Drive-in help from Serena Hsi
I'm not sure how genres begin except that someone either writes a book or films a movie that presents a setting and characters so archetypal that they spawn their own internal mythology. For example, Tolkein's Lord of the Rings arguably spawned the Fantasy genre almost single-handedly. In all these genres, the mythology begins to take on a life of its own. The usual pattern is to first imitate and develop variations on the original, then to copy the variations. Because, most people are better at copying than creating, we're usually left with elements of a genre that are caricatures and stereotypes. This is the same effect of photocopying something, then photocopying the copy, and repeating this process until you're left with the faint impression of greater beginnings. But every now and then, someone takes the imprint, fills in the impressions with dark ink, and leaves you with something greater that resurrects the original in vivid detail and leaves it in better shape. This is what we get from Ang Lee; not just a martial arts movie but possibly the martial arts movie the way it was meant to be.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon revives and breaks artistic ground in the same way Unforgiven did for Westerns, Saving Private Ryan did for War movies, and When Harry Met Sally did for Romantic comedies. If you've been reading our reviews, you know that we usually go to martial arts movies to see the fight scenes and that, for the most part, those are the only bits that are redeemable in your average genre movie. This is a movie that not only has a real story and real characters with depth but uses the martial arts sequences in the only way that an action scene should be needed in a story; to develop the story and to provide a medium for deeper interaction by the characters - not as simple visual candy to add life to a sorry script.
This is a beautiful movie. Now I'm a guy and it's written in the Code of the Male somewhere that guys can't use the word "beautiful" in a sentence unless they're complimenting a Significant Other or trying to get a woman into bed (note that these two activities are not mutually exclusive). There's no other way to describe Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon except to say that it is a beautiful movie. The movie's rich and lush scenery and expressive dialogue are interwoven with the somber cello of Yo-Yo Ma. The movie displays portraits of love (both romantic and mature), friendship, growth, longing, loneliness, loyalty, honor, and loss. All the characters are very well developed and have interesting depths and dynamics. As a quick aside, this is one of the few action movies I've seen that treats women seriously; not as sex symbols, not as the hero's love interest, not as victims, but as equals and superiors to their male counterparts. This is a strong movie without the action scenes but nevertheless uses action liberally as another level of interaction and dialogue between the characters.
Yuen Woo-Ping, known now to Americans for his work on The Matrix, has been choreographing martial arts scenes for many years. His collaboration with Lee has created some of the most lyrical and ethereal martial arts choreography that I have ever seen in a movie. A master artisan, in any activity, exudes the quality of quiet effortlessness. In watching their craft unfold, be it music, athletics, or stage magic, you see excellence that masks long hours of painstaking practice and soul-searching. The fight scenes that you will see in Crouching Tiger have that same quiet effortlessness but on two different levels. On screen, you see the artistry and skills of veteran actors raised in the martial arts genre. But in the choreography and cinematography you see the mastery of Yuen and Lee. The final result is breathtaking. Ebert, in his review and web site, had interviewed Ang Lee who said that all the aerial scenes were filmed using cranes and wire. Lee also noted that many of the scenes did not use stunt doubles but the main actors themselves. We've seen wire work before - to good effect in The Matrix and to poor effect in Romeo Must Die or Charlie's Angels (both of latter suffered from believability issues). We usually only see special effects and action scenes from a director who only knows how to tell stories that only create a thin rationale for violence. What we have not seen is wire work paired with a director whose talent is storytelling for the purposes of revealing the human condition. The scene which exemplifies these qualities the most is the one that takes place among the branches of a bamboo forest. The gracefully swaying branches bend and flex under the weight of two fighters who fight, supposedly for the right to keep a magic sword, metaphorically named the Green Destiny Sword. But one is also fighting for self-determination and her right to choose a life that is worth living. The other fights to save his opponent's soul. Scenes like these are what elevate what could easily have been just another kung fu movie to the level of art.
