| Wo hu cang long DIRECTOR Ang Lee CAST Yun-Fat Chow, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang, Chen Chang Lee’s multi-Oscar winning film is a lavish, romantic take on Wuxia, the Chinese heroic swordsman genre. A martial arts expert renounces fighting in favour of a life of meditation but the theft of his antique sword brings him back to face an old adversary. Brilliant stunt work and special effects create memorable sequences such as the famous rooftop pursuit. (2000 Taiwan / Hong Kong / USA / China 120 minutes Subtitled) Two master warriors (Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh) are faced with their greatest challenge when the treasured Green Destiny sword is stolen. A young aristocrat (Zhang Ziyi) prepares for an arranged marriage, but soon reveals her superior fighting talents and her deeply romantic past. As each warrior battles for justice, they come face to face with their worst enemy - and the inescapable, enduring power of love. Set against 19th-century China's breathtaking landscape, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the action-packed, box office smash from acclaimed director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Sense and Sensibility) featuring stunning martial arts choreography by Yuen Wo Ping (The Matrix). BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence and sex “Having proven himself a black belt of versatility with unsung US Civil War drama Ride With The Devil, Ang Lee's venture into the world of martial arts may prove the diminutive Taiwanese director has no limitations whatsoever. With kung fu so gloriously choreographed, shot and edited that it literally has you gasping for breath, an epic canvas of stunning Chinese scenery and a set of beautifully measured characters trading genuine emotions, it's The Matrix spliced with David Lean, seasoned with the late '70s Oriental TV series, The Water Margin. Oh, and it's in Chinese... So dazzling is its visual craft and breathless momentum, you have to swallow the urge to cheer out loud. Not since Jurassic Park has filmmaking joyously thundered through the boundaries of its own medium. And there's not a pixel in sight. Over the proceeding two-hour span, Lee and legendary martial arts co-ordinator Yuen Wo Ping offer up increasingly astounding fight sequences, involving everything from the most elaborate bar room brawl in history, to a dazzling tree-top duel allowig the camera to dip and bend woozily with the flexing branches. The kung fu on show grants its masters a mystical weightlessness, and its director crafts it all like volcanic ballet, as graceful as it is brutal. It is still an Ang Lee joint, though, and he gives his characters credence, making their romantic entanglements as real as their chopsocky is fantastical, and injecting a sly humour. Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh move seamlessly between feats of physical prowess and nuances of emotion. However, the fire at the heart of the movie is the stunning Ziyi. Ostensibly this is Jen's rites-of-passage, and as she rejects an arranged marriage, driven by an insatiable desire for self-expression, Ziyi fills her with furious, exciting fervour. This is the story of true female empowerment, where the ladies revel in kick-arse glory and the men opt for calm consideration. On just about every level, it needs to be seen to be believed. Verdict - The story veers toward folklore guff and is at times pretty incomprehensible. No matter. Whatever your preconceptions on yawny, subtitled, arthousey movies, we guarantee you have never seen anything like this before." UK RELEASE 5 January 2001 RUNNING TIME 120 minutes COUNTRY Taiwan / Hong Kong / USA / China LANGUAGE Mandarin (Subtitled) |
