Ang Lees

obsessions help
decode Crouching
Tiger, Hidden
Dragons
mysteries
by Tasha Robinson

E AC H W E E K , T H E D I S S O LV E D E S I G N AT E S A M OV I E O F T H E W E E K F O R S TA F F E R S A N D R E A D E R S
T O WATC H A N D D I S C U S S T O G E T H E R. F E E L F R E E TO P I TC H I N O R S U G G E S T YO U R O W N
DISCUSSION POINTS.

There are elements of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that a Western audience is unlikely to
understand. The title comes from a Chinese aphorism about hiding strength from the world.
The story centers on a 400-year-old sword called Green Destiny because, as director Ang Lee
explains it, the color green represents the yin, the female mystery, which is at the heart of his
female-led film. (Thats also why his villain is named Jade Foxjade being a darker color green,
to represent her age, and the age of her long-curdled internal mysteries.) The Green Destiny is
stolen early on by a young woman, Jen, who appears decorous and shy in her fathers home, but
quickly reveals herself as arrogant, tenacious, and deeply angryand her Chinese name, Yu
Jiao Long, can be translated as spoiled jade dragon.
At the same time, some things about Crouching Tiger dont sit well with Chinese audiences,
either, like the fact that its a martial-arts movie where the first fight scene doesnt take place

until after 15 minutes of sedate dialogue and character introduction. On the films commentary
track, Lee chuckles that he feels sorry for Chinese viewers, but saysgoaded by screenwriter
James Schamusthat its all the fault of the Western viewers, because Western movies need
more time for scene-setting.
That seems like a dubious claim, especially nearly 15 years out from Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragons 2000 release. Western action movies are more frenetic these days, and more likely to
open with action. (Think Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which practically reverses Lees
formula by launching straight into a long battle sequence without setting any scene beyond
Terrorist, hostages, boat. Go.) But regardless of their taste for lengthy scene-setting, Western
audiences fell hard for Crouching Tiger. The $17 million movie became a $128 million hit in
American theaters, back when $128 million was considered a huge payoff for a theatrical
release, rather than the catering budget on a moderately sized summer superhero movie.
Crouching Tiger was treated as a phenomenonespecially since it was an arthouse movie, a
martial-arts movie, and a foreign-language movie, all relatively nichey cinematic offshoots at
the time. And it wasnt just a box-office success: It was a widespread critical hit, and later a
serious contender at the Academy Awards. It won four Oscars (for Foreign Language Film,
Art/Set Direction, Original Score, and Cinematography) and was in the running for six more.
And the real news was that it earned nominations for Best Director and Best Picturealmost
unheard of for a foreign-language film, let alone one so heavily freighted with fantasy elements
and another countrys mythology.

That massive appeal ultimately has nothing to do with Crouching Tigers slow, meditative,
supposedly Western-friendly setup scenes. Its far more likely that American audiences seized
on the films phenomenal beauty, its thrilling fight sequences, and the cast of beautiful actors

playing out fantasies of love, longing, and power. Color symbolism and name transliteration
aside, its unusally graspable for a Chinese historical fantasy epic: Everything viewers need to
know about Chinese history to understand the movies basic story is communicated within the
film in a fairy tale, unlike the complicated politics and backstory of films like John Woos Red
Clif or Zhang Yimous Hero.
Its easy to understand Crouching Tiger, but harder to understand where it came from. The look
and the story have obvious roots in the Chinese novel it adapts, and in the epic-fantasyoriented wu xia film movement, which has competed with gritty modern-day crime dramas in a
series of dominance cycles since Hong Kong action cinema began. Its just difficult to place in
terms of its participants careers. In so many ways, it was a rare one-off, personally and
culturally: Chow Yun-Fat, who anchors the film as the placid, paternal sword master Li Mu Bai,
was at the time known for his hardboiled gangster movies; hed long resisted historical dramas,
costume epics, and fantasy films. Ziyi Zhang, who plays the scene-stealing, self-taught young
warrior Jen, was a child actress with only a few modern romances under her belt, and no
previous martial-arts experience. Screenwriter James Schamus, Ang Lees regular writing and
producing partner, had never scripted a martial-arts movie. (In fact, he says, the screenplay he
sold his distributors on didnt specify anything about the combat scenes, except They fight,
and They will be the greatest fight scenes ever written in cinema history. Period.)
And for Lee himself, Crouching Tiger seems like a tremendous departure. Lee first broke out in
a minor way with arthouse crowds with the cozy domestic dramas The Wedding
Banquet and Eat Drink Man Woman. He followed up with the Jane Austen costume-drama
adaptation Sense And Sensibility, the agonzied 1970s suburban-angst drama The Ice Storm, and
the Civil War-era Western drama Ride With The Devil. Apart from a penchant for striking,
chilly imageryespecially in The Ice Stormnothing about the first half of his career suggested
an interest in, much less an aptitude for, something as outsized and wildly imaginative
as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
But while Lee denies much of a connection between his moviesin a2013 Cannes conversation,
the interviewer kept asking variations on What links your work? and Lee kept answering with
variations on Nothing but diversityone theme does play out in them again and again:
repression. His films, before and after Crouching Tiger, take radically different tacks on the
subject: His debut, Pushing Hands, has an old tai chi master trying to repress his attachment to
his own traditions and cultural beliefs as he adapts to life in America. The star of The Wedding
Banquet is gay and hiding it from his family. The characters in Eat Drink Man Woman are all

