CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON

'''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''' () is a Chinese-language wuxia (chivalric and martial arts) 2000 Academy Award winning film. A China-Hong Kong-Taiwan-United States co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and features an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen. The movie was based on the fourth novel in a pentalogy, known in China as the ''Crane-Iron Pentalogy'', by 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 US$128 million in the United States alone,^[1] becoming the highest-grossing foreign-language film in American history.^[2] The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and three other Academy Awards, and was nominated for a total of ten Academy Awards including Best Picture.^[3]

Contents

Title

Synopsis

Source

Production and marketing

Reception

Awards

Won

Nominations

See also

Notes and references

External links

Title

The title ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (臥虎藏龍) derives from a Chinese idiom that describes a location where everyone conceals their strengths from the others to preserve the element of surprise. It also references two of the characters: Jen's Mandarin name, Jiāo Lóng, means "little dragon", and Lo's name Xiǎo Hǔ means "little tiger".

Synopsis

The fictional story is set in the historic Qing Dynasty in China. The date of the story is during the 43rd year of Emperor Qianlong's reign (i.e. 1778).^[4]
The story follows two martial arts warriors, Li Mu-bai () (Chow Yun-Fat) and Yu Shu-lien () (Michelle Yeoh), the former now an accomplished swordsman for the Wudang school. Li returns one day from deep meditation to surrender Green Destiny, a legendary sword that has remained in his use for many years. He requests Yu, a close friend who has inherited a house of armed escorts from her father, to transport it to Sir Te, a long-time friend, for safekeeping in Beijing.
Mu-bai and Shu-lien are attracted to each another but abstain from a relationship, constrained by commonplace propriety because of Shu-lien's betrothal years ago to Mu-bai's "Brother in Oath," who has since died.
Once in Beijing, Shu-lien delivers the sword to Sir Te and meets Jen () (Zhang Ziyi), who is the daughter of Governor Yu, a Manchu aristocrat visiting Sir Te on official business. Jen is destined for an arranged marriage, yet yearns for adventure instead of a life as a court wife. Jen is fascinated by Shu-lien's background as a fighter and develops an attachment to her.
One night, a masked thief sneaks onto Sir Te's property and steals the Green Destiny. The thief is pursued by guards and by Shu-lien, across rooftops, alleys, walls, houses and various obstacles within and outside the enclosed estate of Sir Te. Amidst combat, and much to Shu-lien's surprise, she discovers that the thief is well-versed in martial arts and has apparently studied the Wudang school of martial arts, like Mu-bai.
The thief turns out to be Jen. To retrieve the sword, Mu-bai fights with Jen on several occasions, and proves to be the superior fighter, but he refuses to kill her because he sees her potential and wants to train her as his apprentice. Shu-lien tells Jen that she had already known her to be the thief, but had covered it up for the sake of Jen's family. Subsequently the two of them fight and they appear to be an even match for each other. Mu-bai arrives at the scene, and pursues Jen into the forest. When Mu-bai reasserts that he wants to train Jen, she tells him that she will accept him as her master if he can take the Green Destiny sword from her in three moves. To Jen's surprise, Mu-bai moves swiftly and snatches the sword from her hand in a single movement. When Jen still refuses to become Mu-bai's pupil, he throws her sword into a stream. Jen chases after the sword, but Mu-bai does not pursue after her.
Jen, headstrong in her powers and emboldened by her forbidden love to the desert bandit Lo () (played by Chang Chen), consequently does not accept Mu-bai as master, nor Shu-lien as a friend. Jen stands at crossroads of her life choices. She must choose either life as a court official's wife or life with Lo. She also considers a rebellious (and romantic in her eyes) existence as either an outlaw under Jade Fox, a renegade old female fighter who murdered Mu-bai's master and who is her secret teacher, or a somewhat more assured, but nonetheless unconventional, martial path with Mu-bai as a teacher.
In the end, Jade Fox abducts Jen. Li, who has sworn to avenge his master, manages to save Jen and avenge his master's death, but is fatally poisoned defending Jen from an attack of poisoned assassin needles Jade Fox directs at Jen. Jade Fox wants to murder Jen as Jen has hidden the true meanings of the secret Wudang journals from Jade. Jade had progressed as far she could since she could not fathom the true meaning of the manuals; Jen surpassed her and, according to Jade, Jen's potential is limitless.
Jen, with no more signs of resentment for Mu-bai on her face, says that this kind of poison spreads directly to the heart and cannot be cured. Mu-bai, just before his death, professes his feelings for Shu-lien. A heartbroken Shu-lien then advises Jen that, no matter what path she chooses, she must always remain true to herself. Jen goes to the sect at Wudang mountains and spends one last night with Lo, who is waiting for her. The next morning, he sees her standing beside the side of the mountain. She asks him to make a wish. He complies, wishing them to be together, and Jen leaps into the clouds and waters below, leaving Lo behind.
As an additional remark, although the movie does not reveal if Jen dies, the subsequent novel in the Crane Iron Pentalogy, Iron Knight, Silver Vase, starts with Jen and Lo as a couple and having one son.

