Two-time Academy Award nominee, director Zhang Yimou is joined by award winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon producer, Bill Kong, Cannes Technical Grand Prize winner Christopher Doyle as director of photography, and straight from his roaring success in Shaolin Soccer comes action director Tony Ching Siu Tung. Academy Award-winning costume designer Emi Wada and Academy Award-winning composer Tan Dun complete the formidable, star-studded crew.

HERO is based on events in China during the Third Century BC. From 475 – 221 BC, the land was divided into seven major Kingdoms: Qin, Zhao, Han Wei, Yan, Chu and Qi. Named ‘The Warring States Period’ because of the power struggle between the Kingdoms, this was a time of endless brutal wars and much hardship and suffering.

War was the predominant way of life. Technological advances enabled the casting of individual weapons, which in turn allowed the arming of foot soldiers. This precipitated a new order of warfare. In previous eras, aristocrats on chariots had fought battles. A General-led infantry replaced this, with peasants pressed into the front lines and commanders directing the strategy. Many treatises on warfare were written during these turbulent times, including the celebrated ‘Art of War’ by Sun Tzu. This in-depth study of warfare remains a Bible of the battlefield to this day.

Dominated by power struggles, the Warring States was nevertheless a period of great classical thought. This cultural flowering is known as the One Hundred Schools Period. Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism developed during the Warring States, and some of the most memorable poetry and prose in China were written at this time. The incessant warfare also contributed to other social changes. It sparked reforms in the economy and the development of iron greatly increased agriculture, precipitating a population explosion.

During the Warring States period, a feudal system became firmly established. The Warring States saw the feudal lord of each state vying for hegemony. Each of them believed that they were destined to unite ‘All Under Heaven’, a phrase taken to mean civilization as they knew it. The King of Qin was most ruthless and ambitious of all. Historically chronicled as a brutal tyrant, the King was determined to conquer and control all of the states. Throughout history, there have been stories of how assassins from all over China plotted to kill the King of Qin. HERO is one of these stories.

The seven states would stop at nothing in their goal to create the first Chinese Empire. They placed huge garrisons and enormous walls along their frontiers, military advisors schemed to defeat foreign armies, and alliances between states were formed only to be broken. In the middle of the fray were the wandering warriors. They were skilled fighters who would lend their skills to various states against their enemies. In HERO, the fate of China rests in the hands of three such legendary warriors.

HERO’s path to the screen began with the film’s director, Zhang Yimou. World famous for his brilliant storytelling and incisive portraits of China, Zhang had always wanted to make a martial arts film. He devoured wuxia (martial arts literature) novels as a child, but rejected the idea of adapting something from literature and instead spent three years developing the story of HERO, which he describes as “Not only a martial arts film, but also a legend [of what] happened in ancient China.” Zhang continues to explain his reasoning: “If you look at the history of Chinese martial arts literature”, he says, “the plot always hinges on revenge… For years, this has been the only theme in Chinese martial arts films whether it’s Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. I wanted to take the genre in a new direction. In my story, the goal is to downplay violence. The characters are motivated by their desire to end the war. For real martial arts heroes, the heart is far more important than the sword.”

For the actors, HERO presented a unique opportunity: a martial arts film that placed equal importance on the plot and the action. “HERO is my dream movie” enthuses Jet Li. “When I read the script, I cried twice. In my twenty-two year career of making movies, this is the first script that made me weep. It is an incredible story, and an important question about what kind of person we can call a hero.” Zhang Ziyi, too is excited by her part in HERO: “Most projects offered to me contain many fight scenes,” she says, “But I really hoped to experience playing with my heart and not my fists. There are some fight scenes in HERO too, but my role is rich, multi-layered and has distinct personality”.

Zhang Yimou is a world-renowned storyteller, but HERO is his martial arts debut. He describes the difficulties in directing action: “One move of a sword can be described in a wuxia novel – the strength and the speed – and it is very exciting, you have plenty of room to imagine. But in a movie, you have less than one second to describe the movement of a sword – it is a challenge.” He admits to being in unfamiliar territory, but Zhang feels excited by the challenge and the chance to work with Action Director, Tony Ching Siu Tung, who is an old friend of more than a decade. “And then there’s the cast,” he adds “Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung Zhang Ziyi and Donnie Yen – five of the most talented actors in China. It's just a joy to work with them. It takes the pressure off to work with such skilled people.” Donnie Yen applauds Zhang’s command of a new style: “For a guy who has never directed action, he’s got a nuance for certain pauses, certain breaks. He never stops looking at the bigger picture and perfecting as he sees fit.”

