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Perfect movie to see with the Terra Cotta Warriors

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My nine-year-old son and I recently saw the Terra Cotta Warriors Exhibit at the National Geographic Museum in Washington DC. This is the first time any part of this excavation has left China. It was fascinating and now I can't wait to go to China to see the full site. The Emperor who united and created the country of China had built about 7000 statues of warriors made of terra cotta to help him fight his enemies in the afterlife. No two statues are alike and they are all buried along with 1000s of other statues and objects including chariots, musical instruments, etc. After seeing this absolutely incredible exhibit, I really wanted my son to see the movie "Hero," which I had seen when it first came out, before I knew anything about the history of the unification and creation of the modern nation of China. I absolutely loved the movie when I first saw it as I love martial arts films and I think Jet Li is one of the best in this genre. After learning more about Chinese history recently (my son study it two years ago in the 1st grade) and seeing this exhibit and reading up on the history in preparation to see the exhibit, I now find so much more depth and understanding of the dramatic ending to the movie than I had experienced it when I first saw it, even though I found the ending fascinating, novel and thought-provoking even when I originally saw the movie. There actually is a reference to this movie in the exhibit and what I found thought-provoking about it years ago, is truly fascinating - though highly stylized fiction it can provoke a very interesting dialogue on the nature of nation-building and the history of China. Not your typical martial arts, adventure film.

3 Layered Cake

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In terms of movie reviews, I believe there are far superior reviews than ones I can conjure up for the film. This movie, along with The Fountain, are two of my favorite visual films of all time. The complexity of the film is layered three fold - 1. The physical 2. The emotional and 3. The philosophical.

The first layer is comprised of mixing martial arts, combining wire work against traditional weapons of war - the spear, the sword, the bow and arrow. For those who actually follow Chinese martial arts movies, there are some basic moves that are considered "flash moves" - moves that performed in dramatic fashion and style, which provides a viewer with distinct visual enhancement (and for you more vocal movie watchers, these are the moments where you go, "daaaaaaamnnn" or "that's gotta hurt") Zhang Yimou's direction was not to overdramatize these moves, he instead carefully incorporated them into the Choreography, enhancing but never overshadowing the plot itself, thus never fitting the genre of a traditional martial arts movie.

On a side note, you may or may not know that all stunts were performed by the actors themselves, some of whom have little or no training in how to wield a weapon. In the "making of" section, Jet Li commented on this particular challenge, "it would almost be as if I have no training in Ballet yet took a five day crash course before going on stage for my first performance." Zhang Ziyi was brought up as a dancer, Maggie Cheung (Flying Snow) and Chen Daoming (King) are traditionally dramatic actors, Tony Leung (Broken Sword) hasn't done wirework for some ten years. The only two people who are known for their martial arts skills are Jet Li and Donnie Yen, who (outside of Jackie Chan), are considered two of the best martial artists in the business. The physical demands of these actors and actresses need to be recognized before this review moves further.

The second layer is the emotional. Comprised of the loneliness of a king (Chen Daoming) who has never met his equal, an Nameless Soldier (Jet Li) whose quest for vengeance compels him to assassinate the king, the orphan (Broken Sword) and his quest to find a "home" with Flying Snow, the turmoil and jealousy triangle involved between Flying Snow, Broken Sword, and Moon and finally the deep emotional bond between Broken Sword and Flying Snow. The latter theme is beautifully demonstrated when they try to sacrifice themselves in the place of the other in a staged fight with Nameless. Broken's Swords' deep love for Flying Snow is demonstrated in his mentoring of her swordsmanship, but his deep love of those "Under Heaven" demands his sacrifice of his love for Flying Snow.

The complexity of their relationship also resides in a conflict of philosophical proportions - Flying Snow's need for vengeance in order to find peace, and Broken Swords' discovery that peace is found where there is no weapon either in hand or heart. His understanding compels him to not kill the king, at the cost of Flying Snow's love. Such an understanding leads me to the third layer of the movie - the philosophical.

When viewed through an ethnocentric Western lens, I can see some aspects of the film validating the "dictatorship" form of government formerly employed by China. However, my rebuttal is that the film's direction is FAR deeper than that. The film responds to a form of government that Plato called the Philosopher King. One of his most cited ideas is "[A] true pilot must of necessity pay attention to the seasons, the heavens, the stars, the winds, and everything proper to the craft if he is really to rule a ship" (The Republic, 6.488d). Plato claims that the sailors (i.e., the people of the city-state over whom the philosopher is the potential ruler) ignore the philosopher's "idle stargazing" because they have never encountered a true philosopher before. In this case the Philosopher King is the King himself. His wisdom is demonstrated by his attention to the essential characters of Flying Snow and Broken Sword, his real vision to stop the warring of the 6 Kingdoms and unite them under a single rule, his effort to unify China under a single language, and his attention to the winds and spirits using candles. Unfortunately, "without war there can be no peace" as the saying goes, the King's governing skills as a philosopher are not demonstrated here, (it is demonstrated in actual documented history however) his skills at conquest are.

Moreover, contrary to a Western, individualistic society, the Chinese and East Asian countries are collective in nature, which means that people tend to view themselves as members of groups and sacrifice to benefit the group, never to the needs of individuals. Baring that in mind, the sacrifices of Broken Sword and Nameless are not validations of the particular form of government, but are in the name of peace. In their review of the words Tian Xia (Under Heaven) drawn in the sand, they have discovered that their sacrifices are for the peace of the 6 kingdoms and the millions of people who would be united "Under Heaven." Such is the reason that the King cannot be killed, such is also the reason they (and even the King) are willing to give up their lives to find that peace. In an Eastern perspective, such sacrifice is what bares the title of the movie, "HERO"

"Swordsmanship's first achievement is the unity of man to sword. Sword becomes the man, man becomes sword, and even a blade of grass is a weapon. The second achievement is when the sword exists in one's heart. When absent from one's hand, one can still strike an enemy with bare hands. But swordsmanship's ultimate achievement is the absence of the sword in both hand and heart. The swordsman embraces the world and everything in it. He does not kill and maintains peace instead."