Episode 5 - Crounching Tiger Hidden Dragon

 

Ed and Vivi learn that the best way to catch a fox is through her cubs as they are swept away by Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Episode 5 – Published on Sep

Written by Ed Mac

Spiel 

There is a shot nearly half an hour into Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that caused me to stop breathing momentarily when I first saw the film, way back in January 2001. I was aware that what I was seeing was not real, and yet, just for a moment at least, I also believed I was actually watching someone fly. It is a brief handheld camera move that tracks behind two fighters as they run and jump and fly across the rooftops of 19^th century Beijing. It is a relatively minor piece of a much larger, more spectacular fight sequence that involves intricate, balletic fight choreography, swordplay, and gravity defying movements. However, to this day, it never fails to astonish me. Much like the film itself.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the story of a master warrior and swordsman, Li Mu Bai, and the unrequited love between him and another warrior, Shu Lien. The pair is played by Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh and both actors are superb. They bring a dignified gravity to each of their roles, with their subtlest gestures revealing so much about an inner desire they both have, but which neither can make themselves acknowledge. Their predicament is contrasted with that of another younger couple, Jen and Lo, who we see meet during an extended flashback in the middle of the film. Their relationship is typified by passion and impulsivity, and it contrasts beautifully with the aching adherence to honour and tradition by which Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien abide. This is a film primarily concerned with matters of the heart and the way in which societal norms tend to interfere in them. The fight scenes, as spectacular as they are, are really just a bonus.

But what a bonus they are. There is a poetry, and beauty, to the fight scenes in this film that I have not experienced before or since, notwithstanding my relative inexperience within the genre. Nevertheless, the artistry on display throughout the fight scenes, and the film in general, is undeniable. Lee and his collaborators create images and soundscapes that are just as breathtaking as the emotions conjured by the script. For me, this is a film that gets better, and is more resonant, the older I get.

I suspect this is because time is such a crucial theme of the film. Jen and Lo are each in a mad dash to fulfil their dreams and sense of destiny, while Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien are content to do what is right, no matter how long it takes. By the end of the film, we, and the characters, understand that neither approach is correct or incorrect. Rather, it’s simply that time has a habit of catching up with you regardless of your plans, wishes, or traditions. All that really matters is whether we have the courage to be true to ourselves.

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