This was part of a larger project last year where we had to make a website on a particular movie. We chose to do Hero - so we had to make up a 20 page website dedicated to just that. It was actually quite challenging...
The whole movie has been split into four chapters and each symbolized by one specific colour, in the below order:
red, blue, green and white.
In this order, it is from the beauty of red to the grieving of white at the end. Also, it has a strong link with the traditional Chinese culture.
At the beginning, we are introduced to a man - Nameless, who is on his way to the King Qin's Palace. From there he begins his narrative of how he supposedly killed two would be assassins - Flying Snow and Broken Sword. The full narrative of Nameless' version of events shows a distinct use of reds, oranges and yellows. According to Nameless, the relationship between Broken Sword and Flying Snow was in a complicated situation since Flying Snow and Sky had an affair three years ago, which in turn caused the falling out of her and Broken Sword. In turn, there was a suspect relationship between Broken Sword and his follower Moon, something which Nameless claims to have instigated. The climax of Nameless' narration ends with Snow killing both Broken Sword and Moon after she sees him making love to Moon. The colour of red is emphasized throughout Nameless' narration, and is used to highlight the conflicting passion and love between the complicated relationships. All the clothes they wear are in red hues, and this pattern shows the continuiing issue of trust and passion that plays out in this story. Even at the calligraphy school, everyone is in red, which shows the emotion, or anger that is represented by this colour is very powerful. Red is a symbolic colour is used to show that love and relationships was what caused the eventual downfall of both Flying Snow and Broken Sword. It emphasizes love is essentially more powerful than the sword.
The second narration, whoch features almost entirely blue hues, is from the King himself, who figures out Nameless is telling a lie. As the King had met Snow and Broken Sword before, when they tried to first assassinate him, he deduced they would be less liable to their emotions. They're distrust in each other in Nameless' story showed they were petty and narrow minded. However, as the King noticed that both of them were diginified and professional, he began figuring out how the story really went. Indeed, the King was impressed by both Broken Sword and Flying Snow, and he thought that the story should should really have been that Nameless had performed his sword skill to amaze both Broken Sword and Flying Snow. After this, he asked to charade in defeating one of them to get within 10 paces of the King. The King believed that Flying Snow wounded Broken Sword and went alone to be defeated by Nameless in order to save Broken Sword and was the one who really died for the mission. This is driven by the determination of killing the King by Flying Snow. The emphasis on blue in the King's narration shows the coldness and difficulties in deciding who should sacrifice their life for Nameless. The blue hues represent the helplessness in their plan, and the foreboding that one of them would eventually die.
The third narrative - which is the real story told by Nameless shows hues from brown, to beige, and white. During this narrative, the colour of green is used to show the past, during Snow and Broken Sword's first attempt to assassinate the King. In this part, it also shows them first meeting, to practising calligraphy together. As Broken Sword mentioned before, the key of both calligraphy and sword art were to keep the soul aspiring to truth and simplicity. In fact, with the very natural environment, the colour of green is the best to present how the characters felt. The nature around them is also emphasized during the excessive use of green, which shows the simplicity and nature they lived back then.
The final part shows Snow, Broken Sword and Moon dressed in white. The colour white is used until the end of the movie, and emphasizes the grieving and beginning of a new era. As the King escaped assassination once again, the white and brown landscapes used in this section of the movie represent the beginning of a new beginning for China, where everyone was unified - even though it would cost the lives of the three activists. While in Chinese culture, white represents mourning, the colour also fits in with the unfortunate aspect for Snow, Broken Sword and Nameless. In effect though, white represents a fresh, clean and new start for a new China - where Qin eventually unified all the people and made China into a powerful country.
The use of contrasting patterns, colours and objects in Hero is essential in telling the story to the viewer. Contrast is a technique which is used in this film to emphasize relationships, convey emotions, and develop the plot. It is one of the major techniques used in this film, and ties heavily with patterns and colour.
Contrasting colours is a huge factor in Hero, but the main use of it is to emphasize the ends and beginnings of the three different narratives told throughout Hero. Each narrative in Hero is inundated with a specific colour - for the first one it is reds, the second. blues, and the third, whites. It is the contrast in the telling of the story in these three narratives that help to draw the line between each scene, and each retelling.
The first narrative uses reds, which contrast well with the emotions and troubled relationships between Broken Sword, Flying Snow and Moon. The setting also helps to emphasize these varying contrasts to the next narrative, which is shot in stark contrast to the first. The second narrative is all practically in blue shades and hues - emphasizing the helplessness and foreboding over who should die - either Broken Sword or Flying Snow. The setting has also changed in contrast with the previous narrative - thus emphasizing the retelling of the next scene. The contrast in cinematography beween the first and second narrative shows te two different versions of the story.
In the third, real version of the story, the beiges and whites contrast with the setting around them, and the people in the King's court, who are dressed in all black. The contrast between the activists and the people of the court show the separation and divide between the two groups. The eventual death of Flying Snow, Broken Sword and Nameless at the end of the movie shows that they could never ha ve been part of the unified China, and the contrast betwen their clothes emphasizes the difference between the people of the King, and Nameless and his company. The big mass of people at the end of the film - where they ask the king to execute Nameless, shows the beginning of a mass unification of China - with the sameness of all the people at the court. The contrast at the end of the film also - with the colour white, marks the start of a new era in China, and the beginning of a unified China.