Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) First Time Watching! Movie Reaction!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2024
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Whatever path you decide to take in this life... be true to yourself.
Become a Schmitthead for Full Length Reactions & Patreon Exclusive Polls:
/ tbr_schmitt
00:00 Intro
01:49 Reaction
34:27 Outro & Discussion
50:01 THANK YOU!
Please don’t forget to like and subscribe! Let me know what you think in the comments.
EMAIL: tbrschmitt.assist@gmail.com
INSTAGRAM: @TBR_Schmitt / tbr_schmitt
INSTAGRAM: @Samantha__Schmitt / samantha__schmitt
TWITCH: @TBR_Schmitt / tbr_schmitt
TWITTER: @TBR_Schmitt / tbr_schmitt
LETTERBOXD: @TBR_Schmitt letterboxd.com/tbr_schmitt/
SECONDARY TH-cam CHANNEL: / theschmitts
EQUIPMENT WE USE:
(As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases, using the link below.)
www.amazon.com/shop/tbrschmitt
Original Music Score by Lui Salazar! Check him out on Instagram at @_lui_salazar
distrokid.com/hyperfollow/lui...
This video is for commentary and criticism only and is not a replacement for watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. All rights belong to their respective owners.
#tbrschmitt - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
I love how pissed Sam was at the end. It’s such a gut punch of an ending but just reinforces the themes and message of the film.
The ending is BRUTAL. If you got into wuxia/kung fu movies around the late nineties, this movie was your Titanic.
Welcome to the tragedy stories of Chinese opera. Then again many operas around the world are tragedies.
Sam loving the choreography so much tells us that you have to see both Hero and House of Flying Daggers, both have phenomenal choreography, visuals and deep emotional meaning.
I was just about to suggest those exact movies!
I would love to see their reaction to both movies! “Hero” has a special place in my heart for such amazing visuals and storytelling telling. It’s quite a rare gem, if I don’t say so myself! I wished more reactors would be willing to watch cinema outside their own language/culture a bit and just appreciate different stories.
Everyone on TH-cam just seems to watch the same movies.
Anyway, cheers!
House of Flying Daggers has the same actress, Zhang Ziyi, that plays Jen in CTHD. She is caught in a true love triangle. Same great level of sets, chorography, and martial arts.
DON'T😠😠!! "Hero" was the first historical movie made by Zhang Yimou, and the only reason he shifted from modern to ancient background, was that CTHD won many Oscars. Zhang Yimou was famous for his mega-budget film making, so he stole elements from CTHD, making it bigger and more colorful, pulling every Oscar bait he could, so much he forgot the basic need for a movie - a good story.
Not getting any Oscars, Zhang made "House of Flying Daggers", using what element he didn't use from CTHD, with a story stolen from the Hong Kong movie "Infernal Affair" (later became Martin Scorsese's "The Departed"). Like "Hero", "Flying Daggers" had many plot-holes, and bombed in box office.
@@tomarnold7284 Oscar drama and politics aren't worth ignoring movies over. Both movies are excellent.
This is what you get when you prioritize a good script, good actors, a compelling story, and innovation above models prancing around in front of cgi screens.
Yep,the Hollywood machine would never approve of this ending.
@@chrisguevaraDisagree. Maybe for a film with a 100+ million budget. But this film was made for pennies. They would see Oscar bait and let it stand as is.
What prancing did you have in mind? Swan Lake Ballet? I think it's more than the sum of its parts, as you well know, I'm assuming.
Also respect for the audience.
@Papadoc1981 I don't know. When they preview a movie you know many of them would moan about the ending and they'd force them to change it. So many films get dumbed down because they listen to these silly focus groups.
That’s A cultural difference. American like happy ending. This ending sells in China. Captured the hearts of Chinese audiences
American here. I appreciate the ending very much for a few reasons, not least of which is it reinforces the mythological feeling.
That’s really fascinating and that’s another reason why I enjoy this movie so much.
It’s the ending that makes this movie so unique, and so memorable.
Like life.
