A famous Chinese martial arts film

Rating: Null/10 (28 August 2017)

Lee's famous film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, is being marketed as both a loving homage and a redemption of the alleged excesses of the HK martial arts movie, a questionable approach since excess — in the larger- than-life characters, stylized violence, and dazzling shifts of tone — is a primary lure of these films. In Lee's words, "People tend to look down on the genre. Some may have thought it strange that I could just drop what I normally do and make something like a B-movie. And as I was doing it, there was no escape. I had to bring in drama, I had to bring in women, I had to bring in beauty and whatever I feel added quality to it. It became an Ang Lee movie."
The film has a muted, elegant look that works in its favor to transport the viewer to its setting of ancient China, meticulously recreated.