Hero
Director: Alexandre Rockwell
Screenwriters: Alexandre Rockwell
Institute History
Hero is a touching, lucid and deeply aesthetic portrayal of an aspect of contemporary American life. It follows a 15 year old handicapped lad, Paul, who is always taking photographs with his instant camera, his “adopted sisters”, Kim and Mika, a Mexican cab driver and a silent Japanese girl, respectively, as they leave a crowded, stiltifying urban environment and search out in a yellow checker cab for Truth or Consequences New Mexico. It is really a surrealist journey to nowhere, one that juxtaposes the isolation from society with the desert landscape. The story comes to life with the introduction of a caricature of a cowboy named Cody, a hitchhiker who runs at the mouth and carries a suitcase “full of valuable information about America”, and the mysterious American Indian guide, who appears rather abruptly on the scene and seems to represent an ephemeral spirit from the ancient past.
This often breathtaking film uses metaphors and symbolism to traverse the desert of the soul and spirit in a convincing and evocative way, It is a completely fresh and imaginative effort, a rare gem of a film, one that may go down as a major film-poem in the American independent film movement.
- Dramatic Feature
- 1984, Sundance Film Festival
- U.S.A., 105 min.
- Awards
- Special Jury Recognition Dramatic