The exacting standards that were set for the story and the action sequences are no less stringent when it comes to the look of HERO. Three versions of the story, told from different perspectives each has its own color scheme – red, white and blue. “ The aesthetics of this film are inextricably bound up with the plot”, says director Zhang Yimou “The idea of using colors to tell the story came about quite early in the process of conceptualizing the film. The look of the set, the costumes and so on was developed in concert with the script itself. I had an image in my head for a long time and then worked through the details of how to realize it through talking with the other people working on the film”.

In search of perfection, Zhang traveled hundreds of miles to find the ideal backdrop for each scene. The 300-strong crew has moved from Dunhuang in the northwest of Gansu province to Jiuzhaikou in northern Sichuan, before erecting spectacular sets in Hengdian TV & Movie City just three hours outside the historic city of Hangzhou. The company even dropped everything to head to an ancient oak grove in Inner Mongolia to shoot a fight scene between Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi at the height of the fall foliage. “I had a guy out there specifically to keep an eye on the leaves,” says Zhang Yimou. “He made videotapes of their progress as they turned from green to yellow.” As soon as the leaves turned golden, the crew rushed north. “We used three or four cameras simultaneously at different angles.” explains Zhang “And the leaves had to be perfectly yellow. We even implemented a leaf classification system. Special class leaves could be blown in the actors’ faces, first-class in front of them, second class behind them and third-class were scattered on the ground.” A mat gathered leaves as they fell so that the crew could collect, clean and classify them, then gently send them drifting back down again.

Such obsessiveness is matched by Academy Award-winning costume designer, Emi Wada who cites director Zhang Yimou as one of her heroes. For the costumes in HERO, Wada tried no less than thirty colors, hand dying each individual sample. However, after her colors were approved, Wada ran into an unforeseen problem. She elaborates: “We couldn’t make some colors with the dye and water in Beijing,” she sighed “Therefore we brought the dye from England and Japan and used mineral water to dye some of the fabric…we ended up with some thousand meters of cloth.” So meticulous was Wada’s control of the design that the red costumes were created using fifty-four shades of color. Using different textures to characterize the individuals in the story. Wada sought inspiration from ancient costumes in China, Korea and Japan. The silhouette of the costume is an ancient style. “But as this is an action movie, Wada explains “It also has to be as light as ballet costumes.”

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JET LI is one of Hollywood’s most accomplished martial arts actors who has showcased his talents in a multitude of demanding and diverse roles.

Li began training at the Beijing Martial Arts Academy at the age of nine. Just two years later, he captured the title of China’s National Martial Arts Champion. This earned him a slot on the prestigious Beijing Martial Arts Team that would go on to tour America. As part of a world tour in 1974, he had the honor of performing a two-man fight for President Nixon on the White House lawn. By his mid teens, he was already a national martial arts coach. By eighteen, Li had earned the title of National Martial Arts Champion a total of four times (1975, 1977, 1978 and 1979) – a record no one has broken.

Li retired from competition at twenty and was immediately offered many starring film roles and subsequently began his film career with director Chang Hsin Yen for ‘Shaolin Temple’ (1979). Upon its release, Li was propelled into instant movie stardom, and he would go on to act on the two sequels that precipitated the kung-fu mania in 1980s China. Jet Li was bitten by the silver screen bug.

In the late 80s, Jet Li moved his career to Hong Kong where he played such martial arts icons as Huang Fei Hung in Tsui Hark’s ‘Once Upon a Time in China’ (1991), Fong Shi Yu in ‘The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk’ (1993), Zhang San Feng in ‘The Tai Chi Master’ (1993), Chen Zhen in ‘Shaolin Kung Fu’ (1994) and Hung Hei- Kwun in ‘The New Legend of Shaolin’ (1994). In homage to the great Bruce Lee, he remade Lee’s ‘Fist Of Fury’, as ‘Fist Of Legend’ (1997). Li then expanded his repertoire to include comedy, drama and romance genres with ‘Bodyguard from Beijing’ (1994) and ‘My Father is a Hero’ (1995).