Props to your editor for letting us read the subtitles
Both Jen and Michelle Yeoh's character yearned for the life they thought the other had: Jen wanted freedom from marriage to live as a martial arts master, and Michelle Yeoh was a martial arts master who wanted to settle down and marry Li Mu Bai. But Jen was young and impulsive, and her recklessness kept them both from what they wanted.
funny random detail: Chang Chen, who played Lo, was Doctor Yue in part one of Dune.
Oh this is cool, didn't know that!
Wow, I didn't notice, but you're totally right. Thanks for sharing!
A reactor to Dune immediately recognized Chang Chen as Doctor Yue, and I was like, "No way!"
Now that you say that I realise I recognised him without realising it if you get me. Good spot.
OMG you're right! I did not know that but now totally recognize him.
I've watched the fight scene between Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi more than any other - it's by far my favourite. I wish more directors incorporated wide shots and longer takes into their fights. Let people see and appreciate the work that goes into it, rather than relying on shakeycam and hyperactive editing to make a fight feel more chaotic. Lookin' at you, Paul Greengrass.
I actually really like the final scenes of this movie because of Jen's growth as a character. She's not evil, just a spoiled, immature, impulsive kid corrupted by Jade Fox. Jen finally "grows up" and accepts responsibility for her role in Li Mu Bai's death in the scene where it looks like Shu Lien is going to execute her. Instead of dodging (which she would have done earlier in the movie), Jen sits there and was willing to accept her death. Shu Lien sees that Jen has matured and is accepting responsibility for the first time, and pulls back the sword back instead of killing Jen.
I know that the final scene is open to interpretation, but I always thought that Jen was not committing suicide or sacrificing herself. I don't think she dies - remember that when Lo tells Jen the legend of the young man, Lo mentions that the young man jumped but did not die. Instead, I think that she is leaving Lo (in a very dramatic way - she could have just left before he woke up, but this is a movie after all). I think that Jen is denying herself her loving relationship with Lo as self-imposed penance for her role in Li Mu Bai's death - denying herself love in the same way that Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien were denied their love.
You’re actually very correct, at least if the sequel of this story (the novel anyway) is anything to go by
I've always thought that, in addition to following your heart, a second message is that you can't be true to yourself if you don't know who you are. While Li Mu Bai, Michelle Yeoh, Jade Fox, and Lo all want what they can't get, the difference with Jen is she doesn't know what she wants, only what she doesn't want, and that's why she rejects every good offer (to be with Lo, to train with Li Mu Bai) and ends up causing all the tragedy.
0:25 The Legend of Drunken Master & Fist of Legend deserve way more votes on that poll.
I never saw Jen’s leap into the unknown as aimless. It was clear that she was fulfilling a wish and her wish was a sacrifice that didn’t directly involve THEIR romance. Which is why the look on his face was one of sadness. I am still of the mindset that her wish was to fix her mistakes and restore the OTHER love story.
A hundred years ago an English theater critic quipped that Americans prefer their tragedies to have have a happy ending. This is the same director who did 'Lust, Caution', 'Sense and Sensibilities', and 'Brokeback Mountain'
And The Hulk! 😅
Also "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman", which I'd highly recommend if you haven't seen it.
28:05 - That weapon is called a "Monk Spade". It's heavier than most weapons, and purposefully so. You can see the famous Gordon Liu (aka, Lau Ga Fai) wield this weapon in the classic martial arts film, #title "Master Killer", aka "The 36th Chamber".
As great as PARASITE is, I firmly believe that this should've been the first non-English language Best Picture winner. The only other acceptable alternative for me would've been TRAFFIC (interestingly, TRAFFIC won 4 of its 5 nominations with Picture being the only category it lost).
Blame Gladiator.
Hero (2002) by Zhang Yimou is one you guys will love since you dug the fight choreography and wirework. Wuxia films defy the laws of physics but they're so fantasical
,His other fims _House of Flying Daggers_ and _Curse of the Golden Flower_ are also good, but _Hero_ has the best story and the use of color symbolism is fantastic.
eh, only on the surface.... they might look similar but from writing to acting to choreography, those movies are miles off of the quality of this one
Remember seeing this in the cinema and during the fights you could hear a pin drop except for occasional gasps. People were just mesmerised. As mentioned in the video, most Western filmgoers had never seen anything like it. Still one of my most memorable big screen experiences.
