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He:
Coming out of nowhere and gathering up an armful of Oscar nominations, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” is director Ang Lee’s (“Sense and Sensibility”) ode to his childhood fantasy tales much like the Indian Jones trilogy was George Lucas and Steven Spielberg’s homage to Saturday matinee cliffhangers.
Starring Hong Kong action vets Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh along with newcomer Zhang Ziyi, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” is filled with tons of lush scenery, great costumes and gravity breaking stunts and fight sequences that made people flock to see “The Matrix.”
Sadly, this two hour romp through China’s yesterday is completely in subtitles, making us Westerners stare wide-eyed at the bottom of the screen instead of the middle.
She:
I don’t think the subtitles took away from the story at all. The movie was excellent. You get used to the subtitles, and become engulfed in the interesting story after just a few minutes. Li Bu Mai (Chow Yun Fat) is a great martial arts warrior along with Yu Shu Lien (Yeoh) at the Yuan Security Compound in China. They have been through a lot together and are obviously in love, though neither has ever admitted it. Li Bu Mai is about to give a precious sword, the Green Destiny, to his friend and well-respected leader Sir Te. Shu Lien reluctantly does this for Li while he goes away.
At Sir Te’s Shu Lien meets Jen (Zhang Ziyi), a governor’s daughter. Jen is about to be married, an arranged marriage, of course. Jen wants to be like Shu Lien, and she admires her greatly.
He:
From the moment we meet Jen we know that she wants more than to be someone’s wife. It then becomes no surprise that we see her doing back flips and dragon kicks like she was in a video game. Li Bu Mai sees great potential in her raw ability but all she wants to do is kick ass and chew gum.
Maybe I am not with it in terms of Hong Kong movies but during this movie I had to keep saying to myself, “why don’t I like this movie?” Could it be the constant reading of dialogue, or could it be the outrageous stunts and fights that left me yawning? Might it even be the fact that behind all this pomp and fluffery lies a pretty simple story that has been done a thousand times before? A story of a rich girl who hates her strict parents, just wants to rip loose, and have sex with the bad boy from across the tracks, only to learn in the end that she was really loved by what she hated. For those confused, see “Footloose.”
She:
Some people instantly decide they hate a movie when subtitles appear. Others can rise above that. Maybe the basic story is common, but certainly not the way it was presented. The beautiful landscapes and amazing special effects like walking up walls and jumping from tree to tree make for a visual spectacle that is intriguing. I think that it was very interesting how the mystery of the story just sort of crept through the dialogue without being obvious. Zhang Ziyi was excellent as Jen, and I am surprised she was not nominated for Best Actress rather than Michelle Yeoh. Yeoh was also good, but I thought Ziyi’s performance was considerably more dynamic.
The female presence in this movie was something not seen very often in feature films. This, along with the spectacle of martial arts mixed with a classic story made the movie great.
He:
This movie is not great. But if you still feel the need to go watch this movie, I warn you now. Sit up close; bring your glasses and your patience.
She:
Like I said, some people have to watch American movies to “get them.” The movie is something that is not mainstream or typical of most movies, and if you want to see a film that’s better than the usual martial arts flicks, this is the one. Usually I’m not one for action films of any kind, but this was an exception. I recommend it to anyone sick of the stupid movies that plague the American cinema.
