Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Encyclopedia
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia
film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee
and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat
, Michelle Yeoh
, Zhang Ziyi
, and Chang Chen
. The film was based on the fourth novel
in a pentalogy
, known in China as the Crane Iron Pentalogy, by wuxia novelist Wang Dulu
. The martial arts and action sequences
were choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping.
Made on a mere US$15 million budget, with dialogue in Mandarin
, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon became a surprise international success, grossing $213.5 million. It grossed US$128 million in the United States, becoming the highest-grossing foreign-language film in American history. It has won over 40 awards. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
(Taiwan) and three other Academy Awards, and was nominated for six other Academy Awards, including Best Picture
. The film also won three BAFTAs and two Golden Globes, one for "Best Foreign Film" as well as additional nominations for ten BAFTAs including "Best Picture".
during the 43rd year (1779) of the reign of the Qianlong Emperor
. Li Mu Bai is an accomplished Wudang
swordsman. Long ago, his master was murdered by Jade Fox, a woman who sought to learn Wudang skills but was rejected due to her gender. Mu Bai is also a good friend of Yu Shu Lien, a female warrior. Mu Bai and Shu Lien have developed feelings for each other, but have never acknowledged or acted on them. Mu Bai, intending to give up his warrior life, asks Shu Lien to transport his sword, also referred to as the Green Destiny, to the city of Beijing, as a gift for their friend, Sir Te. At Sir Te's estate, Shu Lien meets Jen, the daughter of Governor Yu, a visiting Manchu aristocrat. Jen, destined for an arranged marriage and yearning for adventure, seems envious of Shu Lien's warrior lifestyle.
One evening, a masked thief sneaks into Sir Te's estate and steals the sword. Mu Bai and Shu Lien, with the assistance of Sir Te's servant Master Bo, trace the theft to Governor Yu's compound and learn that Jade Fox has been posing as Jen's governess for many years. Bo makes the acquaintance of Inspector Tsai, a police investigator from the provinces, and his daughter, May, who have come to Beijing in pursuit of Jade Fox. While the three are eating lunch, Jade Fox fires a dart with a written message attached to it, challenging them to a showdown that night. Following a protracted battle, the group is on the verge of defeat when Mu Bai arrives and outmaneuvers Jade Fox. Before Mu Bai can kill Jade Fox, the masked thief reappears and partners with Jade Fox to fight. Jade Fox resumes the fight and kills Tsai before fleeing with the thief (who is revealed to be Jade Fox's protegée, Jen). After seeing Jen fight Mu Bai, Jade Fox realizes Jen had been secretly studying the Wudang manual and has surpassed her in skill. After finding out that Tsai was a police officer, a guilt-ridden Jen returns the Green Destiny to Sir Te's estate but is intercepted by Mu Bai. Mu Bai easily defeats her and asks her to become his pupil. Jen angrily rebukes his offer and flees. When she returns home, Jen confronts Jade Fox and banishes her from the Governor's compound.
That night, a desert bandit named Lo breaks into Jen's bedroom and asks her to leave with him. A flashback reveals that in the past, when Governor Yu and his family were traveling in the western deserts, Lo and his bandits had raided Jen's caravan; Lo took an heirloom comb from Jen and she pursued him to get it back, but succumbed to exhaustion in the desert. Lo took her to his cave hideout, where after an escape attempt and Lo's kind hospitality, the two fall in love. Lo eventually convinced Jen to return to her family, though not before telling her a legend of a man who jumped off a cliff to make his wishes come true. Because the man's heart was pure, he did not die. Lo came to Beijing to persuade Jen not to go through with her arranged marriage. However, when Jen refuses to leave with him, he returns the stolen comb and leaves.
After the wedding, Jen runs away and steals the Green Destiny again. Mu Bai, Shu Lien, and Lo are ordered to find and retrieve Jen. Jen visits Shu Lien at one of her dojos, who tells her that Lo is waiting for her at Wudang Mountain. After an angry dispute, the two women engage in a duel. Wielding the Green Destiny, Jen gains the upper hand by destroying every weapon that Shu Lien uses. However, Shu Lien finally uses a broken two-handed straight sword, jian
, to her advantage, surprising Jen by managing to press its broken but still sharp edge to her throat. However, rather than acknowledging her defeat and handing over the Green Destiny, Jen injures Shu Lien when she lowers her broken weapon. Mu Bai arrives and pursues Jen into a bamboo forest. A duel ensues where Mu Bai overcomes a challenge Jen sets before him (to determine whether she will be his pupil), regaining possession of the Green Destiny. But when Mu Bai succeeds and Jen continues to refuse, Mu Bai realizes that she is without honor, thus unworthy of becoming his pupil despite her skills and throws the sword over a waterfall. In pursuit, Jen dives into an adjoining river to retrieve the sword, and is then rescued by Fox. Fox puts Jen into a drugged sleep and places her in a cavern in which later Mu Bai, Shu Lien and Bo discover her. Fox suddenly reappears and attacks the others with poisoned darts. Mu Bai blocks the needles with his sword and avenges his master's death by mortally wounding Fox, only to realize that one of the darts managed to hit him in the neck. Fox dies, confessing that her goal had been to kill Jen, because she was furious that Jen hid the secrets of Wudang from her.
