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CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
I'm no fan of karate movies, but I am a fan of Ang Lee. For months
I'd been anxiously awaiting Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I was
expecting the greatest martial arts movie ever made; what I got
was just that and something more: a magnificent, touching and poignant
fable about a young woman of great power who doesn't understand
herself and is marching down the path to evil, and the two legendary
warriors who have everything she believes she desires, but who themselves
are unable to realize their great love for each other. Something
that the early reviews of Crouching Tiger did not convey was that
Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat) and Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) are not necessarily
the main characters in the movie. Crouching Tiger is really the
story of Jen Yu and how she becomes a "poisoned dragon,"
by having too much power and talent but lacking the discipline and
self-understanding that she requires to control her power. Zhang
ZiYi was a dream come true as Jen; she was astoundingly beautiful
and devastatingly powerful. Chow Yun-Fat was magnificently noble
and Michelle Yeoh was also sublimely wonderful. The supporting cast
including Lo/Dark Cloud, Master Bo, Jade Fox, and Sir Te were also
terrific. The fighting sequences were breathtaking and endlessly
inventive, but they were happily the cream on top of the cake. I
absolutely love the performances, the characters and their story;
the heartbreak, tragedy and transcendence that occurred. Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon contains multiple storylines; it is richly
dense and a joy to devour. I have never seen any film quite like
it before and it's the best Christmas present movie I could imagine.
- John Orquiola (reviewed 12/24/2000)
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