Source

The film is an adaptation of the fourth novel in a pentalogy (or five-novel cycle), known as the ''Crane-Iron Pentalogy'' and written by noted wu xia novelist Wang Dulu. The novels in the pentalogy are: ''Crane Frightens Kunlun''; ''Precious Sword, Golden Hairpin''; ''Sword's Force, Pearl's Shine''; ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''; and ''Iron Knight, Silver Vase''.
The pentalogy was adapted into a series of graphic novels by Andy Seto in 2006 .

Production and marketing

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 Corporation; 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, in addition to location shooting in the Anhui, Hebei, Jiangsu and Xinjiang provinces of the People's Republic of China.
Unlike most Chinese films, this one was supported by American distributors and therefore received marketing typical of Western films.

Reception

''Crouching Tiger'' was very well received in the Western world, receiving critical acclaim and numerous awards. It is # 154 in IMDB's Top 250 films of all time. However, it was less well received in China and Hong Kong as the rest of the world, where it was perceived as just another of the countless ''wuxia'' films released in the past four decades. Lee's emphasis on subtle emotions was admired in the West but not appreciated by some Chinese, since it was thought inappropriate to the traditional, more masculine wuxia style.
Some Chinese-speaking viewers were also bothered by the accents of the leading actors. Neither Chow (a native Cantonese speaker) nor Yeoh (an overseas Chinese born and raised in Malaysia, another native Cantonese speaker) speaks Mandarin as their mother tongue. All four main actors spoke with different accents: Chow speaks with a Cantonese accent^[5]; Yeoh with a Malaysian accent; Chang Chen a Taiwanese accent; and Zhang Ziyi a Beijing accent. Lee insisted that their voices should not be dubbed and some Mandarin-speaking viewers were forced to read the Chinese subtitles because the actors' accents were hard to understand. Yeoh responded to this complaint in an 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 Szechuan-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 Region 2 DVD has slight but significant script changes to the version released in UK cinemas. Li Mu Bai's final speech is the most drastically affected.

Awards

Won

★ ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards: Top Box Office Films (Tan Dun)

★ 'Academy Awards:'

★
★ Best Foreign Language Film (Taiwan)

★
★ Best Cinematography (Peter Pau)

★
★ Best Music, Original Score (Tan Dun)

★
★ Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Timmy Yip [art director])

★ Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films ("Saturn Award"): Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film

★ Australian Film Institute: Best Foreign Film

★ 'BAFTA Awards:'

★
★ Best Film not in the English Language

★
★ David Lean Award for Direction (Ang Lee)

★
★ Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music (Tan Dun)

★
★ Best Costume Design (Timmy Yip)

★ Bergen International Film Festival: Audience Award (Ang Lee)

★ Bodil Awards: Best Non-American Film

★ Bogey Awards (Germany): Bogey Award

★ Boston Society of Film Critics: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography (Peter Pau)

★ Broadcast Film Critics Association: Best Foreign Language Film

★ Chicago Film Critics Association: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography (Peter Pau), Best Original Score (Tan Dun)

★ Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association: Best Foreign Film, Best Cinematography (Peter Pau)

★ Directors Guild of America: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (Ang Lee)

★ Film Critics Circle of Australia: Best Foreign Language Film

★ Flanders International Film Festival (Belgium): Georges Delerue Prize (Tan Dun)

★ Florida Film Critics Circle: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography (Peter Pau)

★ Golden Bauhinia Awards (Hong Kong): Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Ziyi Zhang), Golden Bauhinia - Best Director (Ang Lee)

★ 'Golden Globe Awards:

★
★ Best Foreign Language Film (Taiwan)

★
★ Best Director - Motion Picture (Ang Lee)

★ Golden Horse Film Festival (Taiwan): Best Picture (Ang Lee), Best Action Direction (Woo-ping Yuen), Best Editing (Tim Squyres), Best Sound Effects (Eugene Gearty), Best Visual Effects (Leo Lo and Rob Hodgson)

★ Golden Trailer Awards: Best Art and Commerce (for the trailer), Best Romance (for the trailer)

