There are works that haunt us and to which we constantly return. We see them as we return tirelessly to a place of worship. Experiences that, even after multiple viewings, continue to comfort us and transport us, the time of a film. Hero, wu xia pian directed by Zhang Yimou and released in 2002, is one of them for the author of these lines.
More than his stated political speech, it is both thanks to his prestigious casting (Jet Li, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu‐Wai, Donnie Yen and Zhang Ziyi, for the best known) and to the poetry that emerges that the feature film seduces. Martial battles, true ballets sublimated by the aesthetics as neat as ostentatory of the filmmaker, supported by the talented director of photography Christopher Doyle, also contribute to this achievement. Therefore, rather than going back to the richness of the film, it is as easy to find people more able to talk about it (see article by Jenny Kwok Wah Lau, Hero: China), this paper will focus on a confrontation: Sans-Nom (Jet Li) against Sky-Starry (Donnie Yen). It will be necessary to examine, through this fight, how the use of special effects serves narration by materializing a philosophical and spiritual vision of martial arts, in the pure Taoist tradition.
Call Me by Your Name
Let's start from the base by trying to define the concept of« special effects ». We could settle for a definition from a dictionary; However, it turns out that the question is a little more complex than it seems. Especially because over the decades the concept has ceased to evolve, adapting to technical advances which, in fact, redefined what it was possible to show on the screen. In order to facilitate the reading of this subjective paper, let us recall, let us use three terms: trick, rigging and visual effects. These three notions form a set that we tend to group today under the name « special effects ». It is in this sense that we will use this term in the next paragraphs.
As for Hero, it is a wu xia pian, i.e. a film of wandering knights, a genre that comes close to Western cape and sword stories. The wu xia is inherited from Chinese literature and is characterized by an assumed tendency to fictionalize historical facts. In China, it is accepted that these narratives are full of fantasy, even if more realistic works exist. Often, when one thinks of Chinese sword films, especially in the West, one imagines fighters as light as air, defying the laws of gravity, or with skills beyond human understanding. For the general public, it's probably Tiger and Dragon (2000), directed by Ang Lee, who opened the way and made known this genre of cinema from Asia, despite the negative criticisms of some purists... But it's another subject.
It was also this feature film that gave the green light to Zhang Yimou's ambitious project (it was only one factor among others). The filmmaker does not fail to remind him: without the international resounding of the film by Ang Lee, Hero probably could not have seen this form, nor could it have found its audience outside China. And if this cinema can disconcert the unfamiliar western look of the genre, the regulars, like Chinese spectators, will see only the reflection of a reality: that of a martial philosophy to transcribe, to materialize. This explains why many works, in cinema but not only, convey a rather surreal image of martial arts and their practitioners.
As a general rule, and this is the case in HeroThis approach adds a dreamy dimension. The characters are no longer mere warriors made of flesh and ds. Their connotation, their imagery, tends towards the divinity. These fighters become able to go beyond life and death, whether by their weapon, soul or martial heritage. Zhang Yimou's feature film fully embraces these codes and considerations, while respectfully summoning a film heritage. A striking example of this is the battle between Sans-Nom and Ciel-Étoile: more modern than its illustrious models of the wu xia pian, but no less honourable.
Martial lie
Behind the roles of Sans-Nom and Sky-Etoile are two talented martial artists. A choice far from being annoyed by the filmmaker, especially when it is known that they are the only two actors in the film to have such an experience and martial control. Composing an action scene with actors of this calibre, as experienced, influences both the staging and the sensations transmitted. In any case, this should guide the mind of a filmmaker who wants to succeed in his martial sequence. Whether it is filming the most sophisticated choreography, the most violent confrontation or simply an emotion, a figuration, it goes without saying, in the best case, as with Hero, that including martial experts also implies narrative coherence.
