Hero (the Film) and the Suit of Swords

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 28 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

RedMaple	28 Jan 2005
I just had an opportunity to see the amazing film, Hero. (this is the martial arts film out of China, starring Jet Li, not the american film with Dustin Hoffman...) I am not usually a martial arts fan, but my son turned me on to this amazing film. The film is very stylized and fairy-tale like, with unbelievably beautiful cinematography. It is not gory. The sword-play is like a ballet. Astoundingly beautiful. Sword play is a big part of the movie and there is a strong correlation made between swords and calligraphy, the art of writing, and a kind of magical connection between them. I found it immediately applicable to my understanding of swords in Tarot. Has anyone else seen this remarkable film? It's on DVD, don't miss it.

Phoenix Rising	28 Jan 2005
Hi RedMaple yes I have seen this film, it was like a sequel to Crouching tiger hidden dragon, and I saw the other film. House of the flying daggers. There fight scenes were amazingly choreographed. Especially crouching tiger. Although I had only the subtitles, so reading and trying to capture the landscape took away some of the beauty. I hope they are able to put out a English voice over. Although the DVD I watched was from China. I drew the 10 of swords once for a daily reading, and I thought "Oh damn what's this all about" and that evening, I went to see the movie "The last Samurai" with Tom Cruise, have you seen this movie? it was great too.

ocho8s	28 Jan 2005
REd Maple I went to see it at the movie theatre 2 months ago, during a film festival, and it was wonderful, I think for this movie, size does matter ......lol and it is interesting to see that we could understeand how people thinks just by looking at their caligraphy and the way they handle swords and power. Very very interesting film indeed. Loved the way the director handle color mmmmm........ I sure can watch it again!!! Bendiciones Anaoly

similia	28 Jan 2005
I thought this was a great film. (I saw it a long time ago before I was really into tarot, so I hadn't made any connections between the two). It's just been released in Australia, but has been out on DVD is Asia for years apparently (which is how I saw it long ago) Although I was the opposite to Phoenix Rising. I much prefered it with subtitles. I saw Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon with english dubbing, and it spoiled the movie for me. Thanks for that insight, I might have to see the film again.

HudsonGray	28 Jan 2005
House Of Flying Daggers just came out today and it's supposed to be 10 times better in cinematography than Crouching Tiger--make sure you go see that one, the shots I've seen of it in previews are absolutely gorgeous! Plus it has swords and knives and martial arts!

RedMaple	29 Jan 2005
I definitely will see the other films. Swords as intellect has always made sense to me, and also, a connection with words, writing. So I loved the connection to the calligraphy -- and it was totally unexpected. I loved also how the story kept changing -- the intellectual duel going on between the swordsman and the king. I feel like I have a whole new grasp on the swords, so to speak. I wish I'd seen it on the big screen -- only saw it on DVD. I will make a great effort to get out and see House of Flying Daggers.

rainwolf	29 Jan 2005
just reading the title of the thread made me laugh! Now that i think about it, swords are really a beautiful thing, and its amazing they are a intellectual suit, since the movie is all about creativity and calligraphy which takes intelligence (the amazing ones at least). What an excellent discovery, i think ill rent it tonight just for tarot!!

amyel	30 Jan 2005
I have seem both "Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon" and "Hero". Loved them both. Have not yet seen "House of Flying Daggers". One aspect of "Hero" that I loved was the use of different colors and seasons to tell the story variations. the scene in the fall, withthe females in shades of red and pink among the autumn leaves was spectacular - very passionate, which, of course, was the whole point, and such a contrast to the winter white scene - very cold, very "precise" almost lacking in emotion, as the woman was sacrificing herself. Some decks really link swords to the intellect and the aspects of the mind like a sword: Swords can be used to enforce jsutice or cut it down. I think intellect is similar. My first deck, the Mythic, described this very well. My Shining Tribe also links swords to communication. This fits nicely with the aspect of calligraphy, which, of course, not just an art form, but a written communication.

RedMaple	30 Jan 2005
amyel wrote: One aspect of "Hero" that I loved was the use of different colors and seasons to tell the story variations. the scene in the fall, withthe females in shades of red and pink among the autumn leaves was spectacular - very passionate, which, of course, was the whole point, and such a contrast to the winter white scene - very cold, very "precise" almost lacking in emotion, as the woman was sacrificing herself. Some decks really link swords to the intellect and the aspects of the mind like a sword: Swords can be used to enforce justice or cut it down. I think intellect is similar. My first deck, the Mythic, described this very well. My Shining Tribe also links swords to communication. This fits nicely with the aspect of calligraphy, which, of course, not just an art form, but a written communication. Wasn't the Fall scene spectacular? I loved the way the leaves all turned red at the end. And yes, each season's variant was beautifully done. It is fascinating that with a pictographic language, (ideographic? I'm not sure) that there could be 21 variants for the writing of the word "sword". Each with subtle differences -- like the many variations of meaning in a Tarot image.

Cerulean	30 Jan 2005
I enjoy equating a movie to tarot! What a great association of Swords...I've noticed Tarotgarden.com's Der Jen tarot and thought that was a cinematic-style beautiful series of pictures that might be associated with such herioc movies. When I was young, a friend of mine of mixed Chinese heritage took me to similar heroic Asian cinema swashbuckler-style movies. I equated Neverland to the Suit of Cups, generally; Phantom of the Opera seemed a mix of all suits, (especially from my Secrets Tarot as the Six of Swords looked like a scene from the movie and was a duel in the cemetary that could have been a wands confrontation)... and the latest delight, a lovely Korean anime called Sky Blue that was renamed and dubbed in English...very lovely. Haven't picked out which tarots Neverland and Sky Blue were like, but it'll come to me... There was a delicately delicious Vietnamese movie years and years ago called th e Scent of Green Papaya that probably would have been great to equate with a sensation-drenched oracle of changing seasons..like the latest 22 tarot of Dreaming in Color... http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/ethereal/index.shtml By the way, I just like the idea of matching a movie and tarot, I don't feel compelled to necessarily have all the tarots and movies in my collection...although I may make an exception for Sky Blue. We hope to see Flying Daggers soon... Regards Cerulean

The Hero (the Film) and the Suit of Swords thread was originally posted on 28 Jan 2005 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.