To me this is one of those films that underlines cultures don't separate us (everyone feels the same while watching) but can still be _very_ different because it'd _never_ end like this in a Hollywood movie.
Nominated for 9 Oscars including Best Picture, but won for
Best International Film
Best Production Design
Best Original Score
Best Cinematography.
Great that you highlighted the Oscars it won, to show how outstanding this film is.
One small correction: It got 10 nominations. This film ties the record for most nominations for a non-English language film (10 nominations, shared with ROMA (2018)) and also ties the record for most wins (4 wins, sharing it with FANNY AND ALEXANDER (1983), PARASITE (2019), and ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (2022)). Coincidentally, this film and ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT won the exact same 4 categories.
should've won best picture too - WAY better than Gladiator!
@@Bekka_Noyb I totally agree with you. The only other acceptable alternative would've been TRAFFIC for me. Funnily enough, TRAFFIC has the rare distinction of winning every nominated category except Picture (it also won 4 Oscars, in this case Director, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, and Film Editing (Steven Soderbergh was double nominated for TRAFFIC and ERIN BROCKOVICH for Best Director in a single year and won for the former)).
@@Bekka_NoybGladiator is a massively, massively overrated film. I wouldn't even put it in the top ten Ridley Scott movies, but somehow it's considered a classic.
2 other great films in this genre to watch, Hero and House of Flying Daggers, all 3 are absolutely gorgeous films with amazing cinematography and insane choreography!
It was always my belief that the reason Jen decided to jump at the end was because she learned by that point that all her selfishness caused the death of so many, especially that the death of Li Mu Bai destroyed the hope of love between him and Yu Shu Lien. I believe she felt too guilty to be able to just freely live with what her selfishness robbed Mu Bai and Shu Lien of. The strong guilt of it wouldn't allow her to even enjoy being with Lo. It would be easy for her to just blame the Jade Fox for it all, to say that she corrupted her, but Jen knew that in the end, it was all her; she was too headstrong not to know that she had her own mind. After all, she did have the wherewithal to deceive Jade Fox and keep her knowledge of the Wudang manual to herself. I could be wrong, but that was my take on it.
Please add Fearless to that Martial Arts poll. Jet Li's best movie, in a landslide.
I dare someone to say after this movie you don't want to fly from tree to tree in your neighborhood walking on branches
I wanted to run up the wall outside of the theater when we came out. 😂
@@barbaramcgee8933 I'd chase you to the tree tops 😉
I don't, I wanna be confused for a mothman 😂
@@CYB3R2K Well heck, confuse me for whoever you want. I want to fly to tree to tree
Chow Yun-fat is such a boss! I wonder if you're gonna watch Hard Boiled, The Killer, or A Better Tomorrow (1 and 2) !! love that dude
Jen did not commit suicide as Lo mentioned earlier that anyone that jumps off the bridge God will grant their wish. Right before Jen jumped, she asked Lo what is your wish? He says to be together back in the dessert. That is why she jumped.
She was referencing the legend, yes, but it is open to interpretation as to whether she actually believed it. It is very easily the case that she is saying that to make him close his eyes as she jumps to her death, while making a poetic final statement by referring to what she feels they can never recapture.
Didn't she? We don't really know. The story may have come true, but the look on Lo's face doesn't seem hopeful. Remember Jen's actions destroyed several lives. She could never be free of that. There had to be a consequence she has to pay.
@@kenjisparks I get what you are saying and that is certainly probably what she was feeling. However, another viewpoint is that the guy stood in front of a barrage of poison darts to protect her and died from doing so. Her taking her life pretty much made his sacrifice, I won't say meaningless, but empty.
That's just folklore. The ending is pretty clear.
@30noir the characters could float and fly in the air so jumping would not have ended her.
