A literary, social, spiritual, poetic and humane artistic masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (3 April 2001)

As of this writing, I have seen this movie three times and I intend to see it at least two more times before it leaves the theatre permanently. I have read the various comments on the IMDB and other websites about this movie and I have taken my time trying to come up with my own comments. I am afraid that whatever I say about this movie will not do it justice. For this reason, I will show the comments made by Ang Lee and James Schamus on a website that explains the movie and my feelings more accurately.
First of all, you must come in to see this movie with an open mind, with an awareness and appreciation for the Eastern religion and culture. I am a 24-yr-old Asian female who is interested in philosophy, sociology, and psychology and I took a college course on Eastern religions. So I was well prepared to watch this movie other than for the fighting sequences even though I definitely appreciated those.
The first time that I saw this movie, I was intrigued but not overly impressed. The second time I watched it, I thought it was a very beautiful and under appreciated movie. The third time that I watched it, I had an epiphany. I felt every scene, and every word of dialogue in this movie contributed to its' greatness. I went home and thought about over everything in my mind. This movie is so difficult to understand because I think it is essentially a two-hour poem. You cannot possibly fathom who these characters are unless you attempt to read underneath the surface. There is so much information that is not given up front and only implied.

James Schamus: . When somebody says something in this film, the character that is written down, that attaches to that, has roots that are 5,000 years old, if not older. The Chinese embedded in every word of this movie has layers and layers of culture and meanings. They simply don't exist to a Western ear. It is one of the truly delicious ironies of this movie, that although I co-wrote it, I'll never fully understand all of its meanings
For this very reason, this movie can be interpreted in so many ways. At first viewing, I felt this movie was about human desires and regrets. Now I have come to the current opinion that this movie is very much about human desires vs. the society that we live in and how we are all prisoners in way or another because of these desires. Then I read a comment somewhere about how this movie is similar to Stars Wars. I'm not that familiar with Star Wars so I cannot make a fair comparison. However, while I was watching it the last time, I was trying to figure out what crouching tiger, hidden dragon meant. In a comment made by Li Mu Bai in the story, he mentions to Shu Lien that the Giang Hu world is full of tigers and dragons and that they are all corrupted. Taking from this line, I made the assumption that Jen herself was the crouching tiger and the hidden dragon because she has that potential for corruption-- her tiger is crouching and her dragon is hidden but they exist. Taken in a much broader concept, we all have the potential for corruption and we all have crouching tiger and hidden dragons within ourselves ready to spring out.
Ang Lee: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon": for those familiar with the Chinese characters, the link between the film's title and the storyline is graphically clear: Jen has the word for "dragon" embedded in her name, while Lo, her lover, is the tiger. Jen and Lo are headstrong, self-centered and wild - and young. In contrast, Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien respect the ideals of honor and selfless duty - acting as role models within the story, and to the larger audience.
Today, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a common expression that refers to the mysteries that lie below the surface of society and our everyday lives. The expression is a reminder never to underestimate our own dragons and tigers - they can spring out at any time.
The title "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" describes the structure of the film. The first part of the story is about society - it takes place in the world of law, duty and ceremony. The second part takes us beneath the surface, into the world of individuals and their relationships. The story becomes a psychological one.
I cannot stand senseless violence and I will be the first to admit that I haven't watched enough Chinese movies or Hong Kong action movies to make the assumption that they have senseless violence in them. I felt the fighting in this movie was so emotional and so much a part of the story that when it occurred, it felt right. It didn't feel "cheap" to me as if it was a cinematic device to keep the audience interested and on the edge of their seat. I was breathless after the first sequence. It was very emotional and graceful even though it was martial arts.
James Schamus: And "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is not a Kung Fu movie that we associate with street fighting. This movie is more about inner strength and centeredness. That's where the floating comes in, more romantic choreography and dance.
James Schamus: In this film, the acting, the drama has a kind of martial arts choreography to it. It has that kind of grandness and scale. And the martial arts themselves are a kind of dance and very abstract art: motion, editing, movement, and image.
Ang Lee: Through the martial arts you express how you feel instead of just beating someone up. There is a dramatic quality to it.
James Schamus: The people are expressing where they are, their ambiguities and ambivalences, the conflicts they feel. In most of the fights in this movie, the people can't fully fight, because emotionally they are torn. So, the fighting is a way of thinking and feeling and relating.

