Glorious and Haunting

Rating: 10/10 (21 February 2001)

Dear Dream Journal,
I remember going to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on December 8th of last year... well before all of this Oscar attention and bandwagon jumping hoopla. Having heard very little about the movie, aside from the fact that it was directed by Ang Lee and that it had created quite a bit of a stir at Cannes and the Toronto International Film Festival, I was open-minded; apparently, it was also touted as a Westernized take on a very Eastern genre - Wuxia. Having grown up while weaned on tonnes of this type of film (mystical flying, melodramatic storylines, and dance-like martial arts in general,) I thought I had seen it all.
I attended the opening night screening with my best friend, and about half an hour into the film (about the the time the first fight/chase scene occurred) it dawned upon both of us that we were in the midst of watching one of those very special films that only come around once in a very long time. The movie's vision prompted uncontrollable giddy excitement and knots in my stomach; the characters were literally flying around, skimming across rooftops and treating the laws of gravity as if they were only a suggestion. I felt like I was being led by a master magician whose trick I knew couldn't possibly be real -- but I let myself believe it anyways. There was a kinetic energy to the first fight scene, one which left me gasping for breath as Michelle Yeoh's character repeatedly tugged on Zhang Yiyi to keep her from becoming airborne. The drumbeat in the soundtrack, editing, and flurry of moves came at a metronomic pace, until it culminated into an eruption of audience applause at the end. It turns out that the movie was just giving us a taste of things to come. The fight scenes build, and of special note is the intense battle in the weapons room, and also, of course, the unforgettable scene atop the bamboo grove that possessed such magic, such gorgeous lyricism that it still haunts me to this day. I think these three scenes can be considered as some of the best action sequences to be ever captured on celluloid. Yes, I've seen good martial arts movies. Jet Li's "Fist of Legend," comes to mind, but what that movie had in sheer physical prowess, it lacks in execution and presentation. Yes, I've seen good wuxia movies featuring zero-gravity. Tsui Hark's "A Chinese Ghost Story," and "Bride With White Hair" are notable examples, but the technique is never used as audaciously or breathlessly as it is in Crouching Tiger.

I know I've talked a lot about the the martial arts in this movie, but before I fall into the trap of labelling this as a kung fu movie, let me be certain to say that Crouching Tiger is a fantasy film first and foremost, that also happens to contain refreshingly complex romantic subplots and fantastic martial arts. The movie is not revolutionary in any isolated category, but it is one of the best examples of a movie reaching the apotheosis of refinement in its genre. The trappings are there -- the battle of good vs. evil, the melodramatic quadruple love arc, the requisite restaurant fight scene, a legendary sword, unnecessary characters -- but the brilliance of the movie is in the details.
Notice the exquisite direction of Ang Lee; this is film that is beautifully shot, beautifully acted, beautifully executed. Notice the lush cinematography of a China that can barely be contained within the confines of the frame; notice the care that went into the costumes; notice the soundtrack and how pants and drums and moody cellos accentuate the action; notice the unusual way that the fight sequences are shot (overhead views, large numbers of moves before an edit, an unflinching camera during long, stunningly choreographed sequences); notice the care that went into supplying everyone in the restaurant fight scene with different weapons, all strange and unique looking; notice the amount of restraint shown by the protagonists. These features are not there by accident, but rather because are part of the director's vision that he wanted to project.
And what a glorious vision it is! I walked away from the movie stunned, knowing that I had seen one of the best movies... ever. It is unfortunate that the film has come attached with the stigma of a foreign film being released in a year full of "weak" films. As such, some might view it as overrated, or the obligatory slice of "culture" for the year. I think anyone who appreciates film can see that Crouching Tiger can hold its own in any year of release -- it has that timeless, ethereal element to it. When I left the theatre, it was akin to waking from a dream... I could only remember bits and pieces of it --the drums, the panoramic views of China, swirling ribbon over a wall, the tension in Michelle Yeoh's face, feet skimming over water, and then scurrying up a supple bamboo branch... It was as if my imaginative mind were a glass of water and these fragments, droplets of food colouring. The droplets may be small when compared with the water in the cup, but they have forever imbued the way the way I view film again.
Indeed, it was like a dream... and I had to write it down.