Despite his growing fame in Asia, Jet Li was still largely unknown in North America and Europe. This would all change when he took on the role of Mel Gibson’s nemesis in the high octane block buster, ‘Lethal Weapon 4’. Li was quickly shaping up to be a global force to be reckoned with. Li built on his initial success taking a starring role in Joel Silver’s explosive inter-racial take on Shakespeare, ‘Romeo Must Die’ (2000). In 2001, Li continued to challenge himself with the ‘The One’, playing the Jekyll and Hyde police officer, Gabriel Yulaw. His latest success was ‘Kiss of the Dragon’ (2001), where he played the starring role as well as donning writing and producing hats.

Li’s future projects include a Joel Silver produced action-adventure film in the vein of ‘Indiana Jones’. He has also teamed up with Mel Gibson’s Icon Productions to produce a martial arts television series for TBS entitled ‘Invincible’. Jet Li’s Kung Fu features have attracted millions of viewers worldwide. He has earned credibility from all sectors of society – from teenagers (nominated MTV Awards for Best Villain for ‘Lethal Weapon 4’ (1998) as well as Best Fight Sequence for ‘Romeo Must Die’ (2000)) to women (voted one of the Top 25 Sexiest Men in Showbiz by E! Online).

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MAGGIE CHEUNG is one of the major stars of Hong Kong cinema. From 1983 to 2001 she made nearly 80 films. An action star, a serious dramatic actress, and a skilled comedienne, Cheung is probably best known to international audiences for her roles in Jackie Chan’s ‘Police Story’ (1985), Ann Hui’s ‘Song of the Exile’ (1990), Johnny To’s martial arts fantasy ‘The Heroic Trio’ (1993), Wong Kar-Wai’s ‘‘In the Mood for Love’ (2000), and Stanley Kwan’s ‘Actress’ (1992) for which she earned Best Actress honors at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Born in Hong Kong, Cheung moved with her family to England at the age of eight. She returned to Hong Kong on completing secondary education and in 1983, entered the Miss Hong Kong Pageant where she picked up First Runner Up and Miss Photogenic. This led to contracts with local film and television production outfits TVB and Shaw Brothers Studios. After appearances in several TV drama series and low budget comedies, Cheung teamed up with Jackie Chan for her first major film role in ‘Police Story’ (1995).

A turning point in Maggie Cheung’s career came in 1988 when she was cast in Wong Kar-Wai’s ‘As Tears Go By’ with Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung. She was nominated for Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards that year, and would later go on to picking up this honors five times throughout her career – ‘A Fishy Story’ (1990), ‘Actress’ (‘Yuen Ling-Yuk’) (1992), ‘Comrades: Almost a Love Story’ (1996), ‘The Soong Sisters’ (1997) and ‘In the Mood for Love’ (2000) – making her the only quintuple HKFA Best Actress winner to date.

Cheung’s remarkable talent has also propelled her to success far beyond her homeland. In 1996, Cheung caught the attention of the acclaimed French director, Olivier Assayas, who cast her as his reincarnation of the super-criminaline of Feuillade’s silent serial Les Vampires. The film, ‘Irma Vep’ (1996), marked Maggie Cheung’s first international motion picture. Since Irma Vep she has co-starred with Leon Lai in Peter Chan’s award-winning Hong Kong-New York romance ‘Comrades, Almost a Love Story’ (1996), Mabel Cheung’s historical saga ‘The Soong Sisters’ (1997), and Wayne Wang’s ‘Chinese Box’ (1997) in which she co-starred with Jeremy Irons and Gong Li.

Cheung is a five-time Best Actress winner of Taiwan’s Golden Horse Film Awards for her performances in ‘Full Moon in New York’ (1989), ‘Red Dust’ (1990), ‘Actress’ (1992), ‘Comrades: Almost a Love Story’ (1996) and ‘In the Mood for Love’ (2000). Her role as tragic silent era starlet Yuen Ling-Yuk in ‘Actress’ (1992) made her a quadruple award winner, sweeping the Best Actress category in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Chicago, and making her the first Asian performer to win the prestigious Silver Bear Award in Berlin.