In the diegesis of Yimou's film, the two characters are formidable fighters. In addition, to see Jet Li and Donnie Yen face each other, it is the possibility to do without, potentially, a lining and some fireworks sometimes used as "shells" for other actors and actresses. The fight can then go more towards physical exchange, rather than towards the dance that guides other choreographies of the film, such as that between Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi, for example. Moreover, when the viewer recognizes martial actors and artists at work, he immediately knows that he will witness a quality exchange.
And that's where Zhang Yimou enters the stage with his camera, his fireworks and his directives. More than ever, when it comes to filming a confrontation, which is more in a wu xia pian, the filmmaker's mission is, among other things, to insuffler theonirism, to summon poetry, to support the symbolism. To transcend the characters, too. It is a way to get involved in the story, to dissolve the image of the actors behind their characters. Because we don't want to see Jet Li or Donnie Yen, but without name and star sky. Zhang Yimou here has the opportunity to show, in a tangible and almost real way, the spirituality inherent in martial values.
An ambition that is found in many wu xia pian, starting with the magnificent A Touch of Zen (1971) by King Hu. Films that, rather than chaining high-flying action sequences, prefer to set a slower and contemplative pace, including during fighting. Because there is an imaginary to achieve, a martial vision to be transfigured on the screen. To achieve this degree of fantasy, to materialize this imaginary, the director, Zhang Yimou, in this case, often uses various special effects to serve this purpose. Fireworks that serve a speech extending beyond the plot itself.
Imaginary is real
Various fireworks are summoned, although most are covers of subterfuges popularized by the productions of the mythical Shaw Brothers, before Bruce Lee, in particular, denied them the Golden HarvestSpecial effects are not compatible with the realistic vision advocated by the Little Dragon. What emerges beyond the fight is this fantasy crossing: fighters defying gravity using cables, or martial expertise providing impossible skills in the real world. It is logical that the special effects are used in a rather paradoxical way here, especially for a Western look.
While some fireworks are intended to remain invisible to the public, others, such as cables, although erased on the screen, are integrated by the viewer, conscious of their existence at the bottom. The movements of the characters are usually a good indicator of the degree of implausibility, of the "false", in a scene. However, as mentioned above, there is also the will to realistically transcribe emotions, a symbolic, a state of mind, through the use of special effects. When the approach is successful, it is as much the choreography and exploits of actors and actresses as the narrative issues at work that sublimate the confrontation.
The wu xia pian, in the same way as a martial arts film, favours fighting with arguments to express a conflict or formulate a debate of ideas and values. The opposition between the characters played by Jet Li and Donnie Yen has this richness. Thus, in the course of the fight, surrealism ends up becoming an image, plausible, let us say, of a form of spiritual elevation. Similarly, the use of idles reinforces the epic character of the sequence. Hence, the viewer pays more attention to a figure, a gesture, a posture, etc. In addition to the purely contemplative nature of the approach, the presence of Jet Li and Donnie Yen facilitates adherence, the belief in this surrealist vision which inevitably echoes the richness of religious beliefs.
We agree to believe in these surrealistic abilities once we have had choreography. Finally, it is enough to be enchanted by confrontation to forget the existence of special effects. We then open up to this new layer of reality, we begin to understand what all these "facies" mean. It's not trivial if, before the confrontation against Jet Li, the character played by Donnie Yen is staged in a fight against extras. More than just a martial characterization designed to establish a power scale, it is about expressing a discourse on martial arts: the one that has been discussed since the beginning of this paper. It's a one-to-four confrontation where the artifice of staging is reserved for Yen, who surpasses his athletically and martial opponents. And so, spiritually. Without this, there are no off-standard capabilities or surrealism.
The music is absent, the rhythm is fast. Just about anything, we are in reality, both in terms of temporality and choreography. It is only upon the arrival of Jet Li, when the first exchange engages, that the magic, the lionirism, and therefore the artifices of staging, the array of special effects, trigger. This time, the majority of sounds are silent to allow only music and the noise of the blades when they clash. Only the natural remains: the noise of the steps in a puddle of water, the rain drops that fall on the stone, the bodies in motion... Including the weapon that extends the body and soul of the fighter.