★ 'Grammy Awards:

★
★ Best Score Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media (Tan Dun)

★ Hong Kong Film Awards: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Pei-pei Cheng), Best Director (Ang Lee), Best Cinematography (Peter Pau), Best Original Film Score (Tan Dun), Best Original Film Song (CoCo Lee [performer]), Best Action Choreography (Woo-ping Yuen), Best Sound Design (Eugene Gearty)

★ Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards: Special Achievement Award (Woo-ping Yuen)

★ Hugo Awards: Best Dramatic Presentation

★ Independent Spirit Awards: Best Feature, Best Supporting Female (Ziyi Zhang), Best Director (Ang Lee)

★ Kansas City Film Critics Circle: Best Foreign Language Film

★ London Film Critics Circle: Best Foreign Language Film

★ Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Picture, Best Cinematography (Peter Pau), Best Music Score (Tan Dun), Best Production Design (Timmy Yip)

★ MTV Movie Awards: Best Fight (Ziyi Zhang vs. entire bar)

★ Motion Picture Sound Editors ("Golden Reel Award"): Best Sound Editing - Dialogue & ADR, Domestic Feature Film

★ National Board of Review: Best Foreign Language Film

★ New York Film Critics Circle: Best Cinematographer (Peter Pau)

★ Online Film Critics Society: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography (Peter Pau)

★ Robert Festival (Denmark): Best Non-American Film

★ Satellite Awards: Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language

★ Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America: Best Script

★ Southeastern Film Critics Association: Best Foreign Language Film

★ Toronto Film Critics Association: Best Picture, Best Supporting Performance - Female (Ziyi Zhang)

★ Toronto International Film Festival: People's Choice Award (Ang Lee)

★ Young Artist Awards: Best Young Actress in an International Film (Ziyi Zhang)

Nominations

★ 'Academy Awards:

★
★ Best Picture (Murphy)

★
★ Best Director (Ang Lee)

★
★ Best Adapted Screenplay (Hui-Ling Wang, James Schamus and Kuo Jung Tsai)

★
★ Best Costume Design (Timmy Yip)

★
★ Best Editing (Tim Squyres)

★
★ Best Original Song (Jorge Calandrelli, Tan Dun [composers] and James Schamus [lyricist]) - for the song "A Love Before Time"

★ Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films ("Saturn Award"): Best Actor (Yun-Fat Chow), Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Best Supporting Actress (Ziyi Zhang), Best Director (Ang Lee), Best Writing (Hui-Ling Wang, James Schamus and Kuo Jung Tsai), Best Music (Tan Dun and Yo-Yo Ma), Best Costumes (Timmy Yip)

★ Amanda Awards (Norway): Best Foreign Feature Film

★ American Cinema Editors ("Eddie Award"): Best Edited Feature Film - Dramatic (Tim Squyres)

★ American Society of Cinematographers: Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases

★ Art Directors Guild: Excellence in Production Design Award Feature Film - Period or Fantasy Films

★ 'BAFTA Awards:

★
★ Best Film

★
★ Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh)

★
★ Best Supporting Actress (Ziyi Zhang)

★
★ Best Screenplay - Adapted (James Schamus, Hui-Ling Wang and Kuo Jung Tsai)

★
★ Best Cinematography (Peter Pau)

★
★ Best Editing (Tim Squyres)

★
★ Best Sound (Drew Kunin, Reilly Steele, Eugene Gearty and Robert Fernandez)

★
★ Best Production Design (Timmy Yip)

★
★ Best Make Up/Hair (Yun-Ling Man and Siu-Mui Chau)

★
★ Best Special Visual Effects (Rob Hodgson, Leo Lo, Jonathan F. Styrlund, Bessie Cheuk and Travis Baumann)

★ Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: Favorite Action Team [Internet Only] (Yun-Fat Chow and Michelle Yeoh)

★ British Society of Cinematographers: Best Cinematography Award (Peter Pau)

★ Broadcast Film Critics Association: Best Picture

See also

★ A Love Before Time (end-credit title song)

★ Cinema of China

★ Cinema of Hong Kong

★ Cinema of Taiwan

★ New Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Notes and references

1. Business Data for Wo hu cang long (2000)
2. A Leap Forward, or a Great Sellout? David Barboza
3. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Academy Award Nominations and Wins URL accessed December 30, 2006.
4. http://www.castingforge.com/crouchingtigerhiddendragonkatana.html
5. Interview with Gong Li URL accessed December 30, 2006.

External links

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★ A philosophical discussion of the film

★ Michelle Yeoh: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

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