Modern storytelling is very much focused on redemption. Good people make bad decisions, and in the end, overcome them by power of friendship.
However, folk tales and traditional story structure has one layer on top of redemption, Consequences. Yes, you can be redeemed, but your past catches up with you regardless
Seriously one of the best films that I have ever watched and the twist at the end....just wow.....
I LOVE Zhang Ziyi and this is one of her finest roles, and very early in her career. I would highly recommend another ZZ film called House of Flying Daggers, very good movie in every respect that I can think of to consider.
Michelle Yeoh is ballsy - she taught herself martial arts through her film roles. You must react to her in Jackie Chan’s Police Story 3!!!
Loved that movie!
Police Story 3 is Supercop, correct?
@@fuelman1391 Correct.
I have learned that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a Chinese phrase that means a place with hidden Masters, which is an under laying plot line in this film.
I didnt see Jet Li's "Hero" (2002) in the poll. Y'all want a beautiful martial arts movie? THAT'S the one to watch.
"Our Land"
The use of colour in that film is SO gorgeous and clever. That's one of my all time favourite WuXia films.
My favorite Scene is the first fight with Li Mu Bai and Jade Fox. You're anticipating to see how good Li Mu Bai is and he doesn't disappoint.
Loved the way Samantha summed up her take on the film: "Holy shit." 😉
I remember there was this social event I went to at a bar, and this movie was playing on one of the TVs in the bar. I had never seen it before, and even though the volume wasn't on, I was more interested in watching the movie than in talking to any of the people at the social event. 😆
One of my all time favorite movies. I'm so glad I got to see this in the theaters back in the day and seen it countless times since. Touching, great drama with great actors and amazing choreography. Love the soundtrack too. The swordfight between Shu Lien and Jen has some of the best fighting choreography ever filmed. Still holds up so well.
The trick this movie pulled, and why it's so celebrated, is that it managed to be a fantastic drama, while also being a fantastic martial arts flick!
Martial arts, even to this day, is a fairly niche segment of the movie industry.
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" brought it into the mainstream in a way that has rarely been done before, or since.
In fact, I suspect it might have never been done, outside of this movie.
This movie has everything. It's got action, political intrigue, romance, it's funny at times, amazing music. It's the whole package.
Hero is equally amazing in my opinion, but probably no quite as mainstream. I remember CTHD being highly talked about and praised back in the days.
Yea I'm going to have to strongly disagree with the never been done before. Bruce Lee's Enter the dragon was the first to bring it to the mainstream so much so that it was Hollywood's first martial arts movie filmed overseas in Hong Kong.
Your confusion about “mainstream” is bewildering.
@@DoggyZworlD07Bruce Lee movies never won an oscar. That's what matters for the average people
Not only one of the best martial arts films, but just films period I believe.
Now that you know how it ends, a rewatch will make the entire story all the more beautiful and meaningful
Peaceful surrender...
Great reaction! I want to tell you that I really appreciate the way you edited this so we can see the action, your reaction to it, and the subtitles all with in the same field of view, so that we didn't miss anything. Great job!
The Asian actor who played as Dark Cloud, also played as Dr. Yuwai in DUNE
Amanda: "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen" to the first fight...
Me: Squeeing with anticipation for their reaction at the final showdown!
You absolutely need to watch Hero, Curse of the Golden Flower, and House of Flying Daggers.
One of those special movies that simply has EVERYthing - drama, tragedy, comedy, romance, action, mystery, and beauty - and that also genuinely has something to say.
"A Touch Of Zen" is THE CLASSIC of this genre 💚💛❤
The love story between the two leads is just breathtakingly beautiful in its subtlety.
Such an amazingly beautiful and melancholy movie, absolutely stunning in every aspect. If you ever get the chance to see it on the big screen ,do it!
I come from a martial arts family and we all went to see this in the theater when I was a kid and even at a young age I was so frustrated with Jen's character! She was so selfish... but now as an adult I see it very differently
Sam becoming transparent is so trippy
This movie pioneered the oft tried but never replicated modern "wire Martial arts" (called wuxia, which was actually banned in China for a time) movie, but at the same time subverted with a killer story that hit a lot of buttons. Some people make movies, some people make art.