struggling with their own romances and their own relationship with the traditional Chinese
cultural values theyre defying. Repression vs. free expression is an obsession in Austens
stories, and in the sometimes-unwelcome sexual experiments of The Ice Storm, and in the
painfully secret gay romance of Lees eventual Oscar-winner, Brokeback Mountain. Even the
sea-going tiger-tamer in Lees most recent film, The Life Of Pi, is living a lie formed of
repression, though it isnt clear until the film ends exactly what hes been holding back, and
what effect its had on him.
In Crouching Tiger, the lies people live out of fear, uncertainty, or obligation form the storys
central backbone. Li Mu Bai is in love with his old companion Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh), and
she returns his feeling; both of them are aware of their mutual attraction, but both are too
proud, shy, stubborn, or beholden to their duties to acknowledge it. Jen, the daughter of a rich
man, is engaged against her will to a man she has no interest in marrying, and as the movie
begins, shes fighting her sense of duty as a good daughter and a dutiful wife. Its a short, poorly
fought battle: When Shu Lien meets her, she suspects at once that Jens meek, placid exterior
hides something else, and when a masked ninja steals Li Mu Bais famous sword Green Destiny
(which he had just sent into retirement as a household museum piece, in a plot point that feels a
little like a comic riff on the cops dead partner was one week away from retirement clich in
Western action movies), Shu Lien can easily guess who took it.

Jen isnt much for holding back in general. As a flashback reveals, one reason shes willing to
steal the famous sword, defy her family and fianc, flout tradition, and run off into the
wilderness alone is because of a tempestous affair she had with a bandit named Lo, a swaggering
romance-novel figure who robbed her caravan. When Jen furiously chases him deep into the
desert, its supposedly because she wants to retrieve the comb he stole from her hand, but

theres much more at work under the surface. She doesnt attempt to control her outrage at his
behavior, or her self-righteous desire to attack and punish him. She doesnt consider whether
its remotely safe to take on his entire bandit horde on her own, or charge after him through the
sand without water or other supplies. What she may be repressing, though, is her instant
attraction to someone who so flamboyantly defies herand her hatred of her own cosseted life
as a piece of dcor and merchandise. She thinks shes angry, but she seems more despairing,
and awfully willing to throw that life away.
Jens confidence is a good deal of the fun in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The love story
between Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien is a traditional tragedy, in which both lovers remain devoted to
piety, duty, and the higher ideals of their martial arts, until he finally confesses his love while
dying in her arms. Even Jens teacher, the villain Jade Fox, contains her true emotions until her
death scene, when she finally feels free to confess her motivations. The love story between Jen
and Lo is all fiery passion and lack of restraint. Jens fight scenes are a thrill because they arent
just technical exercises in choreography and artistry: When she fights Shu Lien in the dojo,
using the Green Destinys mysterious powers to demolish weapon after weapon and keep her
advantage against the older woman, Jen is pitting raw talent and fury against skill, training,
and well-controlled craft. When Jen fights Li Mu Bai in the treetops and he urges her to regain
control of herself and consider her situation, its a battle between self-destructive urges and
forethought. Jens battle against an entire town in a random restaurant is a wild expression of
hubris and chaosin the middle of it all, asked her name, Jen piles titles and wild boasts on
herself, claiming shes the Invincible Sword Goddess, the dragon from the desert who will
casually kick down the mountain where the secrets of kung fu are housed and taught. Its a rare
moment in an Ang Lee film where someone joyously lets loose with all their fury, and revels in a
brief moment of pure selfish self-expression.
But just as in Lees much-derided Hulkanother story by design and definition about someone
constantly trying to rein in his emotions, but occasionally losing all controlonce the fury is
spent, any sense of joy, or escape from regret, are gone with it. Jen is heartsick over her freedom
and her frenzy, which lead her to terrible places. In the end, even though she gets Lo back, even
though the back-and-forth tussle over the fate of the Green Destiny ends with her wearily
relinquishing control, even though Li Mu Bai saves her life at the expense of his own, she cant
enjoy the peace shes come to. Given the possibility of leaving her family for her lover, and
enjoying whatever time they have together, she instead finally finds maturity in self-denial,
self-sacrifice, and ancient tradition. In the films ending shot, she throws herself from a

