Author: Faust667@aol.com (Jerry Saravia)
Subject: Review: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
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Summary: r.a.m.r. #28088
Keywords: author=saravia
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
Reviewed on March 28th, 2001
By Jerry Saravia
The title of director Ang Lee's latest was a turn-off to me. I suppose
Chinese titles turn me off in general, but something like "A Chinese Ghost
Story" made me swoon. Nonetheless, though I can't exactly explain the
significance of the title, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is one of the
most exciting martial-arts films ever made - a glorious, magical thrill ride
that Hollywood can only think of aspiring to.
Set in ancient imperial China, we are introduced to the magnetic Yu Shu Lien
(Michelle Yeoh), a skillful, graceful warrior who learns that a legendary,
powerful sword has been stolen from its owner, Lee Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat),
another highly skilled warrior and good friend of Yu Shu's. They both try to
track down a masked thief, who is almost as graceful as both of them
combined. This masterfully trained thief can scale walls and fly with such
ease that Yu Shu and Lee Mu are determined to uncover his/her identity. It
turns out that the culprit is Jen (Zhang Ziyi), a guest at the home of the
respected Sir Te (Lung Sihung). Jen has her emotional problems and pines for
a warrior who lives out in the desert netheregions. She is also fierce and
hardly tactful - when she gets angry, she is likely to make Robert De Niro
shudder with fright. I am not sure anyone would want to be within ten yards
of this soaring, sweep-of-of-your-feet presence. Looks like an angel but she
is as fierce as a tiger.
The difference between "Crouching Tiger" and several other hundred
martial-arts films is in its emotional truths and romantic subplots. We sense
that Yu Shu loves Lee Mu and wishes some kind of future for the two of them,
even if they are flying high among treetops and rooftops. Jen is the more
complicated character of the bunch, she has her questionable loyalty to her
mother but also a love for the long-haired warrior of the desert, who makes
her feel love over pain (and sometimes both). This magical sword she has
stolen gives her a power that she can barely control...and thus, it seems she
has little control of her own life.
Yeoh and the often static Chow Yun-Fat (who brims with magnetism in this
film) bring heart and soul to "Crouching Tiger" but it is the amazing Zhang
Ziyi who soars above them all. She is quick, smart, clever, passionate,
tempermental, confident, and genuinely convincing as a warrior with no qualms
of fighting her respectful elders - we also sense she could fail but it is
quietly compelling to watch this woman trying to balance her world.
Every sequence in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is sheerly amazing and
wondrous in detail and magnificence. Every fight scene feels honest and
truthful, no matter how silly it may seem to some that the characters can fly
with grace and agility (China is used to this sort of thing since it relates
to their own past legends and numerous other films). Again, it is because of
how powerful the characters are - they stand for something and represent
their own people but they also have values and morals. Jen is the rebel ready
to break down their fortress - she acts out her own feelings rather than
repressing them. Essentially, Ang Lee ("Sense and Sensibility") has created
his own "Star Wars" for the new millenium. Spectacularly exciting, tense,
romantic, dramatic, idiosyncratic at times, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
stuns our eyes and engages our hearts. George Lucas can only hope of
accomplishing this much with his next "Star Wars" opus.
For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at
http://moviething.com/members/movies/faust/JATMindex.shtml
E-mail me with any questions, comments or general complaints at
faustus_08520@yahoo.com or at Faust667@aol.com
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