Why Zhang Yimou's Kung-fu Films Suck

I watched 'Hero' the other night on DVD, a week after watching the same directors newest martial arts film, 'House of Flying Daggers.' To be honest neither held great appeal for me, but contrary to many adoring fans' opionions, I would say I prefer the slightly more whimsical and romantic 'Flying Daggers.'

The problem with both of these films, and especially with 'Hero,' Yimou's first foray into the genre, is that they simply require too much suspension of belief. Old skool kung-fu movies, though guilty of their own outlandishness, were at least composed of characters and sequences that were plausible, and it was that plausiblity that made them, quite frankly, marvelous. Yimou, on the other hand, intices us to follow him into the land of biblical miracle working when in comes to ancient combat: people who not only jump kick great distances, but actually run on the tops of trees and spar on the surface of water. As a kung-fu spoof I would think this kind of gimmickry was a riot, but Yimou's films are dead serious.

So for those of you who say, "it just a MOVIE, its a fantasy!" -

Although I may be in a diminishing minority, I still expect artistry when I sit down to watch a film. Who wouldn't be geniunely affronted to see dancers leaping through the air with wires at the ballet? (yes, I know it has been done to achieve certain dramatic affects) With 'Hero,' instead of seeing Jet Li demonstrate his amazing talent, he is reduced, quite literally, to a kung-fu puppet. Anyone can do martial arts with a little choreography, wires, and special effects. Considering that neither Maggie Cheung nor the gorgeous Zhang Ziyi are trained in the martial arts, they come off as convincing masters. Creating illusions is fine. That's what film does so well, but when it is egregious and for no clear artistic reason, it is it simply cheap pomp to tease the eyes while delivering nothing to the soul.

Yimou is a brilliant director, watch any of his earlier films such as 'Red Sorghum' or 'Raise the Red Lantern.' His new martial arts films, however, are sadly lacking in any of the substance that, for lack of a better phrase, I would call a window into the human condition. It seems he has sold out, to the the market, to Hollywood, I don't know. But 'Hero' and 'Daggers' both seem to be nothing more than over-manipulated over-the-top action films with a thin visual veneer slightly reminiscent of Yimou's other movies.

What really bothers me about all this business is that although "modern filmmaking" (CG, special fx, fast editing, big scores, wires) can certainly add artistic merit and dramatic relevance to a film, more often than not they are gimmicks and crutches to cover up a film's basic inadequacies. Why for instance has Hollywood film music become so emotionally overbearing? A good director and cast should be able to express tone and mood to us without a massive post-Wagnerian symphony slapping us in the face with "okay, now feel sad, now feel scared, etc."

One of my greatest current pleasures as a movie goer is seeing how small budget, foreign, and underground films deal with key dramatic moments, such as a death. More often than not such a scene will be shown in vivid detail in the Hollywood style. But is it necessary? Not at all. I love how independent films, and good films in general, use subtlety to their advantage. A recent example is the Italian film 'A Son's Room,' about a family that struggles with the loss of a son who dies in a diving accident. A diving accident? You can just see Hollywood executives rubbing their hands about how exciting and graphic they could make a scuba death scene. But the Italian film only shows the boy riding off to sea in a Zodiac with his scuba gear. We get the picture, without the picture, and it is more powerful that way too, not to mention more human, because that is how the parents will experience the death as well. As a Hollywood audience we are treated a little like Greek deities who roam the world instanteously and slip in and out, willy-nilly, of the lives of mortals.

But without this god's eye view, the director and cast really need to pull through and push their talent to the edge to make the film work. Subtlety depends not on what you don't show, but on how well you show the small bits you do.