Genuinely epic

Rating: 9/10 (29 March 2001)

Blessed by brilliant cinematography, this refreshingly old-fashioned epic with modern touches only enhances Ang Lee's status as a versatile, intelligent and inspired director. That it has been showered with awards internationally (including in the US, not famed for its comfort with subtitled pictures) is as much a testament to its ability to communicate with and enthrall a diverse audience as to its producers' aggressive pre-Oscars marketing. The leads display both a tremendous presence in their more contemplative moments, and powerfully breathtaking energy in the action sequences. I hope that I, like Michelle Yeoh, will be on this kind of form when I'm 38...