Beauty

Yesterday before I was supposed to meet with a friend, I decided to buy the new "Hero" DVD that came out. It's a Chinese martial arts epic that just came out recently. This movie is absolutely the most visually stunning movie I have ever seen. The cinematography is breath-taking because of the many striking, exotic locales and the fantastic colors. They are so vibrant and exquisite that they literally jump off the screen. I have never seen any movie that looks this gorgeous, let alone a Chinese movie. It's visual poetry in motion. A study in contrast. In my freshman philosophy/art history IHUM class, we spent many a tedious lecture on beauty. They could have just shown us this movie!! Well, maybe not, since this movie wasn't even made yet, but you get the point. It even puts "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" to shame. I wish I have a 60-inch widescreen TV so I can enjoy this movie even more. It's made for DVD. The special effects are used perfectly too, not just wasted on your retarded garden variety wire fu shit. I don't think I have ever imagined a carpet-bombing with arrows. Or a sword slicing through droplets of water. The soundtrack also matched the mood of the movie perfectly. It was composed by Tan Dun, who also worked on "Crouching Tiger," and performed by Itzhak Perlman.

Because Zhang Yimou directed this movie, I knew it's going to be much deeper and powerful than anything by those schizo Hong Kong action movie directors. I wasn't disappointed. I don't want to spoil the movie for the few of you that may actually seek out this movie and enjoy it so I'm not going to reveal to reveal anything. Basically, it's definitely a movie worth watching if and when it is released in the US. In the meantime, check out the image gallery. Too bad the movie trailer quality is so shitty.