Top five films of all time, that final music note gets me every. Time.
Yo Yo Ma was incredible in the score (unsurprisingly, but he's always worth mentioning)
This was the second movie I saw Chow Young Fat in. Not HIS second movie , but the second one I saw him in. The first was The Replacement Killers!
That was a fantastic film. Mira Sorvino post Oscar, Michael Rooker... 😀
I have The Killer and Hard Boiled as a double feature on VHS.
@@misterkitehell yeah, A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2 were bad ass, too
@@motorcycleboy9000A Better Tomorrow II might have the most badass ending of all time!
@@marcuscato9083 😎 pewpewpew
That’s life: incredible beautiful moments, joy, drama, regret, and you die at the end.
This style of highly stylized, often airborne, choreography essentially brings to life the way martial arts masters were depicted fighting in folklore and was the norm in pre-Bruce-Lee Hong Kong martial arts movies. After Lee's hard hitting, grittier style set movie screens on fire, this style of choreography seemed a little quaint and outdated. The big budget 1982 movie "The Shaolin Temple" (introducing Jet Li) upped its classical style choreography game by featuring dazzling performances by national wushu champions and proved that this style of martial arts could still excite and attract paying audiences, and 1991's "Once Upon a Time in China" (starring Jet Li) made it the popular style of choreography again as well as starting a successful movie franchise and making Jet Li a super star in Asia.
My all time fave movie! ♥ One of the many many reasons this movie is amazing is that they let the viewer decide if Jen's wish comes true or not
Wow, what are the chances seeing you here! Definitely B-M-tier movie for me too. I'm so glad they got the good subtitles!
I saw this opening day. After the first fight scene there was literally a standing ovation in the packed theater
One of the most impressive martial arts films I’ve ever witnessed.
This movie is a masterpiece!! Also as always I love your complicity discussion and natural. Real genuine reaction!! Thx
Thanks for the great reaction! I saw this in the theater back in 2000 and was blown away by the amazing cinematography, acting, directing...everything!
Another Ang Lee film to watch...one that's talked about very little anymore...is Eat Drink Man Woman. Wonderful movie, and he somehow filmed food so well that you can practically taste it.
Throughout the movie Shu Lien is imparting her “sisterly” wisdom to Jen. How to do the proper thing. Sacrificing for family. And you see Jen wants to be in the storybooks, a soldier of fortune. And in a way because she is unable to be the proper daughter, wife, etc. she ends up messing with people’s lives. In the end, the last conversation Shu Lien has with Jen, she says, “Be true to yourself”. Shu Lien has learned a lesson. And when Jen jumps from the mountain, I’ve always taken it one way, but this watch along made me take a wider view. First, Jen was contemplating all her actions and where they led, and who she is. So when she jumps, she is trying to make Lo’s wish come true. At the same time, and this is the new piece for me, Jen knows that she is restless and it wouldn’t be long before she messed up Lo’s life too. She is the scorpion on the Frog’s back (if you know the fable). She cannot change who she is. But she can make Lo’s wish come true.
I concur. That's how i see it as well.
I've always thought that, in addition to following your heart, a second message is that you can't be true to yourself if you don't know who you are. While Li Mu Bai, Michelle Yeoh, Jade Fox, and Lo all want what they can't get, the difference with Jen is she doesn't know what she wants, only what she doesn't want, and that's why she rejects every good offer (to be with Lo, to train with Li Mu Bai) and ends up causing all the tragedy.
This was the very first foreign language film I saw at the cinema! I was 19, living in London and I went back the next weekend and watched it again because I thought it was so great.
Zhang Ziyi was my childhood crush. She's gorgeous!
Stunning!
I got to see this in theaters, and as soon as the subtitles came on the entire audience groaned because they thought it would be dubbed. I think the unhappy ending is one of the things that makes the movie great. House of Flying Daggers is also a great flick from that era with an equally controversial ending.
The Australian dvd release defaulted to an english dub. Bah! I manually set it back every time.
