How is Hero an Art Movie?

How is Hero an Art Movie?

1. By looking at the explanation of an art movie above, please describe at least three ways (three sentences) that you think Hero could be considered, at least in part, an art movie.

Hero could be considered, partly, an art movie because the movie does not have an obvious, blatant, definitive meaning. Thus, making the viewer focus on the movie and interpret the movie in their own opinion. Hero is also an art movie because the movie does not follow a very clear order. As the movie casually progresses, the movie becomes quite abstracted and confusing if the viewer is not paying full attention. Lastly, Hero is an art movie because the movie has a serious 'plot' and is clearly focusing on the thoughts/ideas of characters.

2. How does the director also make this a movie for everybody, so that it’s not too artistic or alienating for the average viewer? Please explain in at least three sentences.

The director made this movie for a wider audience, so it's not too artistic or alienating for the average viewer, by applying a story-line and the martial arts. Most art movies do not have a clear, well-presented story-line, but the director added a story-line to the movie. The story-line is quite obvious, however he still adds an artistic component by allowing the viewer to think about the story. The director also added martial arts for the film to become a wuxia film, which involves martial arts and swordplay. By adding the martial arts, adds the element of action which will entice the average viewer in their seats. Therefore, Hero is not a far left art movie or a far right blockbuster film. The director added key elements from both film genres, to create an artistic, yet entertaining movie.

3. Did you like this movie? Why or why not? Please explain in at least four sentences.

Yes, I liked this movie. The reason I liked this movie was because it's not an everyday movie that you would stumble upon on Netflix. The movie is also not mindless entertainment you would again, find on Netflix. The movie was a refreshing view on my taste of film genres. One of my close friends refers to me as, 'The Movie Buff,' because my past-time is watching movies from any genre. To watch an art movie, and watching it for the first time and being aware that it's an art movie, really helps you focus on the artistic elements. I'm so used to watching movies and having no idea of what the purpose was, or exiting the movie on Netflix without an opinion. Thus, making me quite glad to have paid attention to the film because I can interpret my own opinion of what the different artistic elements are supposed to represent. Overall, Hero was a great movie which can be breathtakingly beautiful and still enticing a viewer to sit on the edge of their seat.

4. Sequences in the film are ‘colour coded’, enabling Zhang Yimou to offer his
audience ravishing and memorable images which enhance his action sequences. Write
three sentences about how Zhang Yimou has used colour to emphasize or enhance
aspects of the narrative.
Select one of these sequences
• the fight in the rain
• the Golden Forest
• the attack on the calligraphy school at Zhao
• the Library
• the combat at the lake
• Broken Sword and Flying Snow’s attack on the King

Throughout different sequences of the movie, the director- Zhang Yimou uses colour as an artistic element which enhance the action scenes. The sequence that I have chose were the library sequences. The three sequences of the library had red, blue and white. I believe that Zhang Yimou had used the three different colours to represent different point of views or 'ideas' of the story. The red sequence showed Nameless presenting to Flying Snow and Broken Sword the sword of Sky and said that he would need one of them to meet him at the Qin army encampment next morning. I believe that the red was used to describe Nameless' faux description of the story. The blue colour was used to depict the King of Qin's retelling of the story. Lastly, the white colour was used to depict the truth/the reality of the story.