Almost Triumph...

Rating: 8/10 (29 January 2001)

As a Taiwanese immigrant to Canada, I got the information about 'Crouching Tiger' as soon as the local Vancouverites did. Having heard about the hype and critic's acclamation for the film, my initial excitement was simply indescribable. But after seeing it, I realized it's still way too early for me to call it a masterpiece, yet it's so close.
Unlike what most US viewers may think, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is a splendid representation of the genre it belongs to - "Wuxia". For the uninitiated, the world of Wuxia is a novel-spawn fantasy medieval China where fighters of all kinds develop their unique skills and disciplines, and they all lead their own life to survive in a world full of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' such as themselves. It is a living based on vows, friendships, trusts, and a lot of street-wise. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, Wuxia has become a phenomenal subculture itself, loved by youths and grown adults, whereas the old and more conventional generation oppose it for its 'unrealistic martial arts and bad influences'.
Of course, none of this background stuff can be properly explained in the film. Many may complain that some of the action sequences (namely, flying) are too fakey, but that's really an accepted thing in Wuxia, with conditions. And for me, seeing all what I've read in the Wuxia novels jump right onto the big screen, and discovering a beauty - in all the fights, dart throwing and chases - that are so new but yet so deeply familiar, is more than just enjoying special effects alone. Of course, I'd say the techniques could have been done better... but that's minor issue.
The part of me left unhappy after seeing the film is the part looking forward to good story development. The story itself isn't really bad; in fact, it's complicated, deep and profound. Yet most of the talking scenes went as 'boring' as they could possibly be. Whenever the casts got into a slow, long conversation,(it's slower than average Chinese conversation) I became naturally unsettled. Ang Lee could have tried to quicken the pace of talks and fly through the simple ideas, so that the grand theme of the film could be more visible, and hopefully stir up the dramatic feeling more easily.
On the other hand, some of the scenes switched too unnaturally, and sometimes the plot development itself seems unnatural. All have reasons, and I can always find reasons for the obviously out-of-her-mind Jen in her past days, but why didn't they just spend some time on the explanations (or at least hints) in the first place? This is where I think the film really didn't do well enough.
Overall, I loved Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, but it's too bad that it still has problems that polarize viewer responses. I will definitely look forward to Ang Lee's future films and sincerely wish him success...