A timeless tale about love and honour, an unmistakable masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (28 September 2007)

"Wo hu cang long" aka "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a timeless adventure tale, which takes place in ancient China, the eternal empire of heroes, gods and miracles. Li Mu Bai is a great warrior whose good deeds are known all around East. He decides to give his magical jade sword to an old friend of his, but a mysterious martial arts expert manages to steal the ancient weapon. Li must find out the identity of the thief and find his precious sword. But, the way of a warrior isn't as straightforward - love and honour have their own demands.
I'm a big fan of Asian film making and to really watch Asian films you need this certain perspective, especially when it comes to these zen-films. Nevertheless this movie isn't a typical Asian film, as I'd more describe it as a film where Asian film making and Hollywood collide. You could think that it all goes wrong in the Hollywood -part, but for your surprise it doesn't. Ang Lee has created a fine piece of quality style, where you can sense both Asian and Hollywood which blend together like butter for a bread. The story, originally written by Du Lu Wang and turned into a screenplay by three writers, is absolutely beautiful, it includes twists and turns, it's dramatic and romantic, it's even thrilling and it has spectacular fighting sequences. To me the reason why this stands out from an usual eastern movie and where you can really know it's also Hollywood is the somehow different, even better, flow in the story and the amount of fighting sequences. Despite that I think this movie is suitable for both Asian and American audience, not forgetting the rest of the world. Each one gets satisfaction and you don't have to be a fan of Asian films or know anything about the history behind zen-movies, although you really need to be open minded.
This leads me to, once again, the one thing I think Asian directors are better than any other directors of different nationalities; The cinematography. If you'd think there isn't anything Asian in this film, you can't deny the fact that the cinematography is. Once again we are shown endless landscapes, mind painted sceneries and this undeniable and precise harmony of professional operation of the camera, which is to me just amazing. It holds this beauty which you can't compare to anything else and that, if something, is the real heart of true dedication of Asian film makers. You can't really do anything else than just thank them about it, but it's enough that you know it yourself. These landscapes are complimented with the utterly tremendous music composed by Tan Dun, who has composed a main theme that'll melt the heart of even the most cynical person. For Asian film making it's very common to fit the music with the cinematography and the story, but I just can't get enough of it, it's always just that good and you just don't get bored of it. The best thing about the music is that you can't hear music like it in any other films, so it's always fresh for your ears if you've only watched movies from Hollywood. Asian instruments are always strong and compelling, being really significant for the overall feeling of the film and what's left after it.
Even the role performances are excellent, so you'll get a full quality package. I think Yun-Fat Chow as Li Mu Bai makes his best role performance yet to date and Michelle Yeoh as Yu Shu Lien makes some pretty damn fine job as well. Ziyi Zhang is again the beautiful herself, being also a great actress as well, which makes her one of my favourite Asian actresses at the moment. Yun-Fat Chow and Michelle Yeoh have a really good chemistry with each other, which is somehow reflected as the chemistry between Ziyi Zhang and her co-star Chen Chang. Both couples work with each other superbly on screen, so the movie isn't a let down even in that department. When you get along with film you realise that these couples are sort of equal to each other, only that the characters have different names and the stories behind them are different; It's all about love in the end and when we finally get to the end there's an astonishing solution where tears won't be spared. When love and honour have their own demands they will become equal to each other, love will become honour and vice versa. It's really hard to explain and even harder to find out, but in any case the viewer isn't left without answers. You can make up your own mind about the ending though, so it's also really clever.
"Wo hu cang long" is without a doubt one of the best Asian films I've ever seen, everything in it matches and clicks, everything just gets along. The film isn't perfect, but to be honest it's really close in being one. It doesn't really have any major flaws and even the minor ones can't be explained. Like mentioned before you really need a certain perspective, or you need to be at least open minded, because let's face it; A film like this isn't for everyone. If you can't stand any films which define the laws of physics or which are somehow surreal I wouldn't really recommend this film to you. If you're just slightly open minded or at least have some remains of an open mind then please do watch it, as I'd say you won't be disappointed. "Wo hu cang long" even won a total of four Academy Awards, which is really an achievement for a foreign film. Just to name two, it won Oscars from the best cinematography and music, so I'm really not praising them for nothing. Just see this film. You even may be surprised by its magic and its affect on you.