‘Crouching Tiger’: foreign fun
When I think of a foreign film, my mind typically begins conjuring up images of ultra-slow, tediously deep scenes with decent cinematography and a bunch a actors I’ve never cared about or wish to see again.
“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” the newest film by director Ang Lee (“Sense and Sensibility”) seems to fit most of the stereotypes of a foreign film, but also break them at the same time.
It is a love story, it is a story about finding one’s self, it is an action movie, it is a mystery and a tragedy.
There are emotional moments and unknown actors, but the depth of the characters and the complex issues they struggle with are balanced with a tightly woven plot and wonderfully shot martial arts fight sequences.
Yun-Chow Fat (“Anna and the King”) and Michelle Yeoh (“Tomorrow Never Dies”) both have strong performances and lend the film a presence of familiarity to American viewers. Zhang Ziyi (“The Road Home”), relatively new to American audiences, also does a great job pulling off perhaps the most complex character of the film.
One of the most unique parts of the movie is the Green Destiny, a 400-year-old sword most of the plot revolves around, having the power to shatter steel and most other surfaces it comes into contact with.
The martial arts in this film are almost fantasy-like with the masters in the film having the ability to float from point to point, almost flying at times and to stay air-bound as they combat their opponents. These shots are seamlessly filmed with state-of-the-art special effects and well-choreographed action sequences.
The only drawback to this film, as with most foreign films, is that the actors do speak another language, but if Americans cans sit through “Dances with Wolves,” they can get through this.
The lessons learned during some parts of this film are excruciating and the sadness felt during others is palatable.
But the thing I loved most about this film was that it is a foreign film, shot in a world I’ve never seen, in a language I cannot speak, dealing with trials I will probably never have to deal with. Yet I was so totally devoured by it, that I did not notice any of it. I was there and nothing else mattered from the time the lights went out until the closing credits were done rolling.
Catch this movie, you won’t be disappointed.
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