Political Meaning and Criticism
This film has faced criticism, as well as praise from abroad as a perceived pro-totalitarian and pro-Chinese reunification subtext. Critics also cited as evidence the approval that had been given to the film by the government of the People's Republic of China. These critics argued that the ulterior meaning of the film was triumph of security and stability over liberty and human rights, analogous to the "Asian values" concept that gained brief popularity in the 1990s.
The film's director, Zhang Yimou, purportedly withdrew from the 1999 Cannes Film Festival to protest similar criticism. Zhang Yimou himself had maintained that he had absolutely no political points to make.
Read more about this topic: Hero (2002 film)
Famous quotes containing the words political, meaning and/or criticism:
“The political core of any movement for freedom in the society has to have the political imperative to protect free speech.”
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“To summarize the contentions of this paper then. Firstly, the phrase ‘the meaning of a word’ is a spurious phrase. Secondly and consequently, a re-examination is needed of phrases like the two which I discuss, ‘being a part of the meaning of’ and ‘having the same meaning.’ On these matters, dogmatists require prodding: although history indeed suggests that it may sometimes be better to let sleeping dogmatists lie.”
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“As far as criticism is concerned, we don’t resent that unless it is absolutely biased, as it is in most cases.”
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