For a long time we have been denied what every Hong Kong cinema devotee has known to be one of the best film industries in the world. Now, through Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, we get a rare chance to taste one of the most wild and inventive forms of cinema ever produced.
Legend of the action film, Chow Yun-Fat (Hard Boiled, The Killer) plays Li Mu Bai, a legendary Wudan swordsman who’s grown weary of the martial arts life. He returns home to profess his love Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh: The Heroic Trio) and hand his sword, the Green Destiny, over to Sir Te.
However, escaping the martial life won’t be so simple for Li as the infamous Jade Fox, a female assassin who killed Li’s master, is about and the Green Destiny has gone missing. However, things aren’t quite what they seem — Jade Fox isn’t working alone.
The film is an epic Chinese fable comprising of unrequited love found, then lost, betrayal, sadness, coming of age, and last but not least, some outstanding action scenes.
Director Ang Lee has created a visual masterpiece which is as varied in its content as the characters themselves. It is impossible to view the film and not gasp at the beauty of the camera work and visual tableau that is created.
The film features a subplot which runs alongside the main plot involving a young woman named Jen (Zhang Zi-yi). Jen is from a well to do family, and set to marry. She meets Yu when she comes to deliver the Green Destiny for Li Mu Bai, and the two form a sister-like bond. Jen longs for the freedom of the martial life, despite the fact that Yu tells her it’s not as glamorous as the books would have you believe. The two entwined stories are good, but their creation requires a lot of explanation. This slows the pace of the film somewhat. This is a minor fault however.
The performances from the entire cast are excellent, particularly from the three leads. Chow Yun-Fat displays true versatility, giving a restrained but moving performance as the Li Mu Bai, quite different from the hit men and maverick cop roles that Chow is known for.
Michelle Yeoh is a face that’s far more familiar; she was a Bond Girl and has been one of Jackie Chan’s sidekicks. We see a far more dramatic side of her than we are used to seeing.
Finally, relative newcomer Zhang Zi-yi does an impressive job playing the young and headstrong, yet sultry Jen. He manages to display both an innocence and a heavily contrasting world-weariness within his character - no mean feat.
The action scenes are a slight disappointment. As a mythic period film, and filled with characters who are more than mere mortal martial artists, we’re treated to numerous sequences with some very elaborate wire-work. This is well executed but the editing can impinge on an otherwise perfect scene making the sequences quite hard on the eye.
This doesn’t manage to detract from the overall quality of the fight scenes themselves. Legendary choreographer Yuen Woo-ping has choreographed intricate and thrilling action pieces breaking down the traditional preconceptions about martial arts.
This is definitely a film to see on the big screen rather than waiting for it's video release - catch it while you still can.
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Production Year: 2003 - Martial Arts - Director: Paul Hunter - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Seann William Scott, James King, Karel Roden
Production Year: 1972 - Martial Arts - Director: Bruce Lee - Original Language: English\Cantonese\Chinese - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Bruce Lee, Nora Miao, Chuck Norris, Robert Wall, Jon T. Benn
Production Year: 1991 - Martial Arts - Director: Tsui Hark - Original Language: Cantonese - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Donnie Yen, Jet Lee, Rosamund Kwan, Yuen Biao, Mok Sui Chung
Production Year: 1981 - Martial Arts - Director: Kenji Misumi, Robert Houston - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Kayo Matsuo, Minoru Ohki, Akiji Kobayashi, Shin Kishida, Masahiro Tomikawa, Tomisaburo Wakayama
Martial Arts - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Bruce Lee, Sho Kosugi, James Ryan, Jim Kelly, Jimmy Wang Yu, Bolo Yeung, Christopher Lee
Luckily, Oxford has a Phoenix Picturehouse so I was able to catch this on the big screen, and boy was it impressive. Next Ang Lee film release....The Hulk (incredible Hulk adaptation) talk about different!
TallTone 18.01.2002 19:27
Congratulations on becoming an Orange Smartie! :-) TT.
JamesMoore 15.06.2001 09:34
Shame I have the on CD so will not be able to see it on the big screen, unless I use it as an excuse to get a bigger TV.
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragonis so many things: an historical epic on a grand scale, an ... more
Asian martial-arts flick with both great effectsandfantastic fighting (choreographed byThe Matrix's guru Yuen Wo Ping), a story of magic, revenge and power played w...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragonis so many things: an historical epic on a grand scale, an ... more
Asian martial-arts flick with both great effectsandfantastic fighting (choreographed byThe Matrix's guru Yuen Wo Ping), a story of magic, revenge and power played w...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Amazing martial arts fighting sequences (choreographed by Yuen wo Ping - The Matrix) ... more
stunning special effects action adventure and romance have made Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon the most talked about movie of the year. Martial arts masters Li Mu B...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
In the most-talked about movie of the year, Director Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility) ... more
brings together a breathtaking combination of high-flying action (choreographed by Yeun Wo Ping - The Matrix) and stunning visual effects, woven around a story of humo...
Advantages: Those fight scenes! Those locations! Those effects...Get the picture? Disadvantages: Novel boiled down to film-length leaves simplistic yet confusing plot
![Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon [DVD] [2001]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78543493.jpg "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon [DVD] [2001]")
Mar 9th, 2001
(Mar 12th, 2001)
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