Incredibly beautiful

Rating: 10/10 (5 February 2002)

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long) is simply one of the best films ever made. The movie lives and breathes power, charm, and imagination. The movie is like a dream mixed with amazing cinematography and beautiful music. The movie shows happiness and despair. It's like a movie that is so unique with amazing actors and beautifully choreographed fight scenes.
Chow Yung-Fat is inspector Li Mu Bai who decides to give up his amazing sword (the green destiny) and live the rest of his life peacefully. Li Mu Bai has been in love with Michele Yeoh's character Yu Shu Lien ever since Yu Shu Lien's husband died. The twist in this love story is that Li Mu Bai's brother was Yu Shu Lien's husband. Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien have prevented themselves from falling in love in memory of Li Mu Bai's brother.

Then one night Li Mu Bai's green destiny is stolen. Yu Shu Lien fights with the robber but he escapes. Jen Yu (Zhang Ziyi) is a confused daughter of the governor of Beijing. In disguise Jen Yu is really the thief who stole the green destiny. Jen Yu also has a secret love that she has kept from her family and her evil trainer Jade Fox. Jade Fox is also enemies with Li Mu Bai. To make things even more confusing Jen Yu and Yu Shu Lien have just become good friends when Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien travel to Beijing. All these conflicts meet to show love, action, and a beautiful story.

The Movie itself also puts females in roles normally played by men. Yu Shu Lien and Jen Yu are two amazing Kung Fu fighters who defeat all their male foes and battle in an amazing Kung Fu scene that will be remembered in movies for all time. The movies amazing director Ang Lee and amazing crew pull this story together to make it an amazing tale. Without all the amazing acting the story could have only been another Kung Fu movie. The movie was nominated for many Oscars and won the second most awards out of any film nominated. This is an amazing feet considering the movie is a foreign film in mandarin Chinese.
If you could only watch 5 movies in your lifetime I would definetly recommend this one. It has opened my eyes into Kung Fu movies and has made me enjoy foreign films. Jen Yu was probably my favorite character and I hope to see her in more movies. What an achievement!
10/10!