Authentic Style
Once the fight really started, it follows more or less the rhythm dictated by the intra-diegetic music played by an old blind musician. One can see the beginning of a confrontation in a combat game: two fighters, an arena, a wide and symmetrical plane, a music to indicate the rhythm or even the state of mind, while guaranteeing artistic coherence with the places. The slowing also accentuates the power of the blows, plays on the tempo and breaks the time, giving to the confrontation, mental and/or physical, a temporality that will be termed irrational, a fake in the diegesis of the film. A dilation of time that convokes what is played in a duel.
Indeed, for those who have already found themselves in a fight, in a ring or not, the experience of adrenaline is a mandatory passage. The adrenaline rise in our body envelopes us in a kind of bubble: it activates the instinct of survival, the senses are on alert. Muscle aches and stiffness disappear momentarily. The body hardens. The heart simmers as the field of vision narrows and the time around us expands. There is nothing but the fight, which must be lived in the present, without parasitic thoughts. In the sequence, it takes on a completely different dimension, since the fight begins mentally.
Sans-Nom et Ciel-Etoile face first by mental projection. Everyone previews the upcoming game, as a sportsman or a Weiki player (Chinese Go game) plans his next moves while anticipating future actions of the opponent. A game of Weiki that can be seen in the setting of the combat arena. A presence that reinforces the almost divine superiority of the two men ready to deal with it. Nevertheless, the Weiki, by its strategic dimension, also serves as a metaphor for combat: black stones oppose white stones, each shot must be played by anticipating those of the adversary. And then, throughout the game, parts are taken; It is necessary to deal with this handicap or advantage. Learning to adapt to defeat.
Another notable and inseparable point of Zhang Yimou's identity is aesthetic work. It must be said that the work of the filmmaker, formerly director of photography, has accustomed us to striking visual compositions. Red Sorghum (1988), Wife and concubines (1991), Hero (2002), The Secret of Flying Daggers (2004) or more recently, Shadow (2018): Beauty is evident in the director's filmography. In his best works, Yimou manages to combine background and form. Hero It's no exception. His collaboration with Christopher Doyle, director of photography of Wong Kar-wai's major works, is wonderful.
Where illusion becomes elevation
Yimou's film revolves around the same story told from various angles, through various colors. Each speech, each character, is associated with a specific thematic color, offering all its singularity to the feature. A narrative approach that can be brought closer to the notion of "Rashōmon effect", with reference to the mythical Rashōmon (1950) directed by Akira Kurosawa. A black and white film that inspired Yimou to Hero. Although the game on colorimetry serves above all the themes of the film, as well as the filmmaker's unmasked love for beautiful compositions, it also reinforces the unreal represented here. Both in the fights, with the use of the various special effects by the filmmaker and his teams, and in the narrative, which is played with the truth: altered memories, enjoined narrative. In addition, Yimou used digital sparingly, carefully combining technology with the more artisanal fireworks that sprinkle the film. It is probably one of the factors that allows Hero to grow old again today.
There are obvious choices made by the filmmaker that make the viewer understand from the outset that he is facing a totally fake world, but in which a certain idea of reality arises thanks to the use of the fake: special effects, among others. Digital can, like the use of David Fincher for example, lure the real and, by extension, the spectators. In this case, the challenge is to make digital invisible, to hide the false. Given the artistic approach of Zhang Yimou, aesthetic and narrative, and the legacy to which he wishes to pay tribute, an excess of digitality would not have served the film or its purpose. Here, as in many other works claiming martial arts, special effects, whatever their nature, serve a narrative and characters. Or, even more, they serve a design that is normally intangible, but that becomes intangible. A transfiguration on screen of a part of the essence of martial arts, especially kung fu, in all its richness.
I don't know a lot about wu xia pian, but it makes you want to do it! Thank you Dante!