Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is one of the most magnificent and philosophical wuxia martial arts films ever. Like other wuxia films, it is also filled with multiple martial arts action sequences. However, the actions and dialogues in the film are deeply inspired and influenced by philosophical aspects. Despite fights, violence, and revenge, the characters in the film stick to their principles. They may represent different character types, but they act and behave certainly according to their wishes and morals. Nothing is forced on them. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon contains two love stories. In one story, the restrained lovers can’t express their love to each other because of a moral restriction. In the other love story, the lovers fight and then fall in love in the desert. However, the love stories flow through multiple twists and turns and end in tragic notes. More than action, violence, and revenge, director Ang Lee shows the true nature of the individual human spirit.
The title of the film is significant enough to give the viewers a hint about the film. Crouching tigers are incredibly powerful but restrained. They don’t attack against their principles unless they are compelled. On the other hand, hidden dragons are enthusiastic fighters and exist in society without revealing their identities. They are always ready to accept challenges and don’t give up. While crouching tigers are restrained, hidden dragons are ferocious. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Mu Bai (Chow Yun-fat) and Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) represent crouching tigers, and Jen (Zhang Ziyi) and Lo (Chang Chen) represent hidden dragons. Ang Lee depicts all of them incredibly skillfully in the film.
Two parallel love stories are depicted in the film. However, these love stories are no easy stories. The first love story is a story of repressed love. Mu Bai and Shu Lien are in love but cannot express their feelings to each other because of a moral hindrance. Shu Lien was engaged to Mu Bai’s friend Meng Sizhao earlier. Unfortunately, he passed away suddenly. Mu Bai and Shu Lien have kept themselves separated since then due to loyalty and respect for Sizhao. Mu Bai finally expresses his feelings to Shu Lien just before his death. In the second love story, desert bandit Lo ambushed Governor Yu and his family earlier while passing through the desert of Xinjiang. He stole the Governor’s daughter Jen’s comb without knowing she knew martial arts. Jen chased him and fought back to recover her comb. During the tussle, they fell in love. Later, Lo appears just before Jen’s arranged marriage ceremony and they run away from the ceremony. Ultimately, they reconcile at Mount Wudang.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is all about morals or principles. No action occurs without reason. Mu Bai avenges his master’s death by killing Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei) because Jade Fox killed his master earlier. Jade Fox killed Mu Bai’s master because he slept with her but refused to take her as a disciple as she was a woman. Mu Bai and Shu Lien suppress showing their love for each other, which is disrespectful to her dead fiance. Even though Jen attacks Shu Lien, she helps Jen to find Lo at Mount Wudang. Shu Lien recognizes Jen during the fight after she steals Green Destiny but does not reveal her identity to the outside world because of her family background. She pardons Jen and sends her to Lo at Mount Wudang even after she stabs her hand. So, nobody in the film breaks principles or engages in violence or killing just to do those actions. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a film about maintaining restraint driven by deep philosophical and spiritual principles amid invocation of violence.
The ending of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is mysterious but poetic. Jen reconciles with Lo near the waterfall at Mount Wudang and asks him to make a wish for them. As per the legend, if a person makes a wish and jumps into the waterfall, the wish comes true. Lo makes the wish to stay together with Jen in the desert. Then, Jen jumps off the bridge into the waterfall and the film ends with the floating image of Jen. Multiple questions remain unanswered. Does she really want to get back to the desert with Lo? Or, does she want to be free forever like her indomitable free spirit? What happens to her after the jump? Does she keep floating forever or reach the ground safely? Do they get back to the desert ultimately? Viewers don’t know the answers. Director Ang Lee keeps the film open-ended. Films do not necessarily have to answer all the questions. The significance of a film sometimes lies in uncertainty. If everything is answered, the cinematic poetry is lost.
In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, director Ang Lee depicts a version of China that never really existed. He portrays this film as a dreamlike fairytale based on his childhood and boyhood imaginations. Artists like filmmakers or writers take us on a flight to their world of imagination and make us wonder through their artworks. In the same way, Director Ang Lee makes the viewers experience and wonder about a cinematic marvel through Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Another important aspect of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is Jen’s freedom against patriarchy. Even though she was born and brought up in the affluent governor’s household, Jen learns martial arts and becomes a warrior. Always, she is in search of freedom. She holds the courage to run away from her wedding ceremony revolting against her powerful family. Ultimately, she meets Lo at Mount Wudang. However, her free spirit cannot be enclosed and she jumps off the bridge into the waterfall risking her life. Does she really want to get back to the desert with Lo? Or, Does she escape the family’s bondage by jumping into the waterfall? Viewers don’t know the answer.
The screenplay based on Wang Dulu’s Chinese novel of the same name is detailed and contains some memorable dialogues. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is filled with drama scenes including romance and multiple utterly complex action sequences. So, writing a screenplay considering all these together is not an easy job. Even though Zhang Ziyi remains the biggest discovery through Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, all the actors deliver outstanding performances in the film. Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-fat as the veteran martial arts warriors Shu Lien and Mu Bai are fiercely combative but restrained. Twenty-year-old Zhang Ziyi as Jen is exceptional. Chang Chen as Lo skillfully portrays the fearless Wuxia fighter and desert bandit Lo or ‘dark cloud’. The veteran Chinese actor Cheng Pei-pei brilliantly portrays the prime villain Jade Fox with fierce aggressiveness and resentment.
One of the most important aspects of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is Peter Pau’s magnificent cinematography. Usually, he uses hard lighting, strong colors, filters, and fog effects for martial arts films. But, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has a major drama portion that doesn’t match the above effects. So, Peter Pau mostly uses low contrasting desaturated colors except in a few scenes. He uses more golden red and yellow colors for the desert scenes and green color for the fighting scenes in bamboo woods. Pau’s cinematography is incredibly dynamic during the martial arts scenes. He brilliantly mixes and matches long, mid, close-up, wide-angle, and birds-eye-view shots. Pau uses the 2.35:1 aspect ratio instead of 1.85:1 to cover the action sequences more widely.
In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, composer Tan Dun brilliantly mixes Chinese instruments with Western orchestra and action with romance. All the soundtracks include the incredible solo cello passages by Yo-Yo Ma. Ma’s cello tunes create a long-lasting impact on viewers. Later, Tan Dun created a concerto for Yo-Yo Ma. In all the scenes, Tan Dun’s brilliant music resonates with the respective subject of the scenes. Another significant achievement of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the outstanding action choreography by Yuen Woo-ping. It is difficult to believe that the martial arts sequences in the film were executed manually with wires and not digitally. The action sequences in the bamboo woods are just incredible and fascinating. All the action sequences were executed brilliantly and meticulously. Tim Yip’s outstanding art direction makes the film look authentic and magnificent.
Film analysis and review on YouTube by Mainak Misra