As Jen runs off to prepare the antidote for the poisoned dart, Mu Bai prepares to die. With his last breaths, he finally confesses his love for Shu Lien, and dies in her arms as Jen returns too late to save him. The Green Destiny is returned to Sir Te. Jen later goes to Wudang Mountain and spends one last night with Lo. The next morning, Lo finds Jen standing on a balcony overlooking the edge of the mountain. In an echo of the legend that they spoke about in the desert, she asks him to make a wish. He complies, wishing for them to be together, back in the desert. Jen then flies over the side of the mountain and into the clouds.
In Cinema Journal
, Kenneth Chan notes the restrictions binding the female characters and their freedom and resulting actions. There is Jade Fox, whose bitterness against the limitations male-dominated society has set upon her resulted in her open revolt. Then there is Jen, the young woman at the verge of her wedding is still wavering, battling between her desire to be accepted and respected by her family and society and her wish to be free. Finally, there is Shu-lien. Although she lives the life of a warrior, Shu-lien adheres strictly to the moral codes and traditions of the patriarchal society she lives in. She respects male privilege and consistently suppresses her desire for Li Mubai due to certain societal obligations.
Rong Cai of Duke University
asserts that the sword, Green Destiny, is passed along men, and is with the exception of Jen used only by male figures making the sword a phallic symbol of masculinity and male authority. Jen’s desire to use the sword, and her theft of it, thus also represents her wish to attain both the freedom and the power Li Mu-Bai possesses. Jen's suicide at the end of the film signifies the hopelessness of her quest for freedom. She realizes that marriage would confine her, the freedom she attempted killed someone, and her love for Lo would require her to give up the personal freedom she always wanted.
In the world of martial arts, poison is considered the act of one who is too cowardly and dishonorable to fight; and indeed, the only character that explicitly fits these characteristics is Jade Fox. The poison is a weapon of her bitterness and quest for vengeance: she poisons the master of Wudang, attempts to poison Jen and succeeds in killing Mu Bai.
However, the poison is not only of the physical sort: Jade Fox’s tutelage of Jen has left Jen spiritually poisoned, which can be seen in the lying, stealing and betrayal Jen commits. Even though she is the one who initially trained Jen, Jen is never seen to use poison herself. This indicates that there is hope yet to reform her and integrate her into society. In further play on this theme by the director, Jade Fox, as she dies, refers to the poison from a young child,"the deceit of an eight year old girl", obviously referring to what she considers her own spiritual poisoning by her young apprentice Jen.
; the American companies Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia
, Sony Pictures Classics
and Good Machine
; the Hong Kong company EDKO Film; and the Taiwanese Zoom Hunt International Productions Company, Ltd; as well as the unspecified United China Vision, and Asia Union Film & Entertainment Ltd., created solely for this film.
The film was made in Beijing, with location shooting in the Anhui
, Hebei
, Jiangsu
and Xinjiang
provinces of China. The first phase of shooting was in the Gobi Desert
where it would consistently rain. Director Ang Lee noted that "I didn't take one break in eight months, not even for half a day. I was miserable—I just didn't have the extra energy to be happy. Near the end, I could hardly breathe. I thought I was about to have a stroke." The stunt work was mostly performed by the actors themselves and Ang Lee stated in an interview that computers were used "only to remove the safety wires that held the actors". "Most of the time you can see their faces," he added, "That's really them in the trees."
Another compounding issue were the varying accents of the four lead actors: Chow Yun Fat is from Hong Kong and spoke Cantonese natively and Michelle Yeoh
is from Malaysia and spoke English. Only Zhang Ziyi
spoke with a native Mandarin accent that Ang Lee wanted. Chow Yun Fat said that on "the first day [of shooting] I had to do 28 takes just because of the language. That's never happened before in my life."
Because the film specifically targeted Western audiences rather than the domestic audiences who were already used to Wuxia films, English subtitles were needed. Ang Lee, who was educated in the West, personally edited the subtitles to ensure they were satisfactory for western audiences.
in the West in 2004. The DVD film was over an hour and half longer than the original theatrical film.
.
.
reported that 97% of critics gave Crouching Tiger positive reviews, based on 143 reviews, while Metacritic
reported the film had an average score of 93 out of 100, based on 31 reviews.
Some Chinese-speaking viewers were bothered by the accents of the leading actors. Neither Chow (a native Cantonese
speaker) nor Yeoh (who was born and raised in Malaysia) speaks Mandarin as a mother tongue. All four main actors spoke with different accents: Chow speaks with a Cantonese accent; Yeoh with a Malaysian accent; Chang Chen a Taiwanese accent; and Zhang Ziyi a Beijing accent. Yeoh responded to this complaint in a December 28, 2000, interview with Cinescape. She argued that "My character lived outside of Beijing, and so I didn't have to do the Beijing accent". When the interviewer, Craig Reid, remarked that "My mother-in-law has this strange Sichuan
-Mandarin accent that's hard for me to understand", Yeoh responded: "Yes, provinces all have their very own strong accents. When we first started the movie, Cheng Pei Pei was going to have her accent, and Chang Zhen was going to have his accent, and this person would have that accent. And in the end nobody could understand what they were saying. Forget about us, even the crew from Beijing thought this was all weird".
