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Original Title: 英雄 Directed by: Zhang Yimou Written by: Li Feng, Wang Bin, Zhang Yimou Cinematography: Christopher Doyle, Hou Yong Music by: Tan Dun Country: China, Hong Kong Genres: Action, Adventure, History Duration: 99 min, 107 min (extended) Release Dates: 19 Dec. 2002 (CHN), 7 Feb. 2003 (Berlin), 27 Aug. 2004 (USA) Filming Dates: 11 August 2001 – 19 January 2002 Filming Locations: China (Hangzhou, Dunhuang, Inner Mongolia) Synopsis: Zhang Yimou, the director of such Chinese epics as Red Sorghum, Raise the Red Lantern and Shanghai Triad, takes his first stab at a period martial arts film and succeeds wildly, making an intelligent, carefully crafted drama that pays tribute to the genre while taking it to another level. The story is set 2,000 years ago, during the time of the Warring States, when seven kindgoms were battling for dominance, and one leader–the king of Qin–was determined to end up victorious and unite all of China as one nation. The proud king is forced to live trapped alone in his palace as a remarkable trio of villains–Broken Sword, Flying Snow, and Sky–are out to kill him. But one day a simple country prefect shows up, announcing that he has killed all three assassins. Identifying himself as Nameless, the prefect tells in great detail how he got rid of the king’s sworn enemies. However, once Nameless is finished, the king has some interesting questions for him, pointing out holes in his tale. The cat-and-mouse story continues as Nameless and the king seek to find out the truth about the assassins and the future of China.

Jet Li Nameless

Tony Leung Broken Sword

Maggie Cheung Flying Snow

Zhang Ziyi Moon

Donnie Yen Sky

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• This movie was the most expensive Chinese movie at the time it was produced.
• Jackie Chan was offered the role of the King but turned it down.
• Jet Li agreed to a pay cut so he could be in the movie.
• Robin Shou was the original choice for the role of Sky but dropped out for unknown reasons. Jet Li then suggested to the director that Donnie Yen would make the perfect opponent for Jet’s own character.
• Miramax originally acquired the U.S. distribution rights in 2002 after the film’s huge success in Asia. However, the film did not receive its U.S. theatrical release until 2004. Before the release of the official U.S. version, the film gained a cult following in the States via “official” copies of the DVD from other countries.
• In ancient China, when someone claimed that he killed his enemies, he needed to present their heads (tou zi) as proof instead of their weapons. Zhang Yimou modified this, mindful of the audience’s stomachs, thus making the story less accurate.
• The Qin Empire preferred the color black, even for the horses. In order to be historically accurate, Zhang Yimou ordered all 300+ horses to be colored black (temporarily, of course) for the cavalry sequences.
• All of the soldiers in the Qin army sequence as well as the palace sequences were performed by actual Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers, except the stunt performers. It’s estimated that 18000 were used as extras in the film.
• Zhang Yimou did not like the initial batch of the red cloth used in the “red sequence”; none of the test samples came out right on camera. Therefore, a special shade of red dye was Fedex’ed from England, and costume designer Emi Wada ended up dying the cloth AND making all the costumes locally (with help, of course).
• The “red fight” between Moon and Flying-Snow was filmed in a forest in Mongolia. Zhang Yimou had to wait until the leaves turn yellow, and hired local nomads to gather even more yellow leaves in order to cover the ground completely. In fact, he was so fanatic about the leaves, that he had his crew separate the leaves into four different “classes” which were each put at increasingly farther lengths from the camera.
• It is the first foreign language film to open at #1 at the US box office.
• The lake scenes took almost three weeks to film because Zhang Yimou insisted that the lake’s surface had to be perfectly still and mirror-like during filming. Due to the natural currents, this occurred every day for only two hours starting at 10am. To adjust to this phenomenon, the filmmakers arose at 5am each day to begin five hours of preparation and set-up.
• Maggie Cheung required weeks of training. Even Ziyi Zhang, who earned rave reviews with her martial arts performance in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon needed intensive training to become adept with the twin blades she fights with during many of her scenes in Hero.
• Tony Leung Chiu Wai tore a ligament while filming the lake scenes. The filming was delayed for just one day and then resumed. —IMDb

