Wo hu cang long (2000)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Ang Lee

Writers (WGA):

Du Lu Wang (book)
Hui-Ling Wang (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 December 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.

Plot Keywords:

Sword | Warrior | China | Martial Arts | Rooftop

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 73 wins & 90 nominations

Cast

Yun-Fat Chow	...	Master Li Mu Bai (as Chow Yun Fat)
Michelle Yeoh	...	Yu Shu Lien
Ziyi Zhang	...	Jen Yu (Mandarin version) / Jiao Long (English dubbed version) (as Zhang Ziyi)
Chen Chang	...	Lo 'Dark Cloud' / Luo Xiao Hu
Sihung Lung	...	Sir Te
Pei-pei Cheng	...	Jade Fox (as Cheng Pei-Pei)
Fa Zeng Li	...	Governor Yu
Xian Gao	...	Bo
Yan Hai	...	Madame Yu
De Ming Wang	...	Police Inspector Tsai / Prefect Cai Qiu
Li Li	...	May (as Li Li)
Su Ying Huang	...	Auntie Wu
Jin Ting Zhang	...	De Lu
Rei Yang	...	Maid
Kai Li	...	Gou Jun Pei

Also Known As:

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Ngo foo chong lung (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
Wo hu cang long (China: Mandarin title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for martial arts violence and some sexuality.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

Taiwan | Hong Kong | USA | China

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Malaysia:U | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:16 (VHS/DVD rating) | Brazil:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Chile:TE | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Peru:PT | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | South Korea:12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Anhui Province, China

Company:

Asia Union Film & Entertainment Ltd.

Trivia:

The Green Destiny Sword Li Mu Bai carries translates to Green Dark World Sword - a place where the dead go. The Mu in Li Mu Bai's name translates to a kind of positive jealousy or longing - as in wanting something but probably never getting it.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When the movie is spoken in English and Lo is talking about the legend on the wish mountain. He says that the man jumped to save his children. The English subtitles say it is the man’s parents he was jumping to save.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Man: Master Li is here! Master Li is here!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Rush Hour 3 (2007)

Soundtrack:

A Love Before Time

A wondrous mythology, a cinematic masterpiece.

I gave a wry chuckle when the opening credits pronounced Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon a Sony Cinema Classic in the year of its release. However, I too would not have hesitated to brand this film such. It is a cinematic masterpiece that left me in silent reverie at its conclusion.

The film's story unfolds amidst the ancient temples, bamboo forests and painted deserts of nineteenth century China: a sensual, mystical landscape that, at our first high-angle glimpse of Peking takes on a dizzying scale. This world is inhabited by the Wudan, spectral warriors from legend who effortlessly leap between rooftop and bamboo tree, a device which elevates them to a plane divorced from our parochial middle-class values without the loss of their intense humanity. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is an ode to the human spirit that transcends genre; it is at once fantasy, romance, historical epic and thriller, enriched by a subtle humour.

At the film's heart are four compelling performances. Ziyi Zhang, is enchanting as the wilful Jen Yu, daughter of a government official, who aspires to the code of the Wudan. Her destiny is entwined with those of Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) and Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh), disciples of this enigmatic clan, and of the desert bandit Lo (Chen Chang) by the theft of an arcane sword, Mu Bai's quest for revenge and the fulfilment of a powerful yet unrequited love

Chow Yun Fat possesses an hypnotic screen presence in his portrayal of this regal master, who displays an unparalleled heroism untainted by western cliché as the film travels inexorably toward his shuddering death-blow. This resonates long after the credit sequence has run and you've marvelled at how few stunt artists were engaged to actualize the film's thrillingly beautiful fight sequences. These are not the idle distractions aimed at a boyish mind we find in other martial arts films but rather a transcendent form of dance. Their exquisitely honed choreography rivals that of Graham Murphy and Twyla Tharp.

Star of these sequences is the four hundred year old Green Destiny sword that exerts a powerful metaphoric presence on the film. It is a sensuous artefact that sings when struck, punctuating Yo-Yo Ma's haunting cello solos, a feature of the immersive soundtrack.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a film of titanic proportions, with all the pageantry of Kundun, minus the ponderous pace, and without a trace of the cloying sentimentalism which infected Titanic's impoverished narrative. Li Mu Bai's final words are a more fervent declaration of truth than any to have graced the screen before.

After all that, I can offer no further commendation except to say that this is the latest greatest film of my now seemingly hollow existence.