Excellent in my opinion

Rating: 10/10 (25 February 2001)

I personally enjoyed this film greatly but the audience's and my friend's reaction showed that there are many ways to see it. I tend to like Asian martial arts films but can't bear the humour that usually goes with them (with the exception of A Chinese Ghost Story). And so this film - for me - is an ideal combination of rounded characters and a magical firework of fights that is close to dancing in many ways. I was also deeply moved by the ending.
Many of the people in the cinema measured what they saw by the laws of gravity and of course most of the fights are impossible then and they couldn't overcome this obstacle. That's like someone who can't get over the fact that the Christmas presents weren't brought by Santa Clause (or the angelic christ child here in Europe). So as it was unreal to them they couldn't accept that the emotions can be real.
And I suppose my friend's reaction lies somewhere in between those extremes.
What I also like about this film is that Ang Lee took up a genre and turned it into something new and yet retained the essence.
I'm amazed by the variety of his films but somehow they all seem to be connected by the common theme of the tension between the individual's hopes, feelings and aspirations and society's demands.