The film led to a boost in popularity of Chinese wuxia films in the western world, where they were previously little known, and led to films such as House of Flying Daggers
and Hero
marketed towards western audiences. The film also provided the breakthrough role for Zhang Ziyi
's career, who noted that:
The film also ranks at No.497 on Empire magazine
's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.
The character of Lo, or "Dark Cloud," the desert bandit, influenced the development of the protagonist
of the Prince of Persia
series of video games.
Ranked No.66 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.
and New York
film festivals, the film also became a favorite when Academy Awards
nominations were announced in 2001. The film was however screened out of competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival
.
Wuxia
Wuxia is a broad genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists. Although wuxia is traditionally a form of literature, its popularity has caused it to spread to diverse art forms like Chinese opera, manhua , films, television series, and video games...
film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee
Ang Lee
Ang Lee is a Taiwanese film director. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman , Sense and Sensibility , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , Hulk , and Brokeback Mountain , for which he won an Academy...
and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat
Chow Yun-Fat
Chow Yun-fat, SBS is an actor from Hong Kong. He is best known in Asia for his collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled; and to the West for his role as Li Mu-bai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...
, Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng is a Hong Kong-based Malaysian Chinese actress, well known for performing her own stunts in the action films that brought her to fame in the early 1990s....
, Zhang Ziyi
Zhang Ziyi
Zhang Ziyi is a Chinese film actress. Zhang is coined by the media as one of the Four Young Dan actresses in the Film Industry in China, along with Zhao Wei, Xu Jinglei, and Zhou Xun...
, and Chang Chen
Chang Chen
Chang Chen is a Taiwanese actor, born in Taipei, Taiwan. His name is sometimes seen in the Western order . He is the son of a Taiwanese actor Chang Kuo Chu and brother of a Taiwanese actor, Chang Han .-Career:...
. The film was based on the fourth novel
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (novel)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the fourth in a sequence of five novels that are collectively called the Crane Iron Pentalogy, written by Wang Dulu from 1938 to 1942.-Adaptations:...
in a pentalogy
Pentalogy
A pentalogy is a compound literary or narrative work that is made up of five distinct works, just as a trilogy is made up of three works, and a tetralogy of four...
, known in China as the Crane Iron Pentalogy, by wuxia novelist Wang Dulu
Wang Dulu
Wang Baoxiang , style name Xiaoyu , better known by his pen name Wang Dulu , was a Chinese writer of wuxia novels. Wang is best known for his work, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, that was adapted into a successful feature film of the same title by film director Ang Lee in 2000.-Biography:Wang was...
. The martial arts and action sequences
Stage combat
Stage combat is a specialized technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet productions. The term is also used informally to describe fight choreography for other...
were choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping.
Made on a mere US$15 million budget, with dialogue in Mandarin
Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese, or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon became a surprise international success, grossing $213.5 million. It grossed US$128 million in the United States, becoming the highest-grossing foreign-language film in American history. It has won over 40 awards. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
(Taiwan) and three other Academy Awards, and was nominated for six other Academy Awards, including Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
. The film also won three BAFTAs and two Golden Globes, one for "Best Foreign Film" as well as additional nominations for ten BAFTAs including "Best Picture".
Plot
The film is set in the Qing DynastyQing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
during the 43rd year (1779) of the reign of the Qianlong Emperor
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796...
. Li Mu Bai is an accomplished Wudang
Wudang Sect
The Wudang Sect is a fictional Chinese martial arts sect featured in several works of wuxia fiction. It is one of the most famous and recognised orthodox and righteous sects in the jianghu. Its home base is in the Wudang Mountains...
swordsman. Long ago, his master was murdered by Jade Fox, a woman who sought to learn Wudang skills but was rejected due to her gender. Mu Bai is also a good friend of Yu Shu Lien, a female warrior. Mu Bai and Shu Lien have developed feelings for each other, but have never acknowledged or acted on them. Mu Bai, intending to give up his warrior life, asks Shu Lien to transport his sword, also referred to as the Green Destiny, to the city of Beijing, as a gift for their friend, Sir Te. At Sir Te's estate, Shu Lien meets Jen, the daughter of Governor Yu, a visiting Manchu aristocrat. Jen, destined for an arranged marriage and yearning for adventure, seems envious of Shu Lien's warrior lifestyle.