You should watch Chow Yun-Fat in "The Killer" (1989), the critically praised blood soaked yet romantic and lyrically beautiful Hong Kong action masterpiece directed by John Woo which introduced him and Woo to the wider American audience (they already had cult status among the niche fans of Asian movies watching bootleg VHS copies of Hong Kong films).
Approaching Martial Arts films is like approaching a musical. When you realize the fight sequences are designed to tell a story in itself and move the story forward, then you start to really appreciate the artform of martial arts movies. At the end of the day, it's a musical, but with fighting instead of songs. And this film is at the top of the genre. Masterful, if not tragic, story telling.
Hero or House of Flying Daggers should be soon. Both beautiful
It's not classified as a kung fu flick, but another movie starring Chow Yun Fat is the director John Woo's film #title, "Hard Boiled" (1992). It's a gangster flick with a lot of gun fighting, but the way they choreograph the gun fighting, it's like "Gun Fu", LOL. A truly amazing movie!!!
Ang Lee is known for Directing the most beautiful but melancholic movies. I think this one is my favorite from him, followed by Sense and Sensibility and Life of Pi.
The Raid, Ip Man, and Way of the Dragon are all mandatory viewings as well
The weapon that gave her a lot of trouble is called the Iron Rod. Weapons used in order: Machete, Spear, Hook Swords, Iron Rod, 2-Handed Long Sword.
What an insanely good film. Takes staples of Chinese cinema and refines them perfectly for a global audience. Almost single handedly brought Chinese cinema to a wider western audience.
Hi Daniel & Samantha, If you are interested, there were 2 wonderful Japanese martial arts Tv shows in the `70`s, The Water Margin 1973-74 & Monkey 1978-80. As far as I am aware, no-one has reacted to them at this time. I think, they were both shown on the BBC & they both had wonderful theme tunes.
Next level choreography and cinematography. Nice pick👍
Will admit to having fallen asleep in the theater during the desert sequence (shut up, it was a midnight showing, and that section moves at the pace of a glacier), but I LOVE this movie. "Visually poetic" was how I used to describe it to people who hadn't seen it, because it is. The choreography, the wire work, it's all so fantastical, that it's like "Let me tell you the legend of Li Mu Bai," and it works perfectly. Won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and well-deserved. Of course, Michelle Yeoh won for "Everything Everywhere..." last year, which I still haven't seen. I'm wondering where Zhang Ziyi, who played Jen, has gone. Haven't seen her in anything since "House of The Flying Daggers, and that must have been 20 years ago..."
Zhang Ziyi's been in things here and there (in the US...I imagine she might've been a lot more active in China); she was in Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Cloverfield Paradox as a couple recent examples.
@@nathanmead9585 Haven't seen either of those. Glad she's still doing her thing, although I wish she were doing it with better material than bullshit sequels.
Hero with Jet Li and Donnie Yen is another must watch of the same genre.
Jade Fox is played by legendary Shaw Bros actress Cheng Pei-pei who had her own martial art films in the 60s
The sad melodrama is quite common in Chinese films. Probably says something about how we view life.
Three recommendations:
1. The Killer (1989) - I consider this to be John Woo's best movie. Also, Chow Yun Fat is the lead.
2. To Live (1994) - This is about the story of a family living in China in the 20th Century. It is actually a good primer on major events in China during that time. The movie was directed by Zhang Yimou, who was punished by the CCP for making this by banning him from filmmaking. This lasted around 5 years, and international pressure finally induced the CCP to relent. Also, the movie itself was only lifted in 2008, after Zhang Yimou directed the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The movie stars Gong Li, one of the best actresses of her generation.
3. House of Flying Daggers (2004) - This movie is another martial arts film starring Zhang Ziyi that made it to the west. It, too, was directed by Zhang Yimou.
One of my favorite movies. Thanks for the reaction.
You might be happier to hear that she didn't die from the jump at the end. This is based on a book which is second part of a trilogy, and her story continues in the third book.
Good to see you get into the wuxia genre.
