A serious martial arts film I have not seen for a long time

Rating: 8/10 (11 January 2001)

I envy anyone who has not seen a Chinese martial arts film (wuxia pian) before seeing CTHD because of the joy and novelty which await him/her. A martial arts film is different from a kungfu film in that the former is a historical romance and fantasy in which the protagonists usually use fantastic weapons and make out-of-the-world kungfu moves. They can "fly", make opponents stand still by "striking their vital points", use any object as a sword, just to name a few. Anyone who is interested to learn more can read John Minford's translation of Louis Cha's martial arts novel "Deer and the Cauldron" published by OUP.
Like musical films such as Top Hat and Singin' in the Rain, serious martial arts films are few and far between these days. I am glad that Ang Lee has made such a film to critical acclaim and hope that it will revive the genre in Hong Kong. As a film buff and a Hong Kong Chinese who has been reading/seeing martial arts novels/films since 1970, I rate the film 8 out of 10 taking into account the costume design, action choreography, photography, acting, film score and other martial arts film elements old and new (e.g. sword fighting in a bamboo forest and tree tops has appeared previously in King Hu's film Touch of Zen).
By the way, I just got the Region 3 DVD today for repeated viewing in my home theater.