One evening, a masked thief sneaks into Sir Te's estate and steals the sword. Mu Bai and Shu Lien, with the assistance of Sir Te's servant Master Bo, trace the theft to Governor Yu's compound and learn that Jade Fox has been posing as Jen's governess for many years. Bo makes the acquaintance of Inspector Tsai, a police investigator from the provinces, and his daughter, May, who have come to Beijing in pursuit of Jade Fox. While the three are eating lunch, Jade Fox fires a dart with a written message attached to it, challenging them to a showdown that night. Following a protracted battle, the group is on the verge of defeat when Mu Bai arrives and outmaneuvers Jade Fox. Before Mu Bai can kill Jade Fox, the masked thief reappears and partners with Jade Fox to fight. Jade Fox resumes the fight and kills Tsai before fleeing with the thief (who is revealed to be Jade Fox's protegée, Jen). After seeing Jen fight Mu Bai, Jade Fox realizes Jen had been secretly studying the Wudang manual and has surpassed her in skill. After finding out that Tsai was a police officer, a guilt-ridden Jen returns the Green Destiny to Sir Te's estate but is intercepted by Mu Bai. Mu Bai easily defeats her and asks her to become his pupil. Jen angrily rebukes his offer and flees. When she returns home, Jen confronts Jade Fox and banishes her from the Governor's compound.
That night, a desert bandit named Lo breaks into Jen's bedroom and asks her to leave with him. A flashback reveals that in the past, when Governor Yu and his family were traveling in the western deserts, Lo and his bandits had raided Jen's caravan; Lo took an heirloom comb from Jen and she pursued him to get it back, but succumbed to exhaustion in the desert. Lo took her to his cave hideout, where after an escape attempt and Lo's kind hospitality, the two fall in love. Lo eventually convinced Jen to return to her family, though not before telling her a legend of a man who jumped off a cliff to make his wishes come true. Because the man's heart was pure, he did not die. Lo came to Beijing to persuade Jen not to go through with her arranged marriage. However, when Jen refuses to leave with him, he returns the stolen comb and leaves.
After the wedding, Jen runs away and steals the Green Destiny again. Mu Bai, Shu Lien, and Lo are ordered to find and retrieve Jen. Jen visits Shu Lien at one of her dojos, who tells her that Lo is waiting for her at Wudang Mountain. After an angry dispute, the two women engage in a duel. Wielding the Green Destiny, Jen gains the upper hand by destroying every weapon that Shu Lien uses. However, Shu Lien finally uses a broken two-handed straight sword, jian
Jian
The jian is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China. The first Chinese sources that mention the jian date to the 7th century BCE during the Spring and Autumn Period; one of the earliest specimens being the Sword of Goujian.Historical one-handed versions have blades...
, to her advantage, surprising Jen by managing to press its broken but still sharp edge to her throat. However, rather than acknowledging her defeat and handing over the Green Destiny, Jen injures Shu Lien when she lowers her broken weapon. Mu Bai arrives and pursues Jen into a bamboo forest. A duel ensues where Mu Bai overcomes a challenge Jen sets before him (to determine whether she will be his pupil), regaining possession of the Green Destiny. But when Mu Bai succeeds and Jen continues to refuse, Mu Bai realizes that she is without honor, thus unworthy of becoming his pupil despite her skills and throws the sword over a waterfall. In pursuit, Jen dives into an adjoining river to retrieve the sword, and is then rescued by Fox. Fox puts Jen into a drugged sleep and places her in a cavern in which later Mu Bai, Shu Lien and Bo discover her. Fox suddenly reappears and attacks the others with poisoned darts. Mu Bai blocks the needles with his sword and avenges his master's death by mortally wounding Fox, only to realize that one of the darts managed to hit him in the neck. Fox dies, confessing that her goal had been to kill Jen, because she was furious that Jen hid the secrets of Wudang from her.
As Jen runs off to prepare the antidote for the poisoned dart, Mu Bai prepares to die. With his last breaths, he finally confesses his love for Shu Lien, and dies in her arms as Jen returns too late to save him. The Green Destiny is returned to Sir Te. Jen later goes to Wudang Mountain and spends one last night with Lo. The next morning, Lo finds Jen standing on a balcony overlooking the edge of the mountain. In an echo of the legend that they spoke about in the desert, she asks him to make a wish. He complies, wishing for them to be together, back in the desert. Jen then flies over the side of the mountain and into the clouds.
Themes and Interpretations
The title of the film is a Chinese proverb that refers to the hidden mysteries and qualities underneath a person. This theme of character development is central to the story and moves the plot forward.Gender roles
The theme of gender roles and obligations is an important aspect of the plot. In a storyline that begins prior to the timeline of the movie, Jade Fox is denied entry to the Wudan monastery because she is a woman. Intent on learning the secrets of Wudang fighting style, she poisons the master and steals a manual to learn Wudang on her own, which sets in motion the events of the film.In Cinema Journal
Cinema Journal
The Cinema Journal is published by the Society for Cinema and Media Studies . It features articles on film studies, television studies, media studies, visual arts, cultural studies, film and media history, and moving image studies....
, Kenneth Chan notes the restrictions binding the female characters and their freedom and resulting actions. There is Jade Fox, whose bitterness against the limitations male-dominated society has set upon her resulted in her open revolt. Then there is Jen, the young woman at the verge of her wedding is still wavering, battling between her desire to be accepted and respected by her family and society and her wish to be free. Finally, there is Shu-lien. Although she lives the life of a warrior, Shu-lien adheres strictly to the moral codes and traditions of the patriarchal society she lives in. She respects male privilege and consistently suppresses her desire for Li Mubai due to certain societal obligations.