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One of the most sought-after actors in East Asia, TONY LEUNG CHIU WAI made his mark on world cinema for his work with high profile directors including John Woo, Wong Kar Wai, and Hou Hsiao Hsien. Leung has earned the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Award for his performance in Wong Kar Wai’s ‘In the Mood for Love’ (2000) opposite Maggie Cheung, as well as Best Actor at the 1995 Golden Horse Awards for his portrayal of a dreamy, lovelorn policeman in Wong’s ‘Chungking Express’ (1995).

Leung began his acting career at the Hong Kong based Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), and quickly through supporting roles to play the lead in numerous TV Dramas in the early 1980s. He subsequently made the jump into Hong Kong’s thriving mid-‘80s film industry, where he proved his versatility in a string of movies by Hong Kong directing heavyweights including Stanley Kwan (‘Love Unto Waste’, 1986), Patrick Tam (‘My Heart Is That Eternal Rose’, 1987) and Sammo Hung (‘Seven Warriors’ 1989). But it wasn’t until his first foray outside of Hong Kong’s movie industry – a moving portrayal of a hearing-impaired photographer in Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao Hsien’s historical epic ‘A City of Sadness’ (1989) – that the full range of his talent became apparent. International recognition began to come Leung’s way in the 1990s. With powerful roles in John Woo’s operatic action thrillers ‘Bullet in the Head’ (1990) and ‘Hard-Boiled’ (1992), and a long-term collaboration with the acclaimed Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-Wai, Leung solidified his position as a major Asian star.

His gently humorous performance as a lovesick policeman in Wong’s international cult hit ‘Chungking Express’ (1995) earned him a Best Actor Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards, as did his turn as a depressed homosexual exile going through a stormy breakup in ‘Happy Together’ (1997). He won top honors at the Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance as a newspaper editor who suspects his wife of having an affair in the sumptuous chamber romance ‘In the Mood for Love’ (2000).

Leung’s extensive filmography is testament to his extraordinary acting range. While he is known worldwide for his high-profile work with Hou, Wong, and Woo, he is an even bigger star in his native Hong Kong, where he continues to earn accolades from critics and audiences.

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At age 25, ZHANG ZIYI possesses the easy grace and on-screen intensity of a seasoned professional. She has cemented her presence as one of moviedom’s most exciting and intriguing leading ladies.

She is currently shooting in what is seen to be legendary Japanese director Seijun Suzuki’s last movie, ‘Raccoon Palace’, a musical.

Z’s latest movie ‘House of Flying Daggers,’ (titled ‘Lovers’ in Japan), the costume epic by the world-renown Mainland Chinese director Zhang Yimou, will be released in the summer of 2004. Z, in her ninth movie and in the leading role, plays a blind martial artist in the Tang Dynasty, is joined by Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau, two of Asia’s leading actors.

Later this year, moviegoers around the world will also see her in ‘2046’, the long-awaited movie directed by the critically acclaimed Hong Kong-based director Wong Kar-Wei whose award-winning films include ‘In the Mood for Love’, ‘Happy Together’ and ‘Chungking Express.’ Hong Kong actors Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung and Wang Fei and Mainland China actress Gong Li add to the stellar cast in this movie.

In 2004, audiences in China will be treated to ‘Jasmine’ by first-time director Hou Yong who was the cinematographer in Z’s first movie, ‘The Road Home’ Z plays three characters in this generational family saga set in Shanghai in the thirties, sixties and eighties. The film also stars internationally renowned Joan Chen.

Her other 2003 movie was ‘Purple Butterfly’, directed by the award -winning Sixth Generation Mainland Chinese director Lou Ye. ‘Purple Butterfly’ competed for the prestigious Palme d’Or award at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Z won the hearts of critics for her depiction of a young woman caught between love and duty during Japanese-occupied Shanghai in the thirties.

In 2001, Z was seen opposite Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in ‘Rush Hour 2,’ the Brett Ratner-helmed film that grossed over $200 million. Mr. Ratner is the acclaimed director of ‘Red Dragon.’ Z’s role in the movie earned her a MTV Movie Award for ‘Best Villain.’

