A young warrior steals a priceless sword from a legendary swordsman and struggles to find her own identity as she tries to escape her ordinary life.

ACTION/DRAMA

Crouching Tiger,
​Hidden Dragon (2000)

Directed by Ang Lee

Written by Hui-Ling Wang, James Schamus, Kuo Jung Tsai

Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang,
Chen Chang, Pei-Pei Cheng, Sihung Lung, Fazeng Li

Based on the novel by Wang Dulu

Oscar Wins - Best Foreign Film, Best Cinematography,
Best Original Score (Dun Tan), Best Art Direction

Oscar Nominations - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing,
Best Original Song (A Love Before Time)

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Connor Eyzaguirre

May 1, 2020

8/10

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the movie that put Ang Lee on the map and showed audiences the full scope of what he is capable of as a director. It's a gorgeous film that showcases the Chinese countryside and features some of the most incredible fight choreography ever put to film. On top of that, the performances are stellar. Ang Lee and all the actors bring realism and humanity to a martial arts film, resulting in a brilliant concoction that tells the story of a lonely young woman who wants to find her own direction in life, but is unable to escape her tragically mundane destiny.

The always reliable Chow Yun-Fat plays the legendary warrior Li Mu Bai, wielder of the priceless sword, Green Destiny. His friend, Shu Lien (Yeoh) is tasked with delivering this sword to Sir Te (Lung) as a grand gift, but it is stolen by a very talented martial artist who turns out to be Jen (Zhang), a young woman about to be married in an arranged marriage she doesn't want. Jen stole the sword because she yearns for adventure and she's being manipulated by the evil assassin Jade Fox (Cheng). Mu Bai gets involved to retrieve the sword and stop Jade Fox, resulting in some incredible fight sequences that made this movie stand out globally as a work of art. But the drama is there too, especially in Jen's outlook on life. She's scared that she'll live her whole life without doing anything of note, something most of us can relate to. The ending of the film is bleak as hell, but appropriate.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is truly a breathtaking watch and a grounded story. Ang Lee has since become one of the most respected filmmakers in the game, and I believe it was this film that got him in the Hollywood scene. Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh have terrific chemistry, and the choreography is simply to die for. This is a film that every film fan should see at least once.