Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (5 Stars)

My local cinema has a regular "Best Of Cinema" feature. On the first Tuesday of every month a classic film is shown. In most cases they're films that I know well and would like to see on the big screen. Today the film was "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". It was shown in the original Chinese version with German subtitles. Perfect!

Usually I praise the Germans for their good taste in films. I have to take it back. Today there were only four people in the cinema to see this magnificent film. I complained to the man sitting a few seats from me, and he agreed that the cinema should have been full. Interestingly, all four of us were sitting alone. I always respect people who go to the cinema by themselves, because by going to a cinema by yourself proves you're a serious film fan.

It's the second time I've seen "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in the cinema. I saw it in 2000 when it was new. It overwhelmed me then, and it still overwhelms me now. The only thing that's different is that after watching it a few times I have more of a feeling for the film's deep spirituality. Alongside "The Life of Pi", it's one of the two most spiritual films I know. The two films have something in common: they were both directed by Ang Lee. Not all his films are spiritual. Or maybe they are. Maybe I just haven't been paying attention to the minor details.

The film isn't just a spiritual film, it's a love story. To be more accurate, it tells two love stories. Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien love one another deeply, but they feel bound by honour not to reveal their feelings. Shu Lien was engaged to Li's best friend before his death, and they feel that starting a relationship would be betraying him. The performance of both actors, Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh, is outstanding. It's (relatively) easy to show the emotion of love on screen, but it takes skill to show that a person feels love that he doesn't want to show, but he's showing it anyway. I hope you understand what I mean, because it's difficult to put it into words.

The other love story involves the 18-year-old noblewoman Yu Ziao Long. Her father, Governor Yu, wants her to marry a rich diplomat, but she's a free spirit who wants a life of adventure. She finds the lives of Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien fascinating, and she also wants to become a roaming swordfighter. By chance she meets a bandit called Dark Cloud and falls in love with him. Her parents would never accept him. The step she takes for them to be together is at the same time romantic and tragic. Is the film's ending a happy ending or a tragedy? It's not easy to decide.

It's natural to compare "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" with the films of Zhang Yimou. They have a similar style, but they're visually different. Zhang Yimou's films are bright and colourful, whereas "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has subdued colours. The lighting isn't as bright. It's as if Zhang Yimou wants to fool the viewer into expecting a happy ending, whereas Ang Lee leaves the viewer in no doubt that true love is destined to end in tragedy.

It was a mistake for me to omit "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" from my top 100 films list. I've corrected that mistake today, but I'm sad that I had to knock another wonderful film out of the list to make room.

Success Rate:  + 10.6

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