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Journal Entries: |
21 February 2001 - by Scott Grafton Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This movie has just become one of my all time favorites. It is the first foreign film since The Story of Ricky, that I have enjoyed immensely. Why do I enjoy this film so much? I enjoy it due to the fact that it has so much analytic value, it's amazing. I also enjoy it because it is a good story about the nature of man. When I watched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for the first and second times, I ended up analyzing the entire movie. The intricate plot structure and revelation of character traits make the the movie absolutely incredible. The movie begins with the basic set-up to any good novel. It introduces the setting, being feudal Japan, and the main characters. Here in this first scene, we are introduced to the two protagonists of the movie, Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien. Li Mu Bai is drawn out to be an old hero who is now contemplating retirement from his profession of a hired fighter. He is well composed and well trained, as we later see in the movie. Shu Lien is his long-time friend. She is also a trained fighter, but not to the level of Li Mu Bai. Their relationship throughout the entire movie plays an important part to the entire movie. Near the middle of the movie, we are introduced to the antagonist, Jade Fox, and her disciple, Jen, who is actually a Manchurian princess who is to be married into the Gou family. Jen represents the ideology we have of living today. Jen is forced to marry into the Gou family in order to improve her father's political career. Seems unfair, right? Well, that's what Jen thought too. However, during that time period, it was socially acceptable to use daughters in order to unite two families. Jen represents man's ultimate struggle of living the way we choose. In Jen's world, as well as in ours, we are bound by rules and technicalities, preventing us from fully attaining what we really desire in life. The fact is that this is truly a shame. As for Jade Fox, she represents a radical ideal for women's rights. Jade Fox advocates the equality of men and women by killing off any men who oppose her. She is a master criminal in the movie because she stole a secret book from Li Mu Bai's master, and killed him while he was sleeping. After his master's death, Li Mu Bai vowed to kill Jade Fox. With the book, Jade Fox was able to learn the basics to Li Mu Bai's fighting style. Jade Fox began teaching Jen the secrets of the book when she was a child, so Jen, now at the age of 18, is a master of Li Mu Bai's fighting style. The entire movie revolves around a sword called the Green Destiny. The Green Destiny is Li Mu Bai's sword. Jen stole it when Li Mu Bai gave it to his leader as a gift. After it was stolen, a struggle between who owned the sword ensued. The plot eventually brought the main characters together to a final show down. Li Mu Bai ended up killing Jade Fox, with the Green Destiny, thus avenging his master's death. However, to add to the irony, Li Mu Bai was to die as well because of a posoined needle that struck him in his duel with Jade Fox. The poison was ironically the same poison used to kill his master. There are so many parallels between the characters and their actions. Li Mu Bai and Jade Fox represented the conflict between light and dark, the Ying and Yang per se. Li Mu Bai always wore light colored clothing while Jade Fox always wore dark colors. Jen and Li Mu Bai were also foils of each other. Li Mu Bai represented maturity, composure, and patience, while Jen was the complete opposite. This can be seen in any of the times Jen and Li Mu Bai fight. She is always struggling. Li Mu Bai is only playing around. I could go on and on about the movie, but it would take a few hours to type. So I am going to end it here. |