Ang Lee-ing for Oscars

Rating: Null/10 (27 December 2000)

Who would have believed that a martial arts film with subtitles would be the most critically-acclaimed movie of 2000. Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is deserving of its praise. The movie works at so many levels. It is an epic love story-two love stories in fact. It is a beautiful travelogue of a mythical China. It has upstart young heroes (and heroines) and wise masters like in Star Wars. It has some of the most stunning action sequences ever filmed--one fight scene takes place in the tops of trees. And it has wonderful acting by Chow Yun-Fat (displaying the grace and cool that American films he has starred in have yet to capture) and Michelle Yeoh (the only female character to steal a film from James Bond, in "Tomorrow Never Dies").
Director Ang Lee ("Sense and Sensibility" and "The Ice Storm") says he grew up watching martial arts films, and wanted to make an epic film in that genre. He has succeeded at every level.