Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is by far the best movie I have seen in 2000. This is a movie set in ancient China starring Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, and Zhang Zi Yi in a complicated and multiple layered movie about honor, desire, duty, and self-discovery. The movie was currently (Dec 2000) released to a select few theaters (just over 120) and will be broadened to 500-600 theaters in mid-January 2001. The movie was made a couple of years back by Ang Lee and is available in chinese video stores in Mandarin. The US theater version is subtitled not dubbed (for me, this was Thank goodness!... some people may have preferred dubbing so they wouldn't have to read and watch the movie at the same time)

The Characters

Chow Yun Fat is Li Mui Bai. A reknown honorable and heroic swordman in China who starts the movie returning to his home city to seek a comrade in arms Yu Shu Lien. He has harbored a secret yet open love for her for many years. However, he cannot act on these feelings due to his honor for a deceased comrade-in-arms and good friend that was Yu Shu Lien's betrothed. Li Mui Bai is also unquestionably the movie's most powerful warrior (i.e. Mega-Butt-Kicker) as well. Li Mui Bai was trained at Wudan Mountain (similar to how those old Kung-Fu and Wuxia movies refer to many powerful people as being trained from Shaolin). Li Mui Bai is also bound by duty and honor to kill Jade Fox for the assassination of Li's master. In truth, Li Mui Bai is not the center of this movie.

Michelle Yeoh is Yu Shu Lien. Another reknown warrior who took over her father's security business and help further develop the business's reputation to being the best in China. She also has feelings of Li Mui Bai but due to the same codes of honor and duty, cannot express these feelings due to her long deceased betrothed. She is a powerful martial artist and weapons master but there is no mention of her being trained at Wudan (it is unlikely though from other events in the movie).

Zhang Zi Yi is Princess Jen. She is the daughter of Governor Yu and the main focus of the movie. Princess Jen is a headstrong and free spirited person who still doesn't know herself or what she truly wants. Her desire is to be free but she doesn't know what that truly means. She is trapped by position as the daughter of a high officer and the lifestyle she wants to lead. She is a gifted martial artist who has learned powerful techniques (techniques from Wudan) and may have unlimited potential. It is unknown how she learned these techniques for most of the movie.

Jade Fox is another character in the movie who is a known assassin and the killer of Li Mui Bai's master at Wudan. It is known to a select few that she had also stolen items from Li Mui Bai's master after assissinating him. She is an extremely skilled and powerful martial artist who has killed many powerful martial artists and weapon masters. Her motivation and desires are currently unclear.

Lo is a character we meet much later in the movie. He is a desert bandit. I'm not going to reveal much more about him since it has implications in the movie.

The Choreography of the Fights
Seeing as how none of the three main characters are trained in formal martial arts per say (I'm pretty sure that Chow Yun Fat isn't but not 100%), the martial arts scenes are just jaw dropping! Choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping who also performed this role on The Matrix, Jet Li's Black Mask, and many other films in Hong Kong (I also want to say Romeo Must Die but I don't quite remember if Yuen was the choreographer). The action is fast paced, smooth, and flowing. The speed and the precise movements of the fighters will leave you breathless. I know that Chow Yun Fat had some time in Chinese Opera and Michelle Yeoh had definitely spent several years in Chinese Opera. Chinese Opera introduces some performance Wushu training to their performers. Jet Li is an accomplished Wushu artist and a champion in performance (stylistic) wushu competitions. A lot of wirework was done for some fight scenes to give the illusion that characters were almost flying and once in a while performing some incredible martial arts attack (similar to many Hong Kong martial arts movies). Battles over the rooftops of Peking, in the forest trees, and a restaurant are a few of the battle locations.

This is by no means the best martial arts movie or wuxia movie ever made but I feel it is an excellent one. There are movies that have a little bit better choreography in my opinion (like Once Upon a Time in China I and II and I thought Druken Master II had slightly better choreography). It definitely ranks high on my list. Martial arts and wuxia fans will not be dissappointed with this parts of the movie.

