In the right set of hands, any genre can play to any audience, even one that might not think that a particularly type if film is their cup of tea. Some examples over the years include movies such as Skyfall, Godzilla Minus One and The Substance scoring big with people who wouldn’t normally be caught dead watching the likes of James Bond, Kaiju, or extreme body horror. However, while these are all impressive accomplishments, surely they all fade into insignificance when compared with Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a film that managed to make the whole world (plus Oscar voters) fall utterly in love with what essentially was a kung-fu flick.
Obviously, Kung Fu cinema has an incredibly rich history that has birthed many an international star, but for the longest time, the classic examples of the genre hadn’t really gotten its dues in the West, and yet with Ang Lee’s vision, Yuen Woo-ping’s gravity defying choreography and an absolute metric ton of romance, it was time for the whole world to finally take notice.
During the Qing dynasty in 1778 China, we find renowned Wudang swordsman, Li Mu Bai, considering retiring, as his life as a warrior is weighing heavily upon his spirit. He confides in Yu Shu Lien, the head of a security company who cares deeply for him as he does for her, but the two have never shared their feelings due to loyalty to a mutual friend. However, Shu is stunned when Mu Bai tells her he’s also going to relinquish his fabled, unbreakable, 400 year-old sword, “Green Destiny” and wants her to deliver it to their benefactor in Bejing for safe keeping.
However, after trying transporting Green Destiny to its new owner, it’s soon stolen by a masked thief, who seems to know the secret skills of Wudang fighters by leaping about the place while seemingly as light as a feather, and even though the formidable Shu Lien gives chase, the intruder manages to get away with their prize. It turns out that Jade Fox, an old enemy of Mu Bai, is behind the plot – if not the actual robbery – and the thief turns out to be her young charge, Yu Jiaolong, who is not only engaged to be married, but is the daughter of the powerful Governor Yu.
However, as this mystery unravels and we discover the true identities of all involved, a glimpse into Yu’s past reveals a love affair with a roguish bandit named Lo, and that the two still haven’t gotten over each other yet. With so many unspoken feelings and mounting passions, it’s a wonder that anyone can keep their mind on this conspiracy long enough to do any actual fighting. However, while Shu Lien is dedicated to bringing in Yu and reclaiming Green Destiny, Mu Bai seems more concerned with helping Yu achieve her full potential while breaking the influence of the embittered Jade Fox. However, Jade Fox isn’t about to let her prized pupil be lured away, so she presses on with her vengeance with tragic results.
Ang Lee’s entire reasoning behind Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was to take the framework of your basic Kung Fu (or “Wuxia”) movie and add way more emotion in order to achieve way more depth to the characters rather than just have them perform phenomenal fight choreography; and if you judge it on this criteria alone, you can’t deny he succeeded wildly. While I’ve been long fascinated with the genre, I tend to agree that even the classics tend to lean heavier on physical prowess rather than three dimensional characterisation (unless Jackie Chan is bring extra charming) and as a counter point, Lee has given virtually everyone Catherine Cookson levels of yearning due to all the unspoken feelings of love so many characters seem to be carrying around with them. However, while themes of love and romance admittedly dominate the film, it doesn’t mean Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is sitting on its ass or avoiding the fighty stuff.
While some may favour the more, crunching brutality of the modern, Gareth Evans, style of martial arts film, Lee favours a particularly elegant type of wire fighting that make its gravity snubbing combatants float like a combat-proficient crisp packet in the breeze. Fighters flit up walls and over rooftops as nimble as hollow-boned squirrels and in one achingly beautifully sequence, both Mu Bai and Yu dangle from the branches of swaying trees while they negotiate matters of honor. However, as you’d expect from the fight choreographer who also gave us both The Matrix and Drunken Master, Yuen Woo-ping’s flabbergasting fights contain acres of diversity, each one carrying different tones and energy. Some, such as Yu brawling with a bar full of fighters, are played for laughs; others, such as Shu Lien trying various weapons to match Yu’s Green Destiny, are unfeasibly cool, but all carry incredible emotional weight and credit has to go to the actors who had to express all that while flying across the sky on wires while trying to look majestic.
As the stoic, honorable Mu Bai and the noble Shu, both Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh (who had to learn her lines phonetically) recieved the world-wide love you’d expect from careers that’s included surviving the likes of John Woo’s Hard Boiled and Jackie Chan’s Police Story 3: Supercop; however, it was their performances as the two warriors in love that finally gave them the stage to become worldwide household names. However, as good as they are, it’s Zhang Ziyi’s defiant Yu who manages to walk away with the film thanks to the fact that the script gives her so much to work with. Light-footed cat burglar one minute, romantic lead the next, the actress is given plenty to sink her teeth into as possession of Green Destiny gives her the juice to stand up to a whole host of oppressors. However, she’s also on a journey of maturity too as her rebellious nature leads to typically tragic results. It is a romance after all…
Quite possibly one of the most stunning and gorgeous action movies ever made, a major part of its success is that while Ang Lee doesn’t shoot the film like a traditional martial arts flick, it doesn’t mean he holds back on the action beats in favour of more of the romantic plots. While you’re exhilarated at the sight of the players indulging in fights that prove to be an extention of their personality, he ensures you care about them when they’re not ricocheting about the place like an out of control Bayblade. It admittedly may not carry the feral wallop of The Raid, the intricate lore of The Matrix, or the comic book extravagance of Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, but as modern martial arts go, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon may stand as the most important one of all.
Stunning in virtually every sense of the word, Ang Lee’s gorgeous opus will have you so lighter than air, you’ll most likely be able to scamper across tree tops much like Chow Yun Fat and Zhang Ziyi. Don’t let the influx of romance and nobility deter you, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon proves to be extremely visible thanks to the wearing of it’s heart on it’s sleeve while it engages in some breathtaking combat.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