Zhang Yimou’s Hero reminds me deeply of tabbed notebooks. The film is color-coded. Movies frequently have color themes: several films focus on red items, blue water or other similar colors found in everyday objects. Never before have I ever run across a film that was color-coded. Every major scene in Hero has a color scheme: everything, from the buildings to the trees, is laced with color. The beauty of Zhang Yimou’s work is not expressed through Hero’s plot line or character development, but through the use of color.

The battle between Broken Sword and King Qin can be viewed largely as a battle between blue and green: the past and the future. Hero’s colors were not chosen arbitrarily. Over the years much efforts have been placed in discovering links between color and emotion: for this reason hospitals are painted white and restaurants occasionally feature brown or orange walls. It seems Yimou has chosen has white—which has a tie to truth and purity—to represent the truth, red—which has ties to passion and battle—to Nameless’s blood-thirsty tale and blue—which reflects a calmning nature—to the king’s gentle(r) story.

Interpretations of these color schemes are abundant. Could they represent a struggle between the past and the future? The truth and a lie? Understanding and hatred? Zhang Yiumou’s colorful feature film holds more than meets the eye. Hero’s artful form comes chiefly from the utmost attention to detail each scene holds. Without color Hero would be just another martial arts film.