Story: Just a quick Intro only
The story starts with Li Mui Bai returning to the city to see Yu Shu Lien. He has been mediatating as part of his continuing Wudan training but instead of finding peace and harmony, he found loneliness and depression. He desires to leave the world of Giang Xu to find peace in his life and wishes Yu Shu Lien to take his sword... the powerful Green Destiny... and place it in Sir Te's (a wise old man and scholar) trust. He is unable to say why else he desires to leave his warrior lifestyle. Yu Shu Lien agrees since she is traveling to Peking on other business. Yu Shu Lien appears in Peking and concludes her business without incident then goes to Sir Te's home to present the sword. However, Sir Te is also receiving Governor Yu and his family. Sir Te knew Yu Shu Lien's father and treats her as his own daughter. It is at this time that Yu Shu Lien meets the headstrong Princess Jen. This is where the story truly starts.

I suggest watching the movie for more storyline :)

The Details that make the movie
This has some of the best music I've heard in a soundtrack for quite some time. I believe the composer was Tan Dun and I had heard that the cellist Yo Yo Ma (I'm unsure about this though) was also involved. The music fits extremely well where it is used.

There are little details throughout the movie. Li Mui Bai and Yu Shu Lien's characters are very controlled showing restraint and anguish when speaking to each other... a sense of yearning for the other and peace when sharing moments together. At the same time, when in battle, both these character put on their game faces and show determination and a coldness against their enemy. Li Mui Bai seems to just radiate an aura in battle that he's going to beat you silly (and pretty much does). Princess Jen is shown as a complicated mix of headstrong and determined, yet she is undisciplined and wild. She is constantly in conflict with her needs and wants versus her duties. Her personality is also very prominent through the clothes she is wearing at the time... the clothes denote her state of mind all the way to the end of the movie.

Items in the movie hold deep meanings. The sword Green Destiny is constantly refered to a powerful blade with incredible features and workmanship. However, as Sir Te said, it is a beautiful blade but is only a tool that is as deadly as the skill of the user. As Li Mui Bai said, it is only a sword, you do not need it to reach your true skills. Items like the Green Destiny sword and even a jade comb have deep layers of meaning when in the possession of certain characters. The Green Destiny sword is a weapon of elegance and beauty in Li Mui Bai's hands but it is also his trapping to the warrior society he has so long been a part of. His desire to give the sword to Sir Te and through Yu Shu Lien is very significant for both Li Mui Bai and Yu Shu Lien. As the Green Destiny sword falls into other hands, it denotes wildness and an animal like nature on its user. When it comes back to Li Mui Bai, it denotes the fact that he cannot escape the warrior life and is trapped by his codes, his duties, and his ideals.

Scenery is done very well. Many times sweeping shots are used to display the grandness of Peking and exhausting fight on the rooftops. Wudan Mountain shows a sense of awe as a holy place and that for learning. Wudan seems unobtainable from afar. Closer up, there is a sense of serenity and of hope. The battle in the forest shows the vastness of the world as well as one of the coolest looking fight scenes I ever seen (sorry could resist that last comment). The scenery also plays a large role in the mood of that particular portion of the movie and many ways portray Princess Jen's state of mind. In the forest, Jen acts wildly and rashly. In the city, Jen tries to stay hidden with multiple masks both physically and personality wise.

The title of the movie holds several meanings. See how many ways you can interpret the title after you watch the movie. I think you'll be surprised!

Overall Impressions
I think this is an excellent movie. Definitely a must see but you have to keep an open mind and a keen eye. This is not just a martial arts movie that you could catch on Saturday afternoon TV in the 80s. This is much more complicated and involving. In many ways, the movie is a tragedy and a discovery of oneself through the hard choices that must be made and the honor and duties of people and the roles they have chosen to mold their lives to. You cannot go into this movie thinking that it is only a martial arts flick. Martial arts plays a very large role in the movie, but it is ultimately just a vehicle to explore the characters and express their states of mind as well as their philosophy. I will end the review with this... the end of the movie can be seen as tragic but I feel that it was left very open ended to leave the audience to make their own decision. Decide for yourself if you think the end was tragic or a signal of hope, faith, and belief.



Recommended: Yes