed by a vast majority of its public.