To my admittedly untrained eye, Zhang Yimou's Hero (2002) is the best show that has ever been made. I think it combines some of the most beautiful cinematography, choreography, and music; with stellar acting by Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, and Jet Li. I love that it is a fantasy movie, but is somehow not over the top. As a Chinese speaker (though firmly not a Chinese citizen), I find the dialogue to be beautifully written, paying homage to the wealth of literature which precedes it. Plot-wise, I understand that it basically ripped off Rashomon, but I feel it did justice to that.

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I was hoping I could get some insight into what other people thought about this film. Am I missing something that was not well done in it? Or did the beautiful cinematography distract me from some glaring errors which I should be aware of? I am aware that there are many who consider the political message to be somewhat unpalatable, I'd like to avoid that part of the conversation, since I think it boils down to historiographical culture.

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