There are some minor flaws in the movie. There is a long flashback in the middle of the movie, referring back to a past romance, that seemed slightly disjoint to the main plot. There are occasional bits which are kind of incomprehensible (until you remember that this is a Chinese film and they have different sensibilities in their literature). For example, the chemistries between two of the principles seem very subdued and may be a bit understated for western audiences. This atmosphere was similar to that created by Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in The Remains of the Day, written by Kazuo Ishiguro. The private and controlled emotions displayed by Fat and Yeoh are qualities that the Chinese culture values in their archetypal heroes. Lastly, there was a Dickensonian coincidental neatness to the way that characters appeared or revealed their origins, a typical element of the martial arts genre but one that can feel heavy-handed and forced.
But these are extremely minor defects. This is the martial arts movie to watch if you only watch one movie in the genre. It will probably have imitators and it should. I can only hope that directors seeking to emulate Lee will take the lessons from the whole movie and not "filming martial arts using graceful wire work and nice scenery equals success". Unfortunately, this won't happen. The Matrix gave us a very good science fiction story that dealt with some fundamental questions of reality and technology paired with incredible action sequences fought by interesting characters. What we have now, more than a year later, are imitators that simply stole the interesting action sequences and used them to give their bad movies a little more edge. Thus, I find it more probable that my fellow reviewers and I will be filling up more drive-in lists and panning "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" movie wannabes in the coming years.
This will likely be a Best Picture contender in the Oscars. You must see this in a theater and one that has a large screen and a nice sound system. I give this movie a 9+ out of 10 on the Good Movie Scale. The '+' is for being a splendid action movie in addition to telling a good story. There were some snickers in the audience at some of the action scenes so the movie also gets a 2 on the Bad Movie Scale as, if you're feeling irreverent, there is a little room for making fun of the action scenes.
Our Drive-In Totals:
.7 breasts
3 dead bodies
87 visible injuries
1 really, long flashback that takes you to a different movie
Chinese Lt. Gerard
Women who kick ass
1 Really Important, Can't Live Without It, Jade Comb
Random Street Musicians
Random Chinese Merchants
Random Chinese Acrobats
2 moments of historical confusion
Every martial arts subcharacter archetype created shown in 5 minutes
4 camels
The Dropped-Tea Cup Martial Artist Detection Method
1 poorly-defended defended caravan with "Rob Me" written all over it
1 chase scene on horseback
1 chase scene on treetops
1 chase scene on hilltop
2 chase scenes on rooftops
Ye olde "You Killed My Mother. Now You Must Die!" Fight Catalyst
Ye olde "You Killed My Master. Now You Must Die!" Fight Catalyst
Ye olde "You Stole My Secret/Sacred <insert Treasure>. Now
You Must Die!" Fight Catalyst
Ye olde "You're A New Guy In Town. Now You Must Die!" Fight Catalyst
Ye olde "My Kung Fu Is The Best. Now You Must Die!" Fight Catalyst
Ye olde "Let's Fight. Now You Must Die!" Fight Catalyst
Ye olde fight that brings the house down.
Lethal version of Federal Express
Ancient version of UPS
Impromptu desert spa
1 rickety cart
Secret manual of techniques
1 well-timed ironic comment about names of characters in martial arts
movies
1 Green Ginsu Sword (It slices. It dices. It juliennes
weapons.)
Kung Fu
Knife Fu
Sword Fu
Kung Fu Iron
Club Fu
Pole Flail Fu
Kung Fu
Crescent Polearm Fu
Chain Fu Kung Fu
Klingon Dagger Fu
Spear Fu
Big Ole Ball Mace Fu
Axe Fu
Kung Fu
Buddhist Priest Staff Fu
Needle Fu
Stick Fu
Kung Fu
Pressure Point Fu
Bamboo Fu
Ribbon Fu
Blowgun Dart Fu
Projectile Fu
Arrow Fu
Kung Fu
Tile Fu
Rock Fu
Throwing Knife Fu
Throwing Dart Fu
Kung Fu
Chopstick Fu
Poison Fu
Wire Fu
Bo Fu
Jo Fu
To Fu (just kidding)
And more Kung Fu
Good Movie Scale: 9+ out of 10
Bad Movie Scale: 2 out of 10 (for those of you who find the wire work
amusing)
