The greatest date movie of all time

Rating: Null/10 (17 February 2001)

Crouching Tiger succeeds aesthetically, without a doubt, but it says something about the intellectual poverty of Western distributors that they lacked the imagination to market it even better to the multiplexes (I know sales have exceeded all expectations, but some people still seem to want to go and see the orgy of product placement that is the emetic Cast Away. Go figure.) This movie has everything! For the guys, thrills, spills, action and not only the gracefully gorgeous Michelle Yeoh but also the profoundly impure-thought-provoking Zhang Ziyi. And for the women - has there ever been anything more heartstoppingly romantic on the big screen since the golden era of Douglas Sirk in the 50s? Titanic, Ghost, Pretty Woman? Pah! I'm a fairly cynical person, but when we get to the line 'I have always loved you. I would rather be a ghost, drifting by your side as a condemned soul than enter heaven without you. Because of your love I will never be a lonely spirit,' I started sobbing like a baby. If you never plan to see another 'foreign' or 'art house' movie again, see this. It may change your viewing habits forever.