Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon DVD > Reviews > Crouching Tiger, Essential Viewing

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Believable romance, Good action sequences, Breathtaking backdrops
Disadvantages:	Some won't like the 'flying'

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

DIRECTED BY: Ang Lee

CAST
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Chow Yun-Fat .Master Li Mu Bai
Michelle Yeoh .Yu Shu Lien
Ziyi Zhang .... Jen Yu
Chen Chang .... Lo ('Dark Cloud')
Sihung Lung .... Sir Te
Pei-pei Cheng Jade Fox
Fa Zeng Li .... Gov. Yu
Xian Gao .... Bo
Yan Hai .... Madame Yu
De Ming Wang… Police Inspector Tsai

Slightly tentatively although with good reason, I decided to buy the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon DVD on the back of several excellent reviews, various Oscars and an excellent offer in the local video shop. With my only previous knowledge being an absurdly drunken affair culminating in the video of ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Penis’ I was right to be somewhat apprehensive this time round. However I’m glad to say now with abject derision that Ang Lee’s masterpiece is clearly nothing to do with crouching nakedness or hidden parts of the body. Not one bit. Instead there are several stories featuring love, treachery and revenge lovingly intertwined by Lee to create arguably his magnum opus with full force.

Being a foreign film, the first choice you get is whether to watch it in Mandarin (with English subtitles, or without if your Mandarin isn’t top notch) or with English voice-overs. Personally I prefer watching it with the subtitles, but this method requires more attention than the other one and you tend to miss some of the action on occasions looking at the bottom of the screen. Watching in the original language also means that the movie appears more realistic and believable than with voice-overs that don’t match the actor’s mouths. Very few Western films get a good showing in Hollywood and this is one that slipped through the net with a Best Foreign Picture Oscar in 2000.

BACKGROUND
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Li Mu Bai, the dashing and famous warrior played by Chow Yun Fat returns home to Wudan mountain after living out his life with his master on the path of enlightenment only to find out it wasn’t for him. He then returns to pass his famous sword, the Green Destiny to his old friend Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) for her keeping. Chow Yun Fat as Li Mu Bai is a masterstroke by Ang Lee as he fits the role of the warrior monk perfectly. Poised and intense, while at the same time calm and all knowing, Fat really delivers and his fights are believable in creating the story of his character.

Yu Shu Lien then visits Sir Te and entrusts the sword to him. While on this visit she meets the young girl Jen Yu, about to be married into a family against her willing. However one night and in spite of the many guards in the camp, the Green Destiny is stolen and it is assumed that Jade Fox is the thief, the old enemy of Li Mu Bai. You find out later that is someone you were not expecting it to be and the tale takes a different twist later on as Li Mu Bai attempts to be the new master and mentor of the thief.

THE MOVIE
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Apart from the many themes running in this film, the main crowd puller in the cinemas was the fighting sequences and the DVD is no exception. In wide-screen they really look stunning and are definitely some of the best I’ve seen for a long time. The scenes are interesting, quickly fought and to a high standard with Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh and Ziyi Zhang excelling here. My favourite scene is probably where Jade Fox is first seen by Li Mu Bai and the audience as she becomes his nemesis again, although not recognising him this time after killing his master many years before. One of my other favourite scenes is the one where Jen Yu, when asked for a lesson proceeds to teach the whole buildings inhabitants that she is the master of the Green Destiny. It was very well structured and gives some comedy afterwards when the aggrieved lesson seekers complain to Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien.

In Crouching Tiger, these two characters played by Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh act like good friends but it is obvious that there is something more between them and have been pining for each other for many years. Even Sir Te has a one to one chat with Li Mu Bai and reminds him that he should take his chance rather than not know her feelings but it is the ancient honour that is holding them apart, as Li Mu Bai was once friends with Yu Shu Lien’s ex-lover who was killed. Michelle Yeoh is particularly good at acting out this honour-bound love between the two and it is clear in the film that she is aching for something more than just being acquaintances.

Probably the most interesting character in the whole film is the characterisation of the young girl Jen Yu by Zhang Ziyi as she is pivotal to the conflict occurring and the running themes in the movie. I won’t spoil the movie too much but Yu is very important to the storylines and the finale that is pretty intense as the main characters interact with each other.

I have to address the ‘flying’ in Crouching Tiger, at some point in this review as it has been considered by many as unrealistic and detracting from this legendary story that has been so well depicted by Lee. In my personal opinion though I think it works perfectly for this film because in essence that is what it is all about, being free. Flying or gliding gracefully therefore; is the idyllic representation of this notion of following your heart and the release from other pressures. A good summation of this backbone of the film comes when Lo ‘Dark Cloud’ (Chen Chang) is talking to Jen Yu (Ziyi Zhang) in the foreground of a striking mountain backdrop:

“A long time ago a mans children were very ill so he jumped. He didn’t die, he wasn’t even hurt. He just floated away happily, never to return. He knew his children were well again. What really makes wishes come true, is the trust in the heart.”

Just like the gorgeous setting described above, Ang Lee has really gone out of his way to find the most breathtaking and magical surroundings to immerse his characters in. From the rolling desert to the gentle swaying trees, the characters fit the surroundings well and give performances that are believable in any of the given situations. It is really worth watching this film just for this.

FINAL WORD
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Crouching Tiger is a tremendous film directed by Ang Lee that successfully combines all of the themes and ingredients needed to bring a Western movie to Hollywood. The romance, scenery and the uplifting feeling of desire to be released from the bonds imposed by society and culture is not to be missed.

DVD EXTRAS
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Full Motion menu with music
Scene Access with 28 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English, French with remote access
Cast and Crew Biographies
Cast and Crew Filmographies
2 Original Trailer(s)
Production Notes
1 Documentaries
1 Featurette(s)
1 Feature/Episode commentary by Ang Lee and James Schamus
 

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