As for the flying, I accepted it and didn't really initially try to find an explanation for it. It is a fantasy after all and you have to suspend your disbelief in any fantasy movie. I read somewhere of an explanation for it that I found interesting. I will try and explain this concept as best as I understand it. This person said that the flying had to do with their level of enlightment and attachment to society. Li Mu Bai was almost to that point and therefore his movements were more effortless and fluid. Shu Lien had to struggle more because she was more bound to her duties on earth. Jen wanted that kind of life and that enlightment and she also had fewer responsibilities so she did not have to make as much effort as Shu Lien. Maybe it was me, but I could clearly see that she had to put more effort into her flying than Jen had to in the first fighting sequence.
Ang Lee: The fictional Giang Hu world is very popular in Chinese culture. Li Mu Bai's character - righting wrongs, staying true to his word - is wishful thinking come true. A constant theme of the Wuxia novels is that of surpassing your abilities through practicing your martial art. You keep doing this, and fulfill the final achievement, which is transcendence.
James Schamus: And in this particular case, the Taoist influence...
Ang Lee: Internal strength is, in essence a search for nothingness, in the void, to find your strength. Because you are pulled apart by tension, which comes from external emotions, complex relationships-all your strength goes in different directions. If you can lose this tension and direct all your energy to one channel, find transcendence, then you can create tremendous power and wisdom.

This movie has so much depth to it that you cannot understand or appreciate it after only one viewing. Some users commented that the flashback scene was overly long and pointless. I felt we needed this flashback to understand Jen and Lo's character better. It definitely introduced us to Lo and it helped us to understand Jen. From watching this flashback I could see how stubborn and passionate Jen really was. I could also see how much she had changed in terms of her desires and goals. At that point in time with Lo, she was able to settle down with him if just for a moment and in her innocence, to try and commit to him. By the time they meet up again, her goals have changed; she wants the Giang Hu life and to have freedom to do what she wants and not settle down. Lo, however, has not changed. He has spent all of this time trying to make himself respectable and to be able to be with her and build a life with her. It is tragic seeing them together again and realize that they have lost their innocence and their dreams of being together. This flashback was necessary to illustrate these differences and to enable us to empathize more with the characters.
According to someone, if you listen very carefully to the dialogue between Jen and Lo concerning the part where Lo "tells her the legend of a boy who jumped from a mountain they gaze upon, so that his wish would be granted. His parents were ill and he jumped to save them. The boy didn't die, and wasn't even hurt. He just floated away on the clouds, never to return. He knew that his wish had come true." This is an enlightening piece of dialogue that will clue you in on that mysterious ending of why Jen jumped off the mountain at the end of the movie. Did she die? Did she not die? Perhaps it is a test for her of the decisions she has made thus far... in any case, I am paying more close attention to that part the next time that I watch it.
There is so much more to say about this movie but I wanted to finally address those comments where someone mentioned that they couldn't see anything between Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien and that they felt the ending was cheap and uncharacteristic. I can only assume this person expects these two characters to throw themselves at each other before he realizes the love and respect they have for each other. Or at the very least, to show some outward physical affection which would be quite contradictory to their characters and probably to the eastern culture in general. I thought it was very real and emotional because I know of many older couples in my culture that don't show physical affection and everything is in the eyes and I could not doubt for a second how much love and respect they have for each other because of their shared experiences and history. This is how I approached these two characters and it felt very honest and mature and I saw it as a love and respect in which physical affection could not do justice. Li Mu Bai's death and subsequent confessions were more meaningful to me than the tragedy of Jen and Lo.
This movie is so wonderful because the characters feel real. There are no good guys and bad guys in this movie. Just plain human desires, decisions and regrets. All the main characters were fascinating and all were tragic as in real life. For those moviegoers that expect a straight story and to have information fed to them, this just isn't the movie for them. You have to go in to see this movie with your brain and intellect in check. If you plain just don't care for this kind of movie, fine. Having to read ignorant comments about this movie without attempting to try and understand it is a tragedy.
Perhaps I read too much into this movie. I know that there might be movies with better fight scenes, better this and better that, but as a whole, the acting, plot, fighting and drama is well balanced in this movie. It is an artistic movie that attempts to redefine the genre while at the same time paying tribute to it; trying to reach a usually inaccessible audience. It succeeds on this level and more. I welcome all intelligent interpretations and insights.