mountain, in hopes that the purity of her sacrifice will please the gods, who will grant her a
wish.

None of the airy, wire-guided martial-arts mayhem in Crouching Tiger was hinted at in
anything Lee did before this film, or anything hes done since. Schamus was overreaching in
promising the greatest fight scenes ever written in cinema history, but the martial arts in this
martial-arts movie are distinctive and memorable. Part of the credit goes to legendary fight
coordinator Yuen Wo-Ping, who went from memorable Hong Kong fight movies (Iron
Monkey, Drunken Master) to memorable American fight movies (The Matrix, Kill Bill) on the
strength of innovative movement design and a serious approach rather than a prop-andcomedy-driven one. Part of the credit goes to the settings, like the gorgeous treetop battle amid
waving bamboo, or the flying pursuits among rooftops, or across a pool that the combatants
barely touch. Lees ambition here feels as outsized and uncontrolled as Jens, but without the
self-hatred behind it.
And the ultimate credit goes to the way Lee and Schamus invested the fights with drama
American audiences could understand: not just based in the movement of armies and empires,
like so many wu xiahistoricals, but centering on a small handful of people navigating their own
passion, and the yin/yang split between well-controlled calm, and satisfyingly expressed
emotion. While Lee and Schamus explored a new form for this particular storyone they
hadnt worked in before, and havent worked in againits of a piece with their other work
together.
Nonetheless, Crouching Tiger still feels like a strange one-off. Its easy to see why Lee might
avoid returning to martial-arts epics: This one was reportedly agonizingly hard to make, but it

was also so critically, financially, and aesthetically successful that its a difficult bar to live up to.
And as Lee said in that Cannes interview, hes more interested in trying new things than
repeating old ones. Even so, its so tempting, with a movie this perfectly realized, to want the
creators to go back to the same well, and produce more of the same.
But its just as well Lee didnt try to copycat himself, and opted for his own forms of repression
and control by exploring other genres and technological innovations instead. While Crouching
Tiger raises questionswhere did this swooningly romantic, fantasy-driven visual stylist
suddenly come from for this movie, and where did he go afterward?its also deeply satisfying,
both as a stand-alone movie (though a sequel, directed by Yuen Wo-Ping, is on the horizon) and
as a justification for other directors trying radically new things instead of sticking to their
comfort zones. The movie ends ambiguously, with Jen smiling bravely as she falls through the
clouds, leaving viewers to wonder what exactly she wished for, and whether her damaged heart
is pure enough to earn the gods favor. Lees career, meanwhile, continues just as ambiguously,
letting fans question where hell go next, and whether his next project will be equally tied to the
themes he loves, and yet this surprising and enduring.
Dont miss our companion conversation on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, in which Scott
Tobias and Noel Murray further consider how the film fits into Lees filmography, talk about
resistance to it at home and abroad, and acknowledge that it doesnt fit all tastes in martial arts.
And then on Thursday, David Ehrlich digs deeper into the movies balletic fight scenes, and why
theyre staged the way they are.