Rong Cai of Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
asserts that the sword, Green Destiny, is passed along men, and is with the exception of Jen used only by male figures making the sword a phallic symbol of masculinity and male authority. Jen’s desire to use the sword, and her theft of it, thus also represents her wish to attain both the freedom and the power Li Mu-Bai possesses. Jen's suicide at the end of the film signifies the hopelessness of her quest for freedom. She realizes that marriage would confine her, the freedom she attempted killed someone, and her love for Lo would require her to give up the personal freedom she always wanted.
Poison
Poison is also a significant theme in this movie, both literally and figuratively.In the world of martial arts, poison is considered the act of one who is too cowardly and dishonorable to fight; and indeed, the only character that explicitly fits these characteristics is Jade Fox. The poison is a weapon of her bitterness and quest for vengeance: she poisons the master of Wudang, attempts to poison Jen and succeeds in killing Mu Bai.
However, the poison is not only of the physical sort: Jade Fox’s tutelage of Jen has left Jen spiritually poisoned, which can be seen in the lying, stealing and betrayal Jen commits. Even though she is the one who initially trained Jen, Jen is never seen to use poison herself. This indicates that there is hope yet to reform her and integrate her into society. In further play on this theme by the director, Jade Fox, as she dies, refers to the poison from a young child,"the deceit of an eight year old girl", obviously referring to what she considers her own spiritual poisoning by her young apprentice Jen.
Title
The name "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" is a literal translation of the Chinese proverb "卧虎藏龙" which refers to the mysteries that lie below the surface of an otherwise normal-looking individual. Whereas the first part of the film takes place in society restrained by law and order, the second part, including the flashback scene, occurs in the world of individuals and thus the characters seen in the first part of the film are revealed in their true form.Cast
- Chow Yun-FatChow Yun-FatChow Yun-fat, SBS is an actor from Hong Kong. He is best known in Asia for his collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled; and to the West for his role as Li Mu-bai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...
as Master Li Mu Bai - Michelle YeohMichelle YeohMichelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng is a Hong Kong-based Malaysian Chinese actress, well known for performing her own stunts in the action films that brought her to fame in the early 1990s....
as Yu Shu Lien - Zhang ZiyiZhang ZiyiZhang Ziyi is a Chinese film actress. Zhang is coined by the media as one of the Four Young Dan actresses in the Film Industry in China, along with Zhao Wei, Xu Jinglei, and Zhou Xun...
as Jen Yu (English dubbed version) / Jiao Long (Mandarin version) - Chang ChenChang ChenChang Chen is a Taiwanese actor, born in Taipei, Taiwan. His name is sometimes seen in the Western order . He is the son of a Taiwanese actor Chang Kuo Chu and brother of a Taiwanese actor, Chang Han .-Career:...
as Lo "Dark Cloud" / Luo Xiaohu - Cheng Pei-peiCheng Pei-peiCheng Pei-pei is an actress best known for her performance in the seminal 1966 King Hu wuxia film Come Drink with Me. She continued to play expert swordswomen in a number of films throughout the 1960s...
as Jade Fox - Sihung LungSihung LungSihung Lung was an actor in the cinema of Taiwan who appeared in over 100 films and was best known for playing paternal roles in films including Eat Drink Man Woman and The Wedding Banquet...
as Sir Te - Li Fazeng as Governor Yu
- Gao Xi'an as Bo
- Hai Yan as Madam Yu
- Wang Deming as Police inspector Tsai / Prefect Cai Qiu
- Huang Suying as Aunt Wu
- Yang Rui as Maid
- Li Kai as Gou Jun Pei
- Feng Jianhua as Gou Jun Sinung
- Ma Zhongxuan as Mi Biao
- Li Baocheng as Fung Machete Chang
- Yang Yongde as Monk Jing
- Zhang Shaocheng as Nightman
Production
Although its Academy Award was presented to Taiwan, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was in fact an international co-production between companies in four regions: the Chinese company China Film Co-Production CorporationChina Film Co-Production Corporation
China Film Co-Production Corporation , abbreviated as CFCC, is a Chinese film production company and distributor. It is a subsidiary of China Film Group Corporation...
; the American companies Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics is an art-house film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment founded in December 1991 that distributes, produces and acquires specialty films from the United States and around the world. Its co-presidents are Michael Barker and Tom Bernard...
and Good Machine
Good Machine
Good Machine was an independent film production, film distribution, and foreign sales company started in the early 1990s by its co-founders and producers, Ted Hope and James Schamus. David Linde joined in the late 90s to start the international sales company...
; the Hong Kong company EDKO Film; and the Taiwanese Zoom Hunt International Productions Company, Ltd; as well as the unspecified United China Vision, and Asia Union Film & Entertainment Ltd., created solely for this film.
