crouching
tiger,
hidden dragon |
director
Ang Lee
screenwriters
Wang Hui-Ling
James Schamus
Tsai Kuo Jung
based on
the novel by
Wang Du
Lu
producers
Li-Kong Hsu
Bill Kong
Ang Lee
cinematographer
Peter Pau
music
Tan Dun
editor
Tim Squyres
cast
Chow Yun-Fat (Master Li Mu Bai)
Michelle Yeoh (Yu Shu Lien)
Zhang Ziyi (Jen Yu)
Chang Chen (Dark Cloud)
Sihung Lung (Sir Te)
Cheng Pei-pei (Jade Fox)
mpaa rating: PG-13
running
time: 120m
hong
kong release: 7/6/00
u.s.
release: 12/22/00
video
availability: VHS -
DVD
official
website
other ang
lee films
reviewed on this website:
- brokeback
mountain
- hulk
- the
ice storm
|
As
a child, Ang Lee devoured the popular, time-honored wuxia
novels of China -- fiction combining themes of loyalty, honor,
and chivalry with lots of page-turning swordplay and adventure.
Hong Kong action cinema has been decidedly wuxia-influenced,
which may be why native or Western fans of Hong Kong "flying
swordsmen" movies may walk away from Lee's Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon -- his tribute to the books and movies
that fed his childhood imagination -- a little underwhelmed,
as opposed to many American critics, who seem overwhelmed. The
movie is good, sometimes very good, but I suspect it's a masterpiece
only for those who haven't seen all the earlier masterpieces
that equal or surpass it.
I'm glad Crouching Tiger is here, though. For one thing,
it's going to introduce a lot of people who wouldn't have seen
Hard Boiled or Supercop
to the undeniable star power of Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh
(both of whom have been ill-served in their forays into Yankee
films). And if you've seen these giants in other films, you can't
help but get buzzed watching them act together for the first
time, doing what they do best, and seeing it all on the massive
wide screen, immaculately shot by Peter Pau, and not dubbed into
hamfisted English. It's a good way to ease newbies into the charms
of Chow and Yeoh, and the gravity-defying stuntwork of Yuen Wo-Ping
(The
Matrix) -- Hong Kong Cinema 101.
The story is simple and classical, based (by screenwriters Wang
Hui-Ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo Jung) on a wuxia
novel by Wang Du Lu. Master Li Mu Bai (Chow), a retired warrior,
pays a visit to a nobleman friend to give him a sword -- not
just any sword, but a sword that can apparently cut through anything,
and has earned itself the name "Green Destiny." Mu
Bai wants to leave his sword behind along with his violent past.
But then the sword is stolen, and Mu Bai joins forces with old
friend and unrequited love Yu Shu Lien (Yeoh) to get it back.
Western minds may see Freudian meaning in this quest, but the
code of this movie holds that the sword belongs to the man to
whom it was given. Further, Mu Bai believes the thief is the
legendary Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei), who killed his master.
A seeming subplot character who takes center stage for a while
is Jen Yu (Zhang Ziyi), a bored teenager due to be married to
a (probably) boring nobleman. Jen looks at the exciting Shu Lien
and wants the warrior woman's freedom of movement, the lethal
skills that might set her equal to men (or superior to them).
She flashes back to an intoxicating time spent with a "barbarian"
known as Dark Cloud (Chang Chen) -- it's good to see that teenage
girls' fantasies are so consistent as to cross cultural and temporal
barriers.
The high-flying action sequences have gotten a lot of ink, but
again, if you've seen earlier works like John Woo's Last Hurrah
for Chivalry (1978) or Ronny Yu's The Bride with White
Hair (1993), there's not a lot here to boggle your eyes or
mind. If you haven't, well, have fun. Some of the soaring and
jumping bits are impressive; some of it is a little too obviously
wire work. At the very least, it's refreshing to sit in an American
theater and watch action sequences that strive for lyrical beauty
more than routine button-pushing excitement; and it is, as always,
a deep pleasure when the camera simply stands back and lets Chow
Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh show their stuff (capably matched by
young Zhang Ziyi, who's already gotten nibbles from Hollywood).
Ang Lee has done a smooth and sincere job here, bringing a sample
of Hong Kong magic to art-house patrons accustomed to the likes
of Billy Elliot, but don't go to Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon expecting a cross between Gone with the Wind
and The Seven Samurai. It's well-done, and I suppose that's
going to have to be good enough. |
