Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Sample entry
The following is a 600-word movie review of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." I wrote this review some years ago for another blogI contribute to. Note the embedding of the film's trailer from YouTube. I can show you how to do this in class.
In Chinese, the phrase “crouching tiger, hidden dragon” refers to a place where danger lies just beneath a seemingly normal, serene exterior, like Berlin during the cold war, with the KGB and the CIA skulking behind every corner. In Ang Lee's film, the phrase refers to an expansive residence of an aging government official in Beijing who inherits a sword called Green Destiny, the property of the legendary warrior Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat), who hopes that giving up the sword will let him quit his all-consuming quest to avenge his master, slain by a villain known as Jade Fox.
Yu Shu Lian (Michelle Yeoh) is a warrior and the head of a merchant family that transports the Green Destiny to Beijing. She and Li Mu Bai also happen to be in love. At the compound, Yu Shu Lian meets Jen Yu (Zhang Zi Yi), the daughter of a visiting governor. The governor and his family are in Beijing for Jen Yu's arranged marriage. Jen Yu, however, wishes to leave behind the life her father has chosen for her and become a warrior like Shu Lian. Soon we learn that Jen Yu isn't as sheltered as she would have everyone believe. Soon Yu Shu Lian, Li Mu Bai, and many others become involved in her secret life.
The plot twists and turns and occasionally confuses, but Ang Lee's patient story-telling helps put everything into place in the end. The story is a standard martial arts legend, this one adapted from the now-famous novel by Wang Du Lu. Martial arts legends and martial arts movies—even one by Ang Lee—follow several conventions. One convention is that great martial arts warriors can fly. However, unlike what you might expect from a martial arts film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon deeply develops its characters. The resulting emotional element of the film is what makes it so compelling.
The martial arts choreography by Yuen Wo-Ping is spectacular, but the great martial arts legends movies from directors/choreographers King Wang and Tsui Hark, to name only two, are equally or more spectacular. What makes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon so beautiful to watch is that Ang Lee brings a different perspective to the genre. He's an artsier filmmaker and, as a result, slows down the usually frantic pacing of most martial arts films. One way he accomplishes this is through the soothing score by Chinese composer Tan Dun.
When I saw the film it was clear that most of the people in the theatre were there to see an “Ang Lee film,” not a Chinese film or a martial arts film or anything else. I heard two older women behind me talk about how much they liked "Ice Storm" and "Sense and Sensibility," so I figured they would be in for a surprise. As the film progressed, their audible reactions betrayed genuine surprise at elements of the film. I heard what could be described as scoffing from much of the audience when the combat scenes took to the rooftops or the treetops. Come on, I thought, any student kung fu movies knows that real masters can fly. I guess no one expects people to fly in an Ang Lee film.
My final analysis is this: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a beautiful martial arts film that can be enjoyed by any film enthusiast. However, Ang Lee has not invented (or even reinvented) the genre with this film. However, hopefully he has raised the bar for martial arts movie makers and he may help bring more Chinese cinema to these shores.
In Chinese, the phrase “crouching tiger, hidden dragon” refers to a place where danger lies just beneath a seemingly normal, serene exterior, like Berlin during the cold war, with the KGB and the CIA skulking behind every corner. In Ang Lee's film, the phrase refers to an expansive residence of an aging government official in Beijing who inherits a sword called Green Destiny, the property of the legendary warrior Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat), who hopes that giving up the sword will let him quit his all-consuming quest to avenge his master, slain by a villain known as Jade Fox.
Yu Shu Lian (Michelle Yeoh) is a warrior and the head of a merchant family that transports the Green Destiny to Beijing. She and Li Mu Bai also happen to be in love. At the compound, Yu Shu Lian meets Jen Yu (Zhang Zi Yi), the daughter of a visiting governor. The governor and his family are in Beijing for Jen Yu's arranged marriage. Jen Yu, however, wishes to leave behind the life her father has chosen for her and become a warrior like Shu Lian. Soon we learn that Jen Yu isn't as sheltered as she would have everyone believe. Soon Yu Shu Lian, Li Mu Bai, and many others become involved in her secret life.
The plot twists and turns and occasionally confuses, but Ang Lee's patient story-telling helps put everything into place in the end. The story is a standard martial arts legend, this one adapted from the now-famous novel by Wang Du Lu. Martial arts legends and martial arts movies—even one by Ang Lee—follow several conventions. One convention is that great martial arts warriors can fly. However, unlike what you might expect from a martial arts film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon deeply develops its characters. The resulting emotional element of the film is what makes it so compelling.
The martial arts choreography by Yuen Wo-Ping is spectacular, but the great martial arts legends movies from directors/choreographers King Wang and Tsui Hark, to name only two, are equally or more spectacular. What makes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon so beautiful to watch is that Ang Lee brings a different perspective to the genre. He's an artsier filmmaker and, as a result, slows down the usually frantic pacing of most martial arts films. One way he accomplishes this is through the soothing score by Chinese composer Tan Dun.
When I saw the film it was clear that most of the people in the theatre were there to see an “Ang Lee film,” not a Chinese film or a martial arts film or anything else. I heard two older women behind me talk about how much they liked "Ice Storm" and "Sense and Sensibility," so I figured they would be in for a surprise. As the film progressed, their audible reactions betrayed genuine surprise at elements of the film. I heard what could be described as scoffing from much of the audience when the combat scenes took to the rooftops or the treetops. Come on, I thought, any student kung fu movies knows that real masters can fly. I guess no one expects people to fly in an Ang Lee film.
My final analysis is this: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a beautiful martial arts film that can be enjoyed by any film enthusiast. However, Ang Lee has not invented (or even reinvented) the genre with this film. However, hopefully he has raised the bar for martial arts movie makers and he may help bring more Chinese cinema to these shores.
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