visually stunning, beautifully directed but a little messy

Rating: 7/10 (20 September 2001)

This movie is really a must-see, because of Ang Lee's impressive direction, the marvelous performance by Chow Yun Fat (as usual), and the incredibly choregraphed fight scenes. Yet, I wouldn't rate this movie as one of my all time favourite because of the plot which is too messy; I felt a little lost during the (very) long intermission of the stolen comb, and some scenes, while creating some of the atmosphere and introducing the characters, were a little too long. Translation hurts this movie for sure, even if it was a perfect one; I speak japanese well enough to follow movies in japanese, and many times when I read subtitles I feel the impossibility to translate idiomatic expressions; I had this impression many times during Wo hu cang long (though I don't speak chinese). Unfortunately, you can't fully appreciate this kind of culture-empowered movies without knowing and mastering the culture. Anyway, it's a must-see. 7 out of 10.