considering that the duke of qin *did* win, historically, the reality of the ending (as far as his victory is concerned) is a foregone conclusion. that the characters died is not the point -- it's *how* they died. it's whether they died in dishonour, for personal honour, or in service for something larger than their brief existence. the colours too serve as metaphors and not just convenient storyline markers. red for passion and decadence, blue for nobility and coolness (note the way this plays into the way the duke of qin sees the characters), green in that flashback to denote youth and new love.
zhang yimou's portrayal of the duke of qin is actually a radical departure from recent fictional versions (cf. chen kaige's the emperor and the assassin). the emperor united china and introduced a single writing system, yes, but he burned books and buried alive scholars who didn't agree with him on that second issue. he was one of mao's heroes, incidentally, but even the party faithful were not keen on him. he was a villain, albeit a necessary one. this is the kind of historical background that zhang yimou expects his audience to know. which is probably why the film took so long to be released in the west.
crouching tiger, hidden dragon is too westernised. it's not a true wuxia film. neither is hero (way too arty), but it's closer in spirit. right now, i'm waiting for zhang's most recent film, house of flying daggers.
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Date: 2004-09-04 12:26 pm (UTC)zhang yimou's portrayal of the duke of qin is actually a radical departure from recent fictional versions (cf. chen kaige's the emperor and the assassin). the emperor united china and introduced a single writing system, yes, but he burned books and buried alive scholars who didn't agree with him on that second issue. he was one of mao's heroes, incidentally, but even the party faithful were not keen on him. he was a villain, albeit a necessary one. this is the kind of historical background that zhang yimou expects his audience to know. which is probably why the film took so long to be released in the west.
crouching tiger, hidden dragon is too westernised. it's not a true wuxia film. neither is hero (way too arty), but it's closer in spirit. right now, i'm waiting for zhang's most recent film, house of flying daggers.