69. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) - Dir. Ang Lee
The first time I saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I was disappointed. The hype machine behind this film was unprecedented, and both print and online publications were all too quick to declare it, “the greatest martial arts film of all time.” I was expecting something extraordinary. I was expecting something groundbreaking. I was expecting something that would be instantly be more amazing than any of the dozens of new school, post-Once Upon a Time in China wuxia pians I had already seen. In all actuality, I had already seen it dozens of times; where was the greatness? While other people were blown away by how the swordsmen flew through the air, I was all too quick to point out that they've been doing this for decades. My own appreciation for the genre kept from totally enjoying the film, because my eyes were tainted by one of the most ugly of all things - fandom.
However, a curious thing happened during a second viewing of Crouching Tiger. I started to notice the subtleties of the characterizations, and the intricate editing found in Yuen Woo Ping's action choreography. The haunting melodies of Yo-Yo Ma's score seeped into my system, and completely engaged me. The sweeping, epic love story carried real emotional weight, and I began to notice Ang Lee's masterful control of each and every moment of the film. While I still wasn't ready to declare it the best martial arts film ever, my appreciation for the film grew and grew, and upon each subsequent viewing, the film's endearing qualities softened my heart and I enjoyed it more and more.
At its core, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon tackles a theme all too important to its director: forbidden love. Where Lee's newest film, Brokeback Mountain, is a story of a forbidden love in America's rugged west, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a story of forbidden love in the ancient underworld of the martial arts, the jiang hu. The concept of the jiang hu is not something that is easy for westerners to totally understand, but Lee's film does a wonderful job at explaining, through great characterizations, its intricacies. The jiang hu is like a parallel world to our own, one that is inhabited by martial artists and other characters important to their survival. The jiang hu represents the milieu of the martial artist, and only those submerged in the underworld are able to comprehend its existence. While a laymen may look at a beggar and only see a pox on society, a member of the jiang hu may look at the same beggar and instantly see through the man's disguise, and recognize that the beggar is, in fact, a great martial artist.
Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) and Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh), are members of the jiang hu, and they are also secretly, and passionately in love. However, they also know that their status within the jiang hu prevents them from fully embracing one another: they must uphold their chivalrous duties. They live with one foot in one world (the normal world), and one foot in another world (the jiang hu), while their hearts hover somewhere in between, constantly being pulled by internal and external forces. The passion these two characters have for one another, and for their martial duties, is expertly conveyed through everything they do. From the tranquil moments of quiet contemplation, to their mastery of various weapons and open-handed fighting techniques, Mu Bai and Shu Lien exude great understanding, passion, patience, and admiration for everything that surrounds them; they are true masters, and Ang Lee captures this brilliantly.
There is so much more I could say about this film; to say I could write volumes on the intricacies of the plot, the nuances of each characterization, and on the craft behind the filmmaking would be a great understatement. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is not a great martial arts film, it is a great film. While the action is breathtaking, and is expertly edited and framed, it is the emotional anchor cast by the characters that truly engages. And while the narrative is full of adventure, deception, political intrigue, and tension, it is the passion and maturity of the characters that makes it all worthwhile. There are countless other martial arts films I turn to when I want great action and a fix of awesome kung fu, however, when I want a moving and epic love story more than fisticuffs and bloodletting, it is Ang Lee's extraordinary film that grabs my attention.
