Toronto 2000 Wrap-Up

Rating: Null/10 (15 October 2000)

9/11 9:30 am CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (*****)
The best martial arts film ever made (and, quite possibly, the best film of the year). The action scenes kick ass and the characters are rich and complex. The drama and emotional stakes are very high and the film achieves a believable tone of fantasy. Roger Ebert was in attendance at our screening. I asked director Ang Lee after the film what compels him to make so many films with strong female characters and he started by replying, "I'm not a macho guy." He went on to give a thoughtful and detailed answer which basically boils down to him being interested in strong women like his wife. In answer to another question, Ang Lee stated that although this is a martial arts action film, he went about it as if he was making a musical, treating the fight scenes as dance numbers that are an extension and heightened expression of the characters.