Hero (film)

Hero ({{zh-cp|c=英雄|p=yīng xióng}}) is a film first released in China on October 24 2002. It was both the most expensive and the highest-grossing motion picture in Chinese cinema history. It hit US theaters on August 27 2004 despite the fact that the Asian DVD had already been available for over a year. It became the top-grossing film in the first week of its US debut, at US$18M, and continued to lead the US box office in its second week at US$11.5M. It fell to the fourth place in its third week at US$4.4M. It set a record as the highest-grossing opening-weekend foreign language film in the United States. The US edition of the DVD, with Mandarin, English, and French sound tracks, was released on November 30 2004.

Political meaning

Although inspired in part by the success of films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the film failed to be as successful as its makers hoped, in part due to criticism overseas at a perceived pro-totalitarian and pro-Chinese reunification subtext. Critics also cited as evidence the support given to the film by the government of the People's Republic of China. These critics argue that the ulterior meaning of the film is the triumph of security and stability over liberty and human rights and that the concept of all under heaven is used to justify the incorporation of areas such Tibet and Xinjiang within the People's Republic of China and promote the reunification of Taiwan with China.

Related Topics:
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Pro-totalitarian - Pro-Chinese reunification - People's Republic of China - All under heaven - Tibet - Xinjiang - Taiwan - China

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This would not be the only time that Zhang Yimou has been thus criticized; Zhang purportedly withdrew from the 1999 Cannes Film Festival to protest similar criticism, though some believe that Zhang had other reasons http://wikisource.org/wiki/Zhang_Yimou_withdraws_from_Cannes. However, defenders of Zhang Yimou and his film argue that the Chinese government's support of Hero is no different from the US military providing support to filmmakers portraying US armed forces in a positive light. Others reject entirely that Zhang Yimou had any political motives in making the film. It is also notable that Zhang's previous film Raise the Red Lantern had been banned in China.

Related Topics:
1999 - Cannes Film Festival - Raise the Red Lantern

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