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Review by
Calvin
McMillin: |
Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon is more than just a movie;
it's a phenomenon. Along with The Matrix, its
title will forever be used as a comparative term for
film blurbs around the world ("It's a cross between.").
Not only that, but the Ang Lee film has had a tremendous
impact on the Asian movies that are financed and distributed
to American audiences, whether it be theatrically
(Iron Monkey anyone?) or on DVD (just check
the shelves at Borders and Best Buy for proof). When
I watched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon -
a Mandarin language film with (gasp!) subtitles -
in a darkened Oklahoma cineplex, I knew something
special was happening. Only a few years before, I
had been eagerly scavenging mail-order catalogs buying
those expensive VHS two-tape sets of my favorite Hong
Kong flicks, reveling in the chance to see them once
more in the comfort of my own home. And then Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon - in all its widescreen glory
- hit movie theaters nationwide. I was in martial
arts heaven.
Based on the book by
Wang Du-Lu, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the epic tale of two couples as they come to grips
with the realities of living in the martial world.
On the older side of the spectrum, we have Li Mu-Bai
(Chow Yun-Fat) and Yu Shu-Lien (Michelle Yeoh), two
adept martial artists whose plans for retirement are
interrupted by the theft of Li's prize possession:
the Green Destiny sword. The other couple in this
foursome includes Jen Yu (Zhang Ziyi), a beautiful,
well-to-do noble who is more than she seems, and Lo
(Chang Chan) the swarthy bandit with a heart of gold
known to the masses as Dark Cloud. While Mu-Bai and
Shu-Lien have grown weary of the trappings of the Jiang Hu underworld, Jen thirsts for it, aligning
herself with Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-Pei), a vicious kung
fu mistress and killer of Mu-Bai's Wudan master. The
movie centers on the question of whether the talented
Jen will remain a pawn of the evil Jade Fox or become
a faithful disciple of the stoic Li Mu-Bai. In the
end, the impetuous Jen follows her own will…with tragic
results.
With all the hype surrounding
Crouching Tiger, it's no wonder that there has
been a bit of a backlash. Some say that it's too slow,
there's too much flying, it's got a downbeat ending,
etc. True, some might consider the first act a bit
plodding, but its lethargy has a purpose. The slow
opening is an excellent setup for the liberating,
martial arts explosion that occurs when Shu-Lien and
Jen do battle in a highflying night fight that was
so exhilarating that audience members at Cannes erupted
into cheers at the sequence's conclusion.
As for the "flying"
debate, I found the wirework to be so exquisitely
filmed that it made most Hong Kong wuxia flicks look
amateurish by comparison. Sure, with all that flying,
there's no reason for these folks to ride around on
horses, but try not to think too much about it. And,
as far as the ending is concerned, the conclusion
is consistent with the thematic motifs of the film.
Through the relationship between Li Mu-Bai and Shu-Lien,
the film points out the folly of clinging to the customs
of the past. Mu-Bai and Shu-Lien say that they don't
act on their impulses as a tribute to the memory of
a departed friend, but the truth is that the two are
just too scared to make good on their feelings. As
one character remarks, "When it comes to emotions,
even great heroes can be idiots." Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon concludes with a beautiful
shot of Zhang Ziyi plunging into the great unknown
in a gesture that is both an atonement for her sins
and, quite possibly, a resurrection. Beautiful and
compelling to the very last, Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon is nothing less than a cinematic masterpiece.
(Calvin McMillin 2002) |
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