Zhang Yimou's Hero (Ying Xiong) is one the most beautiful movies I've ever seen. The locations (like the dusty plains of Dunhuang in Western China, the mirror-like lake reflecting the wondrous colours of the mountains of Jiu Zhai Gou in Sichuan) are gorgeously and painstakingly captured on film. Scenes and sequences are saturated in rich colours (although he probably went overboard with the fight-among-falling-leaves scene) -- a Zhang Yimou characteristic that also tunes the audience in to the different moods and tensions that permeate each retelling of the movie's events.

For this is not just another pretty art movie, but also a questioning of ideals and morals surrounding the "hero" archetype in Chinese culture. The movie also casts the evil of Qin Shi Huang's bloody war of unification in an ambivalent light -- which will no doubt offend proponents of Western liberal ideals. The Rashomon-like structure is handled well, with the cast of accomplished actors bringing to life a tight, unpretentious script. Martial arts fans will most likely find little fault with the sequences -- those were excellently choreographed. Graceful, dynamic and fluid. None of the slow-motion Matrix-ish effects that plague martial arts sequences these days.

The soundtrack fits the movie to a T. Itzhak Perlman's violin complements Tan Dun's work but the effect has been heard before in the latter's collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. This time Tan dun includes pieces with taiko drums as well.

The costumes by Wada Emi made me think of Julie Taylor's Titus. Black, stylised Chinese armor for the soldiers, court officials and Qin Shi Huang himself. Single pastel colours for the others. Chang Kong is the only one who has a costume with two colours � a brown roughspun vest that contrasts very nicely with the bleak courtyard in his fight sequence at the beginning (too bad he then disappears for the rest of the movie).

I love this film.

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Went to see Quentin Tarantino�s latest last night. Kill Bill: Vol 1 is campy, cheesy and quirkily funny in Tarantino�s own idiosyncratic way. Larger-than-life, pulp fiction characters and enough movie references to spawn a hundred fansites. The animated sequence in the middle (by Production I.G. no less) is a much appreciated touch (another homage by Tarantino). The big fight in The House of Blue Leaves makes me wonder though if Tarantino was paying tribute or being sarcastic. Probably just having fun, which is what this movie is really all about. It�s a very self-absorbed movie, but Tarantino isn�t just wanking away. The editing is spot-on, and the pacing flawless. Nonetheless perhaps the movie has been a victim of too much hype.

The person who really steals the show, is Uma Thurman, who makes her nameless (every time someone names her, it�s bleeped out) character believably vengeful yet vulnerable at the same time. Tarantino and Thurman have stated publicly that they work very well with each other. The director treads the line between B-grade and A well, but his synergy with Thurman is what truly pushes the movie into the realms of the classic.