Hero

Just finished watching Hero - which I have just found out is also known as Ying Xiong - absolutely amazing. A Chinese martial arts film, it has such stunning use of colour, movement, scenery, music (Itzhak Perlman on violin!), and I could follow the story. Amazing. I particularly liked the games of go (called "chess" in the subtitles) being played in the rain and the Qin archers. A feast for the eyes and ears. Got all excited when I thought it had an English cinematographer - Christopher Doyle - only to find he's Australian. Directed and produced by Yimou Zhang, who also directed and produced House Of Flying Arrows. Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung - lovers Broken Sword and Flying Snow in Hero - were the central characters in In The Mood For Love, which Christopher Doyle was also co-cinematographer on. (Film4)