ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we intend to investigate why and how Zhang Yimou’s Hero has rewritten the Chinese martial arts film genre. We believe that the development of Zhang’s cinematic career led the director along a particular path when he embarked on the project of Hero. This helps to explain why Hero takes on the format of the martial arts film instead of any other genre. We then trace the history of the traditional martial arts film genre in order to summarize its key characteristics. This allows us to compare the differences in traditional Chinese martial arts films and Hero. We also try to identify possible motivations for why Zhang Yimou rewrites the genre in Hero.
