Hero

Director: Yimou Zhang

2002 / 99min / 35mm

A sumptuous Warring States-era wuxia boasting an ingeniously constructed and endlessly surprising cloak-and-dagger plot enacted by a cast for the ages, featuring Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, and Donnie Yen as a trio of assassins targeting the king of Qin prefect, and Jet Li as “Nameless,” the mysterious master of Death at Ten Paces who may or may not be loyal to the sovereign. An international hit for Zhang, the most lauded of China’s Fifth Generation filmmakers, and a film filled with almost deliriously ravishing images courtesy of cinematographer—and frequent Wong Kar-wai collaborator—Christopher Doyle.

Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive