Legendary warrior Master Li Mu Bai decides to leave the
world of meditation and martial art that he knows, determining to give his
legendary sword to a protector in Beijing. But upon the sword’s arrival in its
new home it is promptly stolen and Li Mu Bai along with fellow warrior Yu Shen
Lien determines to find the thief. They soon discover that it may all be a
political plot as the Governor seems to be involved, but it takes a turn of
revenge when the killer of Li Mu Bai’s master is revealed to have a hand in the
events.
The incredible success of this movie puts it well within the realm of
greatest martial arts movies ever made. But what elevates Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon into a
league of its own is the beautiful attention to story and the impeccable
balance between narrative and fight sequences. Where many martial art films
focus centrally on mesmerising action sequences and fights, this movie merely
employs them only when the narrative allows and for the rest of the time,
chronicles a number of different stories. It’s truly an incredible film made
with the utmost elegance, taste, and craft. MESMERISING!
Legendary warrior
Master Li Mu Bai decides to leave the world of meditation and martial art that
he knows, determining to give his legendary sword to a protector in Beijing.
But upon the sword’s arrival in its new home it is promptly stolen and Li Mu
Bai along with fellow warrior Yu Shen Lien determines to find the thief. They
soon discover that it may all be a political plot as the Governor seems to be
involved, but it takes a turn of revenge when the killer of Li Mu Bai’s master
is revealed to have a hand in the events.
As I mentioned before, this movie is
about more than just the fight sequences. There are multiple stories that make
up its shape, each one centring on themes of revenge, love, doomed romance,
duty, and honour. What I really enjoyed too, as most women probably will, is
the feminist streak that underlies most of what happens in this movie. Each
female character fights for different reasons, they each have their own
stories, and it’s great to see these feminine characters go all badass and give
the men a run for their money!
And now to the fight sequences! Ang Lee employed
famous fight choreographer Lee Wu-ping into the mix, who created these
incredibly BEAUTIFUL supernatural fight sequences that just take the breath
clean away. To give you an idea of how ethereal these are; the final and most
climactic battle actually takes place in the air with the fighters balancing on
thin bamboo treetops. The colour, the movement, and the way that the camera
moves in a manner that reflects the movement of the characters makes the battle
one of the most amazing experiences as it makes you feel as though you’re actually fighting too! It’s absolutely hypnotising with beautiful supernatural
and elegant tricks of wirework being employed to the greatest effect.
Seriously, you’ve got to watch the movie for the fight sequences alone!
Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeo, Ziyo Zhang, Chen Chang, Sihung Lung, Chen
Pei-pei, Fa Zeung Li, Xian Gao, Yan Hai, De Ming Wang, Li Li-li, Su Ying Huang,
Jin Tang Zhang, Rei Yang, and Kai Li, Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon is an incredibly beautiful movie filled with action,
fighting, romance, drama, and comedy. It doesn’t just inspire feelings of
hypnotised incredulity, it piques so many other emotional responses: you laugh,
you cry, and you gasp all the way through. It’s astounding!
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