Hero is the next one to do. Most beautiful cinematography I've seen.
It's a cultural difference. Chinese Operas and Legends are SUPER tragic but painfully beautiful. Any WuXia film you watch will have melancholic or bittersweet endings. I HIGHLY recommend House of Flying Daggers and Hero as well!!!
This movie is an example of the martial arts action genre. This one had a lot more romance and a poetic aspect to it for sure. They are more historical martial arts movies and there are some good ones for sure, you two should look into. House of Flying Daggers and Hero are just a couple of titles. You will enjoy if you enjoyed this movie.
such a beautiful film. the fighting and the dialogue are amazing. just looked and nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won 4 of them.
You two ABSOLUTELY need to watch House of Flying Daggers and Iron Monkey (1993) Hero and Fearless!!! I think you both would absolutely be into them!
Ok you guys have to watch Hero next....
28:53: This shot used to always crack me up, with Michelle Yeoh in her "Conan the Barbarian" stance. LOL.
The scene in the threes is always awesome to see.
I love the stylized wuxia wire acrobatics, it's so graceful. I also recommend watching Hero.
one of my all time favorite movies.
I think the idea with the ending is that none of her choices are actually freedom and agency. Observing the people and constraints around her, what she truly wanted didn't really exist. The only option that grants her it was a hope and prayer mythology that's almost certainly untrue, but one way or another, would result in her being true to herself.
As a viewer, I can't say I totally understand what we're meant to actually take away from that conclusion/choice, though. Is it meant to just be taken as tragedy? Either way it's fascinating and thought-provoking, though.
You have got to watch "The Raid" as it is the total opposite of "Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger". It is set in modern day Indonesia and is completely without romance and mysticism and the direction and cinematography couldn't be more different. It is one hell of a martial arts movie.
An excellent film. Magical. Beautiful. It has some of the best contemporary Chinese Kung Fu choreography.
Love that movie so much it's in my top 10 favorite movies of all time. Glad you like it ! One of my favorite detail about this movie are the subtle sound desing of Green Destiny, meaning how special that sword is
Just a thank you for not bombarding me with a sponsorship segment.
I recommend the movie HERO to follow this. It was part of the martial arts movie resurgence of the 2000s which Crouching Tiger started. Both beautiful and with exceptional choreography.
Lovely reaction - this movie did for period martial arts what LOTR did for fantasy, raised the level of the genre to simply beautiful cinema - it takes another master filmmaker to achieve this: see Zhang Yimou's acclaimed Hero, which is a response to this; also see Ashes of Time, from Wong Kar Wai; Assassin from Hou Hsiao Hsien, and Bride with White Hair - some other background: I saw this in a preview w the screenwriter, James Schamus; he told us a funny story about testing this w East Asian audiences
This is a long posting, but a film like this raises many questions -
SCREENWRITER'S ANECDOTE
In any case, Schamus worked w Ang Lee on a number of their celebrated arthouse films, also including Wedding Banquet; Sense and Sensibility; Ice Storm; and Hulk - so now they set out to do an homage to the wuxia films Lee had loved as a youth - this was adapted from the celebrated Crane Iron series of novels, depicting 4 generations of wandering swordsmen from the Qing Dynasty
- the film was intended as a crossover for Western audiences (which very much worked! it even popularized subtitled movies in general, and was nominated for both Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film) - they also worked w East Asian test audiences during development, and Schamus was shocked by their early reactions - those audiences kept asking "but what about the book? what happens w the book?"