The film was made in Beijing, with location shooting in the Anhui
Anhui
Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
, Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
, Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
and Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
provinces of China. The first phase of shooting was in the Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
where it would consistently rain. Director Ang Lee noted that "I didn't take one break in eight months, not even for half a day. I was miserable—I just didn't have the extra energy to be happy. Near the end, I could hardly breathe. I thought I was about to have a stroke." The stunt work was mostly performed by the actors themselves and Ang Lee stated in an interview that computers were used "only to remove the safety wires that held the actors". "Most of the time you can see their faces," he added, "That's really them in the trees."
Another compounding issue were the varying accents of the four lead actors: Chow Yun Fat is from Hong Kong and spoke Cantonese natively and Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng is a Hong Kong-based Malaysian Chinese actress, well known for performing her own stunts in the action films that brought her to fame in the early 1990s....
is from Malaysia and spoke English. Only Zhang Ziyi
Zhang Ziyi
Zhang Ziyi is a Chinese film actress. Zhang is coined by the media as one of the Four Young Dan actresses in the Film Industry in China, along with Zhao Wei, Xu Jinglei, and Zhou Xun...
spoke with a native Mandarin accent that Ang Lee wanted. Chow Yun Fat said that on "the first day [of shooting] I had to do 28 takes just because of the language. That's never happened before in my life."
Because the film specifically targeted Western audiences rather than the domestic audiences who were already used to Wuxia films, English subtitles were needed. Ang Lee, who was educated in the West, personally edited the subtitles to ensure they were satisfactory for western audiences.
Post-development
A Taiwanese television series based on the original novel was produced. It was later compiled into a DVD film titled New Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonNew Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
New Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2004 DVD film based on the novel by Wang Du Lu. The DVD film as released in the West is composed of footage from a Taiwanese television serial of the same name...
in the West in 2004. The DVD film was over an hour and half longer than the original theatrical film.
Video game
The film was also adapted into a video gameCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (video game)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a video game based on the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon film by Ang Lee. Players may play as Li Mu Bai, Yu Shu Lien, Jen, and Lo. The award-winning soundtrack features the Academy and Grammy Award winning music composed by Tan Dun with solos by internationally...
.
Novels
Originally written as a novel series by Wang Du Lu starting in the late 1930s, the film is adapted from the storyline of the fourth book in the seriesCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (novel)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the fourth in a sequence of five novels that are collectively called the Crane Iron Pentalogy, written by Wang Dulu from 1938 to 1942.-Adaptations:...
.
Comics
The film was also adapted into a comic series.Critical response
Crouching Tiger was very well received in the Western world, receiving critical acclaim and numerous awards. The review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 97% of critics gave Crouching Tiger positive reviews, based on 143 reviews, while Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported the film had an average score of 93 out of 100, based on 31 reviews.
Some Chinese-speaking viewers were bothered by the accents of the leading actors. Neither Chow (a native Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
speaker) nor Yeoh (who was born and raised in Malaysia) speaks Mandarin as a mother tongue. All four main actors spoke with different accents: Chow speaks with a Cantonese accent; Yeoh with a Malaysian accent; Chang Chen a Taiwanese accent; and Zhang Ziyi a Beijing accent. Yeoh responded to this complaint in a December 28, 2000, interview with Cinescape. She argued that "My character lived outside of Beijing, and so I didn't have to do the Beijing accent". When the interviewer, Craig Reid, remarked that "My mother-in-law has this strange Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
-Mandarin accent that's hard for me to understand", Yeoh responded: "Yes, provinces all have their very own strong accents. When we first started the movie, Cheng Pei Pei was going to have her accent, and Chang Zhen was going to have his accent, and this person would have that accent. And in the end nobody could understand what they were saying. Forget about us, even the crew from Beijing thought this was all weird".
The film led to a boost in popularity of Chinese wuxia films in the western world, where they were previously little known, and led to films such as House of Flying Daggers
House of Flying Daggers
House of Flying Daggers is a 2004 wuxia film directed by Zhang Yimou. It differs from other wuxia films in that it is more of a love story than a straight martial arts film....
and Hero
Hero (2002 film)
Hero is a 2002 wuxia film directed by Zhang Yimou. Starring Jet Li as the nameless protagonist, the film is based on the story of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin in 227 BC....
marketed towards western audiences. The film also provided the breakthrough role for Zhang Ziyi
Zhang Ziyi
Zhang Ziyi is a Chinese film actress. Zhang is coined by the media as one of the Four Young Dan actresses in the Film Industry in China, along with Zhao Wei, Xu Jinglei, and Zhou Xun...
's career, who noted that:
The film also ranks at No.497 on Empire magazine
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.
The character of Lo, or "Dark Cloud," the desert bandit, influenced the development of the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia is a platform game, originally developed by Jordan Mechner and released in 1989 for the Apple II, that represented a great leap forward in the quality of animation seen in video games....
series of video games.
Ranked No.66 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.
