No writer in western history has built a more satisfying legend of heroism,

Rating: 10/10 (19 February 2001)

Nothing I can say about this film will do it justice. Forget that it's in Mandarin, you will anyway after a few minutes of watching. Much has been made of the fact that the lead actors were not native speakers of Mandarin, but the fact that they learned their dialog and were able to emote within the tightly confining inflective structure of the language speaks to the amount of skill, effort, and dedication that went into making this masterpiece. And yes, the main characters can fly, so it isn't exactly cinema verite', but we accept far more from movies that do far less to convince us to do so. What CTHD is is a stunning, epic telling of a beautiful Chinese fable that rivals any in Western culture.
Try to remember the first time you heard about King Arthur and Camelot; it's chivalry and gallantry, the characters larger than life. Recall the epic and tragic story arcs of heroes whose literary personas evolved from the greatest traditions of Western culture. CTHD has all of that and more. For Camelot fans, there's even a magical sword. When it is stolen by a mystical warrior of dazzling skill, the quest for its return leads us through a story that contrasts the formal beauty of feudal China with its danger and brutality.
The majesty of this film comes from Taiwanese director Ang Lee's masterfully controlled and yet lavish treatment. Lee is decidedly Taiwanese in his approach, which, for those who have missed the last half century or so of history, means that it will weave Eastern and Western sensibilities into a truly global worldview. It is a tragedy that Lee went on to direct the dismally disappointing Hulk, an overblown effects-laden stinker. It is best we forget that and remember him for this quintessential and epic creation. The ethereal fight scenes have been compared to The Matrix, but that is a huge disservice to CTHD. Even Matrix, with is wheezing spiral into itself pales by comparison against the rapturous beauty of Lee's masterpiece.
The ending takes a bit of thought to embrace, and a knowledge of the Asian theme of heroism through sacrifice is essential to understanding it. If you know anything about China in the twentieth century, you will know that all individual glory must end in sacrifice to larger goals. The final scene, delicate as a flower yet as powerful as any warrior, uses this ethic to beautifully meld the seemingly disparate story lines into a glorious and tragic, in the literary sense, climax that will leave those willing to invest the thought to grasp it utterly breathless. No writer in western history has built a more satisfying legend of heroism, nobility and spiritualism. CTHD launched a series of cheap imitations, including the sadly inferior Hero and House of Flying Daggers, which are both excellent films in their own right, but practically a television movie of the week remake when judged against the rhapsodic beauty and majesty of CTHD.