Ceremony	Category	Recipient	Result
2003 Golden Globes Awards	Best Foreign Film	–	Nominated
2003 Berlin Film Festival	Golden Bear	Zhang Yimou	Nominated
	Alfred Bauer Award	Zhang Yimou	Won
2003 Golden Bauhinia Awards	Best Picture	–	Nominated
	Best Director	Zhang Yimou	Nominated
	Best Actress	Maggie Cheung	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Zhang Ziyi	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Christopher Doyle	Won
2003 Academy Awards	Best Foreign Film	–	Nominated
2003 Hong Kong Film Awards	Best Picture	–	Nominated
	Best Director	Zhang Yimou	Nominated
	Best Screenplay	Zhang Yimou	Nominated
	Best Actress	Maggie Cheung	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Zhang Ziyi	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Christopher Doyle	Won
	Best Editing	Angie Lam	Nominated
	Best Art Direction	Tingxiao Huo	Won
	Best Costumes/Makeup	Emi Wada	Won
	Best Visual Effects	Murray Pope	Won
	Best Action Choreography	Siu-Ting Ching	Won
	Best Music	Tan Dun	Won
	Best Original Song	Wong Yiu Ming	Nominated
	Best Sound	Jing Tao	Won
2003 World Stunt Awards	Best Action in Foreign Film	Siu-Tung Ching	Nominated
2003 Huabiao Film Awards	Contribution Award	Zhang Yimou	Won
Golden Rooster Awards	Best Film	–	Nominated
	Best Director	Zhang Yimou	Nominated
	Best Art Direction	Tingxiao Huo	Won
	Best Sound	Jing Tao	Nominated
2003 Brothers Manaki Film Festival	Golden Camera 300	Christopher Doyle	Won
	Audience Award	Christopher Doyle	Won
2003 Ghent Film Festival	Grand Prix	Zhang Yimou	Nominated
2003 Hundred Flowers Awards	Best Film	–	Won
2003 Camerimage	Golden Frog	Christopher Doyle	Nominated
2003 Chinese Film Media Awards	Most Popular Film	–	Won
	Most Popular Actress	Maggie Cheung	Won
2004 New York Film Critics Circle	Best Cinematographer	Christopher Doyle	Won
2004 Phoenix Film Critics Society	Best Foreign Film	–	Nominated
2004 Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Cinematography	Christopher Doyle	Won
2004 Robert Festival	Best Non-American Film	Zhang Yimou	Nominated
2004 British Independent Film Awards	Best Foreign Film	–	Nominated
2004 Cinemarati Film Awards	Best Picture	–	Nominated
	Best Foreign Film	–	Won (2nd)
	Best Director	Zhang Yimou	Won (3rd)
	Best Supporting Actress	Maggie Cheung	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Christopher Doyle	Won
	Best Film Editing	Angie Lam	Won (3rd)
	Best Art Direction	Tingxiao Huo	Won
2004 Seattle Film Festival	Best Actress	Maggie Cheung	Nominated
	Audience Award	Zhang Yimou	Won
2004 Toronto Film Critics Association	Best Foreign Film	–	Won
2004 San Diego Film Critics Society	Best Cinematography	Christopher Doyle	Won
2004 Seattle Film Critics Awards	Best Cinematography	Christopher Doyle	Won
2005 National Society of Film Critics	Best Director	Zhang Yimou	Won
	Best Cinematography	Christopher Doyle	Won (2nd)
2005 Online Film Critics Society	Best Foreign Film	–	Won
	Best Director	Zhang Yimou	Nominated
	Best Cinematograohy	Christopher Doyle	Won
	Best Editing	Angie Lam	Nominated
	Best Original Score	Tan Dun	Nominated
2005 Las Vega Film Critics Society	Best Foreign Film	–	Won
2005 Motion Picture Sound Editors	Best Sound Editing	Jing Tao	Nominated
2005 Golden Trailer Awards	Best Action	Ignition Creative	Nominated