2 of 10
Cinematography by Peter Pau
Chow Yun-Fat
Michelle Yeoh
Ziyi Zhang
Chen Chang
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| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2 of 10 |
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| Directed by Ang Lee Cinematography by Peter Pau Chow Yun-Fat Michelle Yeoh Ziyi Zhang Chen Chang |
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| Following its release in 2000, this film quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Everyone was talking about it, critics and regular moviegoers alike. Columbia Tri-Star, the studio that released the film, was very surprised at its success. So was I, especially after I saw it. I was pretty confused as to whether its popularity came from the blandness of its story, or from its tired, cartoonish wire work. Finally, I decided that it must have been the wire work, because the modern moviegoer loves bad action so passionately. But then I got to thinking. Maybe this movie was popular for the same reason The Matrix was such a success: a little philosophy will go a long way in a world which is almost completely devoid of any thought that isn't connected to American capitalism. And I guess my problem is that I just really don't care about really bad Eastern philosophy/mysticism. If you're into that kind of thing, this is your movie. If not, avoid it like the plague. There is a scene between Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh which is filled with a bizarre, long-winded, and oddly Stoical conversation about faith, religion, death and love. It nearly made me sick. The ending is in the same vein. Totally confusing, and probably has about 30 different explanations, depending on which philosophical fragment from the film you've actually accepted. Finally, the only thing that prevented me from absolutely hating this movie was Chow Yung Fat, who broke up the moments of fake mysticism with some fine acting. And also the visuals. It really is a beautiful film, and deserved to nab the Oscar for Best Cinematography. Hang on a second! Maybe people loved this film because it had a really long fight scene between two girls. Hmmm...I need to think about this some more, I can see. | ||||||