Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Joe's Preview Review
It's hard not to get psyched for a movie being proclaimed in foreign countries by people with respected opinions as one of the greatest films of all time.
Joe's Review
Wanna see the hippest movie ever set in the 19th Century? No it's not some civil war drama, it's Ang Lee's miraculous
vision of 19th Century China in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Chow Yun Fat is Li Mu Bai, a great warrior who wants to leave his battles in his past by living
in a
monastery. He can't do fully commit himself to it because he wants to be with his
true love, the strong willed unmarried Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh).
Along with this relationship of two masters martial artists in , there is the story of a Governor's daughter (Jen Yu). A
young woman with a wild imagination who is being forced into a marriage to further the prestige of her family. Her
imagination blooms when she meets Shu Lien since her reputation as a warrior precedes her and she so wants to livein that same vein.
These stories join in a mysterious and majestical paradise that portray the beauties of the country. The scenery is only
defeated by the amazing fight scenes. The choreography makes these scenes some of the dreamiest, most perfect scenes ever
filmed. These fight scenes involving Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, and Jen Yu are high velocity yet perfectly fluid
Director Ang Lee has his mantelpiece, his perfect 10, his beauty. No matter what else he'll do, he'll be able to look
back and say "I made a flawless film."
I never thought I'd see a foreign movie that's the subtitles don't bother you one but hearing these characters say these
lines in English would have made the movie sound less profound and elegant. The
elegance of the language just added
to this enlightening, enthralling epic.
All the parts are perfectly cast. The straight edged characters portrayed by the bigger stars
are balanced out with comic relief by actors like Xian Gao as the overmatched Bo who tries real hard. Everyone in the movie is taking the
picture seriously. They are developing the characters as they are frolicking in Ang Lee's wonderland portrayed
staggeringly
on film by cinematographer Peter Pau.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon makes up for every other bad movie this year, and there have been a ton. A year of
mediocrity capped off by an epic masterpiece that perfectly blends dramatic elements, important lessons, and top of the
line action.
A beautiful, classical symphonic soundtrack.