Accolades
Gathering widespread critical acclaim at the TorontoToronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
and New York
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival has been a major film festival since it began in 1963 in New York. The films are selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center...
film festivals, the film also became a favorite when Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
nominations were announced in 2001. The film was however screened out of competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival
2000 Cannes Film Festival
The 2000 Cannes Film Festival started on May 14 and ran until May 25. The Palme d'Or went to the Danish film Dancer in the Dark by Lars von Trier.-Jury:* Luc Besson, President * Jonathan Demme * Nicole Garcia...
.
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 73rd Academy Awards 73rd Academy Awards The 73rd Academy Awards honored the best films of 2000 and was held on March 25, 2001. It was the last Academy Awards to take place at the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium... |
Best Foreign Language Film | ||
| Best Picture | |||
| Best Director | Ang Lee | ||
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Tsai Kuo-Jung, Wang Hui-Ling, James Schamus | ||
| Best Original Song | Jorge Calandrelli, Tan Dun, James Schamus | ||
| Best Costume Design | Tim Yip | ||
| Best Art Direction | Tim Yip | ||
| Best Editing | Tim Squyres | ||
| Best Original Score | Tan Dun | ||
| Best Cinematography | Peter Pau | ||
| 2000 American Society of Cinematographers American Society of Cinematographers The American Society of Cinematographers is an educational, cultural, and professional organization. It is not a labor union, and it is not a guild. Membership is by invitation and is extended only to directors of photography and special effects experts with distinguished credits in the film... Awards |
Best Cinematography | Peter Pau | |
| 54th British Academy Film Awards 54th British Academy Film Awards The 54th British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts on 25 February 2001, honoured the best in film for 2000.... |
Best Film | ||
| Best Foreign Language Film | |||
| Best Actress in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :... |
Michelle Yeoh | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Zhang Ziyi | ||
| Best Cinematography BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography -Best Cinematography - Colour:* 1963 - From Russia with Love - Ted Moore** Nine Hours to Rama – Arthur Ibbetson** The Running Man – Robert Krasker** Sammy Going South – Erwin Hillier** The Scarlet Blade – Jack Asher... |
Peter Pau | ||
| Best Makeup and Hair | |||
| Best Editing | Tim Squyres | ||
| Best Costume Design BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design The British Academy Film Award for Best Costume Design is one of the annual film awards given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-1960s:* 1969 - Oh! What a Lovely War - Anthony Mendleson** Funny Girl – Irene Sharaff... |
Tim Yip | ||
| Best Director BAFTA Award for Best Direction Winners of the BAFTA Award for Best Direction presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-2010s:* 2010 - David Fincher – The Social Network** Tom Hooper – The King's Speech** Danny Boyle – 127 Hours... |
Ang Lee | ||
| Best Music | Tan Dun | ||
| Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Best Adapted Screenplay has been presented to its winners since 1968:-1980s:1983: Heat and Dust – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala*Betrayal – Harold Pinter... |
Tsai Kuo-Jung, Wang Hui-Ling, James Schamus | ||
| Best Production Design BAFTA Award for Best Production Design List of winners of the BAFTA Awards from 1964 to the present in the category "Best Production Design".-1960s:Best British Production Design - Black and White1964: Dr... |
Tim Yip | ||
| Best Sound BAFTA Award for Best Sound The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Best Sound has been presented to its winners since 1968 and sound designers of all nationalities are eligible to receive the award.-Winners 1968-present:... |
|||
| Best Visual Effects | |||
| Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2000 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2000 The 6th Critics' Choice Awards, honoring the best filmmaking of 2000, were given in 2001.-Top 10 Films:#Almost Famous#Billy Elliot#Cast Away# Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon #Erin Brockovich... |
Best Foreign Film | ||
| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2000 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2000 The 13th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, given on 26 February 2001, honored the finest achievements in 2000 filmmaking.-Winners:*Best Actor:**Tom Hanks - Cast Away*Best Actress:**Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream*Best Cinematography:... |
Most Promising Actress | Zhang Ziyi | |
| Best Original Score | Tan Dun | ||
| Best Cinematography | Peter Pau | ||
| Best Foreign Film | |||
| 2000 Directors Guild of America Directors Guild of America Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry... Awards |
Best Director | Ang Lee | |
| 58th Golden Globe Awards 58th Golden Globe Awards The 58th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 2000, were held on January 21, 2001.-Best Actor - Drama:Tom Hanks - Cast Away*Javier Bardem - Before Night Falls*Russell Crowe - Gladiator... |
Best Foreign Language Film | ||
| Best Director | Ang Lee | ||
| Best Original Score Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is one of several categories presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association , an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications outside North America, since its institution in 1947... |
Tan Dun | ||
| 20th Hong Kong Film Awards 20th Hong Kong Film Awards Ceremony for the 20th Hong Kong Film Awards was held on 29 April 2001 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and hosted by Eric Tsang, Carol Cheng, Gigi Leung and Eric Ng. Eighteen winners in eighteen categories were unveiled... |
