They only follow their masters

Rating: Null/10 (24 December 2000)

"Crouching tiger, hidden dragon" holds your attention for two hours by its sheer efficient use of time. Imagine six fight scenes, some that would make The Flying Nun pay attention, two interwoven love stories, a short discourse on Eastern philosophy and Eastern manners, and an homage to the American Western from the pacifist themes of "High Noon" and "Friendly Persuasion" to retribution in "The Unforgiven" to the omnipresence of "Shane". Director Ang Lee chose native dialogue with English subtitles as a way to showcase classic Chinese cinematic techniques - the understood rather than the spoken, the facial mannerisms that reveal what is in the heart. The main characters (Chow Un Fat as Li, Michelle Yeoh as Shu Lien, and Zhang Ziyi as Jen) won't smother you with their screen presence - they fade in and fade out without fanfare - but it is probably not coincidental that Lee made Jen to resemble Queen Amidala from "Star Wars, the Phantom Menace" and the Jade Fox to look a lot like The Wicked Witch from "The Wizard of Oz", comforting characters from comforting films. The well-orchestrated martial arts action scenes are worth the admission - one on rooftops, one between tall tree branches, one between a woman and another woman, and one shoot-em up involving a whole gang of men and one woman that adds new meaning to the word, 'gang-bang'. In addition, we are educated to centuries old Eastern thought - loyalty to one's master, search for meditation over confrontation as well as woman's issues - condoning arranged marriages, accepting womanly behavior. The romance in this film is particularly well done - from the reluctance to touch the hand of one you love to the enticement of a warm bath to win the heart of a rebelled maiden. The ending is both an enlightening and a fitting resolution to a film that successfully merges all the good elements of both the Western genre and the gung-fu fighting cinema with the heartfelt compassion of Eastern thought and philosophy.