Today, I finally enter the 21st century of “1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die” by Steven Jay Schneider by discussing one of the most unexpectedly entertaining Ang Lee films: the 2000 martial arts drama Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
[NOTE: This blog will contain spoilers for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” You have been warned.] The History It was a childhood dream of Taiwanese director Ang Lee (The Wedding Banquet, Brokeback Mountain) to make a “wuxia” film in the tradition of Chinese martial arts movies. After finding source material for his movie in the five-part “Crane-Iron Series” of novels by Chinese author Wang Dulu, Lee went to work financing the project. He ended up securing production from studios in four different countries: CFGC in China; EDKO Film in Hong Kong; Zoom Hunt in Taiwan; and Columbia, Sony, and Good Machine in the United States. The film was shot throughout multiple provinces in East and North China, as well as in Beijing itself. Lee has reflected on how the harsh weather and intense shooting schedule forced him to not take a break for eight months straight. One of the issues he dealt with during principal photography was the differing accents of the four lead actors (only Zhang Ziyi spoke Mandarin in a native accent), often resulting in Lee forcing his performers to do dozens of takes to ensure the dialogue was culturally and phonetically accurate. Much of Lee’s motivation behind making the film was to create a “wuxia” flick that appealed to Western audiences. In addition to focusing on specific themes and aesthetics, he also personally edited the English subtitles to ensure they were sufficient for Western viewers. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon premiered in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong throughout the summer of 2000 before finally hitting U.S. theaters in December of that year. The film was a surprise critical and box-office hit in the West, becoming the first foreign-language film to gross over 100 million dollars in the United States. (To this day, it remains the highest-grossing foreign-language film in American history) At the Academy Awards the next year, the film received the most nominations for a non-English language film (Alfonso Cuarón’s film Roma tied this record in 2018) and won four, including Best Foreign Language Film. Critics and film historians today credit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with introducing Western audiences to Asian film genres, such as “wuxia,” as well as making Asian cinema in general more marketable to English speakers. The film’s success also made Ang Lee one of the most recognizable names in directing in modern Hollywood. The Pros As someone who has, on many occasions, struggled to become invested in foreign language films, I went into Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon skeptically. Furthermore, I have never really been a fan of martial arts films, or fantasy films for that matter. In a way, this movie is both, so it did not have me bought in from the start. But within the first twenty minutes, I realized that Ang Lee had pulled off something I assumed to be near-impossible; he made Eastern storytelling appealing to a Western audience. Minus the language barrier (yes, I’m one of those Americans who’d prefer to not have to read subtitles when watching a movie), I found virtually everything else in the film to have Western, or at least Western-influenced, sensibilities. Perhaps what surprised me most was the story itself. Lee was able to balance melodrama with drama, and the more operatic aspects of the story with the more grounded ones. Despite being a story with martial arts masters and swordsmen (and women), at its heart this film is a character-driven drama about relationships between students and masters, as well as romances, and the conflicts between them in a society constricted by societal expectations and traditions. This is a story that, if stripped of the martial arts, could realistically take place anywhere and anytime. But, its unique blending of Eastern mythology and history with Western sensitivities makes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon truly a one-of-a-kind when it first came out. Of course, one cannot discuss this film without addressing the action sequences. Which, much to my surprise, became my other favorite part of it. While it took some time to get used to watching thieves and warriors jumping from rooftops and over fortress walls, I eventually suspended my disbelief enough because the fight choreography was so damn fun to watch. I particularly enjoyed the three-way duel between Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-fat) and his love interest Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh), who team up to fight against Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei), the master of the thief who stole Mu Bai’s “Green Destiny” sword from him. Overall, those are the main reasons that I thoroughly enjoyed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But, that is not to say that the movie doesn’t have issues. The Cons While much of the story worked for me, I found the romance subplot between Jade Fox’s pupil, Jen Yu (Zhang Ziyi), and Lo (Chang Chen) to be underwhelming and not as interesting as the drama between the other main characters. To be clear, I did enjoy Jen Yu’s fight sequences and her character in and of herself, but their romance was much more in-your-face than the nuanced subtlety of Mu Bai and Shu Lien’s unrequited love for each other. This subplot, in my humble opinion, adds too much to the runtime and I think by integrating it more naturally into the main story the movie could have benefitted greatly. Also, the more fantastical elements of the fight choreography (primarily the unbelievable feats of jumping and running up and around walls) can take some getting used to. And while I understand that these things are central to the visual style of wuxia films like this, I foresee that this slightly detracted from Ang Lee’s goal of making a Chinese martial arts film for Westerners. One of the more obvious drawbacks for many Western viewers (notably Americans) is that this is a foreign-language film, and thus is not in English. So, if you are averse to reading subtitles while watching the movie, this may detract from your viewing experience. It did not for me because the story was enticing enough, but I understand why some people will be turned off by this aspect. So, what are my final impressions of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Given the fact that I tend to avoid martial arts films and many foreign-language films, I found Ang Lee’s big-budget debut in the West to be more than satisfactory. Despite some of its drawbacks in storytelling, it is well worth the watch if you want to see an absorbing, character-driven drama with some fast-paced, well-conceived action sequences. What is your favorite Ang Lee film? Do you think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is genuinely engrossing or a bit too over-the-top for your liking? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
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Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
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