For Schamus, this response seemed to come out of the blue, and he told it to us like a punchline that startled us also, but it seems those audiences are traditionally very invested in the substance of the teacher-student relationships, and they insisted on more focus w this text that Jen Yu was studying w Jade Fox, and so Schamus and Lee changed the film to incorporate that more closely into their relationship -
REGARDING JADE FOX
Jade Fox is certainly villainous, and it's even more ironic that she's played by Cheng Pei Pei, who was famous as an upstanding wuxia heroine of the 70s, but I don't see this character as some kind of central "villainizing" force that ruins the lives of everyone - she is not the Big Reason for everything here - IMO artists like Lee and Schamus are deeply Humanist in their vision - they're not at all interested in Good Guys vs Bad Guys morality (see their Hulk as another example)
- yes, Jade Fox is hostile and dangerous, and important, but more in a background capacity, as only one of many elements shaping these lives and events - remember, Jen Yu is a powerful governor's daughter, and Fox is an outcast outlaw - she would not have had the kind of direct parental power over Jen to mold her so decisively, tho this was certainly an unhealthy relationship
WHAT IS JEN
In my view, the film is focusing mainly on a stage in life that affects us all - I think Jen is meant to represent something more universal - that stage in our youth when we’re emerging from adolescence, and we’re so determined to be staking out our own destiny (as in the Green Destiny? Lol) that during this time we’re often given to extreme and erratic choices, thrashing out at our circumstances, often falling into self-sabotage before we learn to calm down and focus
JEN UNITES EVERYONE - HER CHOICES DRIVE THE FILM
I think there’s something beautiful about the way everyone in the film is united over their concern for Jen, a kind of parentally oriented concern that’s very much thinking of her as being a work in progress, in a state of ongoing transition; they all want her to be happy, and they’re very focused on this question of what she’s becoming, what she might become, and what path she’s taking, and where it will lead her - the notion of Choice has great implicit stakes - and in the process, pursuing this goal leads the characters to confront their own internal contradictions
WHAT IS AILING JEN
And, in the end, the challenge is something that’s inside Jen, a kind of spiritual unrest, a distracting agitation combined w a murkiness of vision, which, again, might summarize that state in all our lives - and as you mention, by the end she does achieve this clarity, but then she’s faced w the ongoing consequences of the mistakes she’d made
- her focus shifts to Atoning - first she tries to save Li Mu Bai, and then she seeks to expiate her Guilt in his death - and IMO the film does show Jen as being primarily responsible for his death - the whole film is about everyone trying to clean up after the messes she makes, while her own choices led by self-absorption lead her and everyone else deeper into this pit, to the point where she no longer has control over how everyone else ends up being affected by her actions
- so now this is what she is confronting in her own mind, at the end - how can she Atone? And so, she jumps off that cliff - seeking the answer to this - and it’s left open-ended as to what answer Fate will give her - is it a suicide? Maybe not ... or maybe yes - but her decision to jump in itself shows how far she’s already changed - she now has the clarity and the potential to move on, if she survives -
THE DAO OF JEN
The film is about Jen finding her Dao, her path, her approach, her way of being in the world - I think the title reflects this - this poetic pairing of phrases makes me think of paired hexagrams from the ancient I Ching, that refer to various natural forces, that, combined in this or that way, may generate a particular state of flux - I think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is on the one hand a name for Jen, and at the same time a way of diagnosing her - positing her as a kind of riddle to be solved
a spiritual diagnosis of Jen that each character responds to, each in their own way, in terms of their own judgement, from a standpoint of love for her, to help usher Jen out of this precarious Stage in her life, and into a state of Balance w her Environment - and in the end, Jen realizes what this truly entails, and finally accepts responsibility for her own Impact
I was very fortunate to have seen this opening weekend back in the day....one of the best foreign films ever made
Hero starring Jet Li, awesome film!!!!
At 6.31. When i first saw this. I was into the movie. It's so different from any martial arts movie ever. Very poetic, the use of words colorful, even the humor didn't take you out of the story line. Sweeping views. Excellent show
Thanks for reacting to one of my top 5 favorite movies! The showdown between Jen and Michelle Yeoh is one of my favorite fight scenes in any movie.
So much of this movie is impressive. The acting, the story, the scenery and the choreography, even small doses of comedy here and there.
I think her wish came true for her in another “dimension”, if you will, but Lo stayed behind to mourn her in his “dimension.”
There WAS a sequel made called Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)
23 years since i saw it in theaters i can't belive it is your first time watching it. this was a groundbreaking movie.
For another high quality film in this genre, Hero (2002) is a great story and visually stunning as well. Though you might be mad at the ending again. 😁