Z's first appearance on screen was also her first star turn. While still a student in Drama School, she was offered the lead in director Zhang Yimou's 1998 film ‘The Road Home.’ Set during the very early years of China's Cultural Revolution, the film is an intimate account of a young girl's first love. ‘The Road Home’ was awarded the Grand Jury Silver Bear at the 50th 2000 Berlin Film Festival.

Following her breakthrough role in ‘The Road Home,’ Z delivered a stunning performance in director Ang Lee's ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ (2000). An epic tale of true love, adventure, and intrigue, the film stars international film veterans Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh. ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ was nominated for an astonishing 125 awards in 2000 and 2001. Z herself received 14 nominations, going on to win the 2001 Independent Spirit Award and 2000 Toronto Film Critics Association Award, among others.

Born and raised in Beijing, Z is one of two children. Her father is a government economist, her mother a retired kindergarten teacher. At age 11, she was sent to boarding school at the Beijing Dance Academy where she began a 6-year study of folk and traditional Chinese dance. Z claims that this training has helped make her a decent martial artist and actor. In 1997, she entered the prestigious China Central Drama where she spent three years.

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Rising star DONNIE YEN has been hailed as the fresh new face of martial arts. A long-time collaborator with Yuen Wo Ping, the Academy Awardâ winning choreographer of ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ (2000), Yen’s martial arts performances are well-known for exhibiting an extremely high degree of complex skills.

Born in the Chinese province of Canton, Yen moved to Hong Kong at the age of two. He lived there until aged eleven and subsequently moved with his family to Boston, USA. He spent his early teenage years in New England, where his mother, a world famous Tai Chi master ran an internationally renowned martial arts studio and trained her son in the arts almost as soon as he could walk. In his teens, Yen spent two years in Beijing training with the famed Beijing Martial Arts Team, studying under the same master as Jet Li. En route back to the U.S, Yen made a side trip to Hong Kong where he met Yuen Wo Ping, the action choreographer for action extravaganzas ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’. Yuen, who launched the career of Jackie Chan in ‘Snake in Eagle’s Shadow’ (1978) and ‘Drunken Master’ (1978), was looking for a new kung fu star. At once, Yuen was impressed by Donnie Yen’s extraordinary physical abilities and the two talents have collaborated on numerous projects including ‘Drunken T’ai Chi’ (1984), ‘Tiger Cage’ (1988), ‘Once Upon a Time in China II’ (1992) and ‘Iron Monkey’ (1993).

Yen’s career has since flourished, starring opposite such esteemed martial arts stars as Jet Li (‘Once Upon a Time in China II’, 1992) and Michelle Yeoh (‘Butterfly Sword’, 1993). Not content with simply appearing on screen, Yen is also an accomplished fight choreographer, credited in films including ‘Blade II’ (2002) and ‘Highlander: The Endgame’ (2000). Yen has also turned to television to develop his directing skills. He starred in and directed the action for one of Hong Kong’s all time top rated shows ‘Fist of Fury’ (1995) a 30-part mini-series based on the classic Bruce Lee movie. Yen made his directing debut with ‘Legend of the Wolf’ (1997), followed shortly by ‘Ballistic Kiss’ (1998). ‘Ballistic Kiss’ earned Donnie Yen the Best Young Director Award at the Yubari Film Festival in Japan and was selected as one of the Best Films of 1998 by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society.

Branching out internationally, Donnie Yen has action-directed and starred in ‘Blood Snow Princess’ (2001), a contemporary sword film based on the Japanese Manga character, Shurayuki Hime. Yen also became the first Chinese film maker to be in creative control of a major German TV production, co-directing and action choreographing one of Germany’s highest rated shows, ‘Codename: Puma’ (1999, 2000).

Currently toast of the town with the US re-release of ‘Iron Monkey’ (2001), Donnie Yen was included in GQ Magazine’s list of the Hottest Action Stars, and was voted one of the Hottest People on the Planet by In Gear Magazine in January 2002.

He will next star opposite Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in ‘Shanghai Knights’, the sequel to the smash-hit comedy, ‘Shanghai Noon’ (2000).