A martial arts movie filmed with great visual brio

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2008)

Chinese martial arts films had found a market in the West during the Kung Fu boom initiated by Bruce Lee in the early 1970s But "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" represents a new departure, an attempt to produce a sophisticated, big-budget Chinese film that would appeal both to mainstream Western audiences and to audiences in the Far East Through their quest to find the stolen sword of Green Destiny, warriors Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) and Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat) explore themes of love, loyalty and sacrifice
Ang Lee was an astute choice as director The location shooting was on the Chinese mainland and the actors came from Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as China Instead of the Shaolin school of martial arts favored by Bruce Lee, Ang Lee opted for the more spiritual form of Wudan; brute force is replace by scenes of balletic grace as opponents climb up walls or flit through tree-tops
The widespread success of the film is a firm indication that Chinese culture is making its mark