I'm starting a series of reviews on this blog, looking back at my favorite films of different years, from contemporary movies all the way back to silent films - both as an excuse to write about personal favorites, and to show what films I admire from different eras of history.
I have vivid memories of my first time watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as a kid. The first moment of high-flying action left me awestruck. A powerful sword, the Green Destiny, has just been stolen by a masked bandit. One of our heroes pursues the bandit, and suddenly they are bouncing off walls, parkour-style, and continuing the chase on the rooftops, gliding from roof to roof in the night. When our hero catches the bandit their fight defies the laws of physics - they run across walls and perform impossible mid-air acrobatics, but there remains a tremendous physicality and athleticism to their movements that makes the fantastic battle believable. I had never seen anything like this before, and I was stunned. The rest of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon absorbed me just as much - not only was it exciting, but it had a grand beauty, a sense of mystery and romanticism that lit fire to my imagination. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the first foreign film I remember loving, and it has instilled in me a fascination with martial arts films that remains to this day. It's also one of the rare childhood favorites that, as I've gotten older and less impressionable, has not lost any of its magic.China, 2000Directed by Ang Lee
Director Ang Lee has stated that his intention with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was nothing less than to make the greatest martial arts epic, or wuxia film, in history. And while I obviously have not seen every martial arts film ever, in my eyes he has succeeded. Crouching Tiger does for the wuxia genre what The Lord of the Rings does for western epic fantasy or The Godfather does for gangster films - perfects a genre at the same time that it transcends it with a far grander vision than is usually offered by stories of its type. The fight scenes are technically astounding, and varied in their style and impact. The film's craft is of the highest quality, and of a scope and stately beauty comparable to an epic from the golden age of Hollywood. The performances - those of Ziyi Zhang and Michelle Yeoh in particular - are impressive. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon offers movie escapism at its best.
At the time, Ang Lee must have seemed like a counterintuitive choice to direct an epic fantasy film. Before Crouching Tiger, Lee had only directed several small-scale Chinese dramas and an adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Yet, along with proving his skill as a director of ambitious spectacle, Lee brings the same focus on character and theme from his previous features to Crouching Tiger, giving it an emotional honesty and sensitivity not often found in action epics. There is a surprising amount of Jane Austen in its DNA, considering its generic and cultural opposition to all her works. Calling Crouching Tiger a Sense and Sensibility in ancient China - with Shu Lien as its Elinor and Jen its Marianne - is simplifying things a lot, but should give you an idea of its thematic concerns. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is about conflict between (and within) characters with differing philosophies on how to live. Shu Lien and Li Mu Bai are governed by their "sense" - rigid personal codes of honor and societal respectability - while Jen is governed by her "sensibility" - self-expression, passion, individuality. Crouching Tiger shows the benefits and limitations of both ways of living.
Neither way - of self-denial or selfishness - is portrayed as entirely right or wrong. This is most clearly shown through the two very different romances of Crouching Tiger. Shu Lien and Li Mu Bai have a great friendship and clearly relish each other's company, though they have never allowed their relationship, despite their feelings, to develop past that. They come to realize that they have been depriving themselves for too long. Li Mu Bai describes why he abandoned his former life - he had been meditating and reached a spot of absolute stillness and ultimate detachment. But instead of achieving nirvana, he felt a horrified emptiness, and something pulling him back to earth - which we understand to be Shu Lien. For all their wisdom, Shu Lien and Li Mu Bai are cowardly when it comes to their own desires, their ascetic lifestyle becomes only a negative. Their confession of love, once it comes, is tragically overdue. Yet, at the same time, it is all the more meaningful and mature for its withholding - it comes from a place deeper than just lust or romantic attraction.
Jen's romance, told in flashback, is entirely different. As her family crosses the desert, their caravan is raided - the raiders' leader steals her beloved comb, and she pursues him furiously to get it back. This leads her to become lost in the middle of the desert - the comb-stealer, Lo Dark Cloud, brings her to his cave hideaway where she can regain her strength. The two initially hate each other, though in a playful sort of way, but this transforms suddenly into lust. Their love affair is wild and exotic and very romantic, but also unstable and dangerous. And when it seems to end, they both fall into rage and self-destruction. Their romance is about the opposite of Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien - both are beautiful and foolish in their own different ways.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is about the necessity of balance in life - between our passions and our duties, between being a member of society and an individual. The film ends tragically, because our characters have realized this only too late. But all of this is told in the form of a tremendous fantasy adventure - and as in a musical or a dance film, the fight sequences of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are not so much a way to advance the plot as eruptive, fantastic expressions of characters and their conflict. It's only a bonus that the fight scenes are so terrific, and varied in style - from Jen's arrogant battle against dozens of warriors that destroys a whole restaurant, to a ferocious duel between pissed-off sisters, to a struggle between Jen and Li Mu Bai high in the stalks of a bamboo forest, jaw-dropping in its beauty. The athleticism, creativity and cinematic beauty on display is exhilarating.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a rare sort of movie - one with the beauty and mystery of an art film, but a soaring sense of adventure that will appeal to a wide, international audience of all ages. It's a masterpiece and a movie that entirely captivates me.
Other films I love from 2000:
- Yi Yi (directed by Edward Yang, Taiwan) - a masterfully-made, wise portrait of a Taiwanese family. You can watch the trailer here.
- O Brother, Where Art Thou? (directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, United States) - hilarious characters, great music, and a weird, wonderful reworking of Homer in the South.
- Best in Show (directed by Christopher Guest, United States) - fake documentary about the Mayflower Dog Show, one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.
- In the Mood for Love (directed by Wong Kar-Wai, Hong Kong) - 2000 was an amazing year for Asian film. An almost-romance between neighbors who suspect their spouses are having an affair with each other, told with achingly gorgeous visuals and music.
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