Best Film Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film The Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film is an annual Hong Kong industry award presented to the films which is considered the best of the year.-History:... |
||
| Best Director Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director The Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director is an annual Hong Kong industry award presented to a director for the best achievement in cinematic direction.-History:... |
Ang Lee | ||
| Best Screenplay | Wang Hui-Ling, James Schamus, Tsai Kuo-Jung | ||
| Best Actor Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor The Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor is an annual Hong Kong industry award presented to an actor for the best performance by an actor in a leading role.-History:... |
Chow Yun-Fat | ||
| Best Actress Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress The Hong Kong Film Award for Best actress is an annual Hong Kong industry award presented to an actress for the best performance by an actress in a leading role.-Records:-1980s:*1982 Kara Hui - My Young Auntie as Cheng Tai-Nan... |
Zhang Ziyi | ||
| Best Actress | Michelle Yeoh | ||
| Best Supporting Actor Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor The Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual Hong Kong industry award presented to an actor for the best performance by an actor in a supporting role.-History:... |
Chang Chen | ||
| Best Supporting Actress Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actress The Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actress is an annual Hong Kong industry award presented to an actress for the best performance by an actress in a supporting role.-History:... |
Cheng Pei-pei | ||
| Best Cinematography Hong Kong Film Award for Best Cinematography The Hong Kong Film Award for Best Cinematography is an annual Hong Kong industry award presented to a cinematographer or a group of cinematographers for the best achievement in cinematography.-History:... |
Peter Pau | ||
| Best Film Editing | Tim Squyres | ||
| Best Art Direction | Tim Yip | ||
| Best Costume Make Up Design | Tim Yip | ||
| Best Action Choreography Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography The Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography is an annual Hong Kong industry award presented to a choreographer or a group of choreographers for the best achievement in action choreography.-History:... |
Yuen Wo Ping | ||
| Best Original Film Score | Tan Dun | ||
| Best Original Film Song | Tan Dun, Jorge Calandrelli Jorge Calandrelli Jorge Calandrelli is an Argentine composer, arranger and orchestrator.His truly ingenious arranging and composing techniques, especially his beautiful string writing, makes him very well recognized on many records of today's pop - jazz/ Jazz commercial record publications.Big record stars hired him... , Yee Kar-Yeung, Coco Lee CoCo Lee Coco Lee , born on 17 January 1975, also known by her official English name as Ferren Lee, is a pop singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. Coco started her career in Hong Kong but, after becoming popular in Taiwan, she was widely considered to be a Taiwan artist. She was born to a Chinese... |
||
| Best Sound Design | Eugene Gearty | ||
| Independent Spirit Awards 2000 Independent Spirit Awards 2000 The 16th Independent Spirit Awards, given by Film Independent in 2001, honored the best in film for 2000.-Best Actor: Javier Bardem - Before Night Falls*Adrien Brody - Restaurant*Billy Crudup - Jesus' Son*Hill Harper - The Visit... |
Best Picture | ||
| Best Director | Ang Lee | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Zhang Ziyi | ||
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 2000 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 2000 The 26th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 2000, were given in December, 2000.-Winners:*Best Picture:**Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon **Runner-up: Wonder Boys... |
Best Picture | ||
| Best Cinematography | Peter Pau | ||
| Best Music Score | Tan Dun | ||
| Best Production Design | Tim Yip | ||
| 2000 National Board of Review of Motion Pictures National Board of Review of Motion Pictures The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor believed that the new medium... Awards |
Best Foreign Language Film | ||
| Top Foreign Films | |||
| 2000 New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Cinematography | Peter Pau | |
| Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2000 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2000 The 4th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 2000, were held on 17 December 2000.-Winners:*Best Actor:**Benicio del Toro – TrafficRunner-Up: Mark Ruffalo – You Can Count on Me*Best Actress:... |
Best Picture | ||
| Best Director | Ang Lee | ||
| Best Actress | Michelle Yeoh | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Zhang Ziyi | ||
| 2000 Toronto International Film Festival 2000 Toronto International Film Festival The 2000 Toronto International Film Festival, the 25th annual festival, ran from September 7 to September 16, 2000. Along with special events to commemorate the anniversary, there were a total of 330 films screened. There was a special screening of Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky featuring... |
People's Choice Award | Ang Lee | |
| Writers Guild of America Awards 2000 Writers Guild of America Awards 2000 The 53rd Writers Guild of America Awards, given in 2001, honored the film and television best writers of 2000.-Best Adapted Screenplay: Traffic - Stephen Gaghan*Chocolat - Robert Nelson Jacobs... |
Best Adapted Screenplay | Tsai Kuo-Jung, Wang Hui-Ling, James Schamus | |
| 37th Golden Horse Awards – 2000 | Best Feature Film | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | |
| Best Director | Ang Lee | ||
| Best Leading Actress | Michelle Yeoh | ||
| Best Leading Actress | Zhang Ziyi | ||
| Best Screenplay Adaption | Tsai Kuo-Jung, Wang Hui-Ling, James Schamus | ||
| Best Cinematography | Peter Pau | ||
| Best Film Editing | Tim Squyres | ||
| Best Art Direction | Tim Yip | ||
| Best Original Score | Tan Dun | ||
| Best Sound Design | Eugene Gearty | ||
| Best Action Choreography | Yuen Wo Ping | ||
| Best Visual Effects | Leo Lo, Rob Hodgson |