An American Chinese Classic

Rating: 10/10 (13 April 2008)

I've watched this film twice, and plan to watch it again soon. I registered myself just so i can comment on this film. as a Chinese who has grown up with Wuxia films and loves the genre very much, i felt i needed to put my two cents worth. after reading about 1000 comments here, there are a few things to be clarified. first off, this is NOT a martial arts film. this is a DRAMA infused with martial arts. 'wirefu' is something common in wuxia films and even those like once upon a time in china, etc... secondly, the fact that they 'fly' is something we Chinese fantasy movie-goers don't even question so imagine my surprise when i find out the main dissenters complain of the implausibility of flying in a movie like this. given, when i first watched this film i was slightly disappointed because of the over-hype, and i thought the 'flying' bit was done a bit too easily, but the thing that sets this film apart from your regular wuxia film of the late '80s and early '90s is the acting. it's very westernized in that sense, something unique since prior to this i certainly didn't watch wuxia films for the acting. it was mostly for the jin Yong-esquire plots. however, this movie grows on you with repeated watching. at first i thought zhang ziyi was the scene stealer, but now i know it's really Michelle yeoh who's the powerhouse. her eyes... man, anyone who's not blind can see how deeply she yearns from Li mu bai. and at first i thought chow yuan fat was a bit too... well, chow yuan fat, in that he didn't bring anything new to this and seemed so cold towards Michelle's character but i've come to realise he had to play it that way or else the two would have been together right from the start. very strong supporting cast. and the story seems superficially simple but really, it's multi-layered as are the characters. just use your brain and imagination for once. thank you Ang for not spoon feeding us. after a while, i've accepted Ang lee's vision of wuxia, which is slightly different from our wuxia films, and certainly nothing most westerners have seen. i envy them because now they can be enthralled as i once was by classics like bride with white hair, swordsman 2, ashes of time (which i thought was very similar to this), dragon inn... the list is near endless. only superficial people will think this movie is plot less and think it's just about retrieving a stolen sword. there's so much more and it all depends on the viewer's willingness to participate in the film. I'm also surprised how i did not pick up the feminist themes, i should have, but i put it down to the fact that most Chinese films (think Brigitte Lin and Michelle yeoh films - and a whole lot more) have strong female characters, so it felt like another Chinese film. and the funniest part is how ppl say this is a matrix and star wars copycat. get your facts straight, Joel Schumacher hired yen woo ping so obviously they were influenced by hk cinema, and George Lucas referenced Chinese folklore so there you go. i'm also amused how foreigners draw analogies from star wars, peter pan, etc. i'm sorry guys, you have been deprived. the genre isn't new, but an lee made it his own. and i thank him profusely for reigniting the genre which has died out since Brigitte Lin retired. i think this film should have gotten best picture only because that Oscar year was crap, my reservations due to the fact that wuxia isn't new, but Michelle yeoh was robbed of an Oscar nod. so sad. it's so easy to overlook her because she wasn't given the opportunity to run free as zhang ziyi's character could, but her soulful eyes, fierce combat, and having to do this in a language that's nearly completely foreign to her. i don't mind her accent since i'm a 'banana' myself-yellow on the outside, white on the inside. her performance was so minimalist and nuanced, in stark contrast with her fight scenes, i hope the woman never retires! it's also sad how ppl give this a 1 star rating just to bring down the overall rank. childish. again, this is not a martial arts film, it's a drama take on the wuxia genre. so stop drawing comparisons with Jackie Chan. it's like asking why wasn't there a car chase in gladiator?