Overview
Chinese Name：卧虎藏龙
English Name：Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Other Names: Tiger et Dragon
Director: Ang Lee 李安
Screenwriter: Wang Hui-ling王蕙玲，James Schamus
Starring: Chow Yun-fat周润发，Zhang Ziyi章子怡，Michelle Yeoh杨紫琼，Chang Chen张震
Release Year：2000
Running time : 120 Minutes
Brief Introduction of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (simplified Chinese: 卧虎藏龙) is a martial arts action film in 2000. It is directed by Ang Lee and co-starred by Chow Yun fat(also starring in Let the Bullets Flying), Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi. The film was released in mainland China on July 8, 2000.
The film tells the story that a young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famous swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has a number of award-winning records, including the 73rd Oscar for best foreign language film. It is also the first film in the history of Chinese films to win the Oscar for best foreign-language film .
In September 2019, the film was ranked 51st in the “100 best films of the 21st century” by the British Guardian.
Plot of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Li mubai, a warrior, has the intention of quitting the Jianghu and entrusted her confidant Yu Xiulian to bring her Qingming sword to the capital as a gift to Lord Baylor for collection. This 400-year-old sword has hurt countless people. Li mubai hopes that such a major decision can show his determination to leave the Jianghu.
Unexpectedly, the sword was stolen that night. Yu Xiulian fought with the thief, but finally the thief escaped with the help of her accomplices. Someone saw a masked man disappear in the nine door governor’s mansion. Yu Xiulian also thought that Lord Yu must be related with the theft. Jiumen is in charge of public security in the capital and Lord Yu has just been transferred from Xinjiang. Lord Baylor neither believes that Lord Yu is related to this, nor can he act rashly to avoid affecting the overall situation.
In order not to complicate things, Yu Xiulian has been secretly investigating the whereabouts of the sword. She also guessed that it was the whim of Miss Yu Jiaolong. Yu Xiulian concealed the news from Li mubai who came to the capital. She just wanted to force Yu Jiaolong to return the sword by beating around the bush to avoid hurting her harmony.However, Yu Xiulian’s good intentions failed. When the masked man really returned the sword, he inevitably had a frontal confrontation with Li mubai. And Li mubai found the trace of the blue eyed fox that killed the master. At this time, Li mubai couldn’t stop.
Yujiaolong was secretly accepted as a disciple by the blue eyed fox hidden in the jade house when she was young. She learned the best martial arts of Wudang from the secret script, which has long been better than her teacher. When she was in Xinjiang, Yu Jiaolong had a lifelong relationship with Luo Xiaohu, a local thief, without telling her father.But now she is in Beijing, and her father wants her to marry someone else. On a whim, Yu Jiaolong rushed out of his house and wandered the Jianghu.
At night, a desert bandit The self-willed and arrogant Yu Jiaolong has no place to vent her bitterness. She seems to be a little devil in the Jianghu. Yu Xiulian and Li mubai cherish Yu jiaolong’s rare talents but their painstaking guidance is always ineffective. In the final battle with the blue-eyed fox, Li mubai died of poisoning needle to save Yu jiaolong. Yu Jiaolong came down to Wudang Mountain under the guidance of Yu Xiulian, but she couldn’t face Luo Xiaohu. After lingering with Luo Xiaohu overnight, she threw herself into the ravine.
Accolades of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2000, and was theatrically released in the United States on 8 December. An overwhelming critical and commercial success, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won over 40 awards and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 2001, including Best Picture, and won Best Foreign Language Film, Best Art Direction, Best Original Score and Best Cinematography, receiving the most nominations ever for a non-English language film at the time, until 2018’s Roma tied this record.
The film also won four BAFTAs and two Golden Globe Awards, one for Best Foreign Film. Along with its awards success, Crouching Tiger continues to be hailed as one of the greatest and most influential non-English language films. The film has been praised for its story, direction, cinematography, and martial arts sequences.
Film Review of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a martial arts movie in a traditional Chinese action idiom which manages to be both electrifyingly exciting and sweetly romantic – qualities wrapped up in the preternatural innocence of a fairy tale.
Guardian
Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” is the most exhilarating martial arts movie I have seen.
Roger Ebert
With kung fu so gloriously choreographed, shot and edited that it literally has you gasping for breath, an epic canvas of stunning Chinese scenery and a set of beautifully measured characters trading genuine emotions, it’s The Matrix spliced with David Lean, seasoned with the late ’70s Oriental TV series, The Water Margin. Oh, and it’s in Chinese.
Empire