Review 470: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a beautifully crafted, mystical wuxia film, one of Ang Lee’s best films and

Loosely based on the novel, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon by Wang Dulu, In 18th Century, Qing dynasty China

Ang Lee’s direction is sublime and graceful, telling the 120 min narrative with a whilst crafting wuxia fights with a high level of grace and wonder via the use of his wide lense.  the cinematography is just beautifully unreal, lighting up the screen with
the scenery is breathtaking, the locations are stunning, the sword fights are simply amazing. They’re not violent or hard hitting, but that’s oddly the point. They’re graceful in a way that’s pretty much unique to other films in it’s genre. They aren’t molded in the traditional hero vs villain drama we get so often in action films, they’re more about the characters interactions nad how they interact through movement. They’re almost like dance sequences in a way that’s almost akin to old Hollywood musicals. They all come at emotional peaks where characters whose emotions are repressed and rarely come to the surface just let loose. This puts Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in a class above the rest. The score by Tan Dun is the costumes are majestic.

The acting is mesmerising.