Intriguing Story for all Times and Cultures

Rating: 10/10 (3 April 2001)

My ultimate measure of quality in a film is how understandable the psychology of the characters is. Ambiguously evil villains and infallible heroes make a story line boring at best and completely derail it at worst. Every character in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is thoroughly understandable and multi-dimensional, complete with desires and flaws. These characters are real people in complex situations and, although the setting and much of the action is highly fantastic, we can all relate to them. The story of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon reaches across time and culture to take the viewer on deeply philosophical and spiritual journey. I was highly impressed with both the acting and the action of the film, truly a masterful accomplishment by director Ang Lee. I was also impressed on how egalitarian the characters seemed, with as strong a set of female characters as has been found in cinema in a long time. Everything about this movie is beautiful, wonderfully directed and choreographed so that the finished product is honestly one of the best films I have ever seen. I would recommend it to anyone.