Wo hu cang long/Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Acrobatic sword fighting, aerial choreography, a captivating storyline, not to mention all the romance and poetry inherent in Ang Lee’s œuvre… all these elements make Wo hu cang long/Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon a classic Chinese martial arts film that we never tire of seeing on the big screen.

A true sleeper of the year 2000, Wo hu cang long/Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon just happened to be released during the Chinese zodiac’s Year of the Dragon. After directing three western films, including the highly acclaimed Sense and Sensibility(1995), Ang Lee decides to return to his roots. Having always dreamed of directing a martial arts flick (one discerns a hint of kung fu in his début feature Pushing Hands in 1991), the Taiwanese filmmaker embarks on this adventure, adapting the novel by Wang Du Lu first published in the 1940s.

The work follows the wuxia (“Chinese swordplay films”) tradition, featuring spectacular aerial combat, magnificently choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping, who notably worked on the Wachowski sisters’ trilogy The Matrix  (1999–2003). The icing on the cake: at Ang Lee’s request, the actors, particularly Zhang Ziyi–an icon of Asian cinema and the festival’s guest of honor–performed most of their own stunts after undergoing months of training. 

An œuvre that crosses several genres (quintessential Ang Lee), Wo hu cang long/Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon deftly alternates between the swift, controlled movements of the characters and their free-flowing flights of emotion. Despite extremely difficult filming conditions, it manages to sweep us away to dazzling heights that transcend the realm beyond simple “entertainment.” This is also probably due to the spiritual aspect of the plot (including the feminist take on freedom to which character Jen aspires), including the trap of an impossible love, a concept echoed in Lee’s Brokeback Mountain  (2005).

Wo Hu Cang Long/Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a smash hit from its first screening at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and soon extended beyond; the film went on to win four Academy Awards, four BAFTAs and two Golden Globes, grossing over $200 million worldwide. Although these accolades seem considerable, they scarcely reflect the full measure of the film’s meticulous craftsmanship.  

Fanny Bellocq