Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is one of my all time favorite movies. In fact it was the very first Kung Fu movie I ever saw and what sparked my interest and eventually my collection. I think this is one of the greatest action adventure movies of all time with honor and loyalty, yet at the same time it is a tragic story of a forbidden love denied.

Chinese history and culture seem exotic and almost line a fantasy to westerners because, for the most part, we ignore Chinese history and mythology. However this doesn’t make the impact of the movie any less. The Wudan warriors float across building tops and seem to be from another realm. One of the greatest Wudan warriors is a man named Li Mu Bai. He is however preparing for retirement. He is going to give up his meditation and study. He is turning over his legendary sword, The Green Destiny, to a fellow warrior Yu Shu Lien who is to bring it to Mu Bai’s old friend Sir Te for safekeeping.

The sword is stolen by a masked bandit who we find out is employed by another Wudan warrior, the Jade Fox. It turns out that the Jade Fox killed Mu Bai’s master many years ago. The sword now must be returned and the Jade Fox must be brought to justice.

The fight scenes were breathtaking. I have seen many Kung Fu films before but none like this. They turn each fight scene into an art form. It is like they are dancing and not fighting but then you take a step back and see it still holds true to classic Kung Fu because that fighting is amazing. So many things stick out in my mine. Darts being caught by chopsticks, poison darts being deflected by a sword. The first fight scene where Shu Lien fights of the masked bandit was absolutely stunning. I felt like I was in the scene with them. The action scenes only get better as the movie goes on.

On top of all this action are two stories that though it doesn’t seem like it at first are actually very similar. Shu Lien and Jen Yu, (Governor Yu’s daughter). Shu Lien is a warrior, very athletic and free to do as she will. Jen Yu on the others hand is kept locked up in her house spending all day learning how to serve and pain calligraphy in anticipation of her arranged marriage. But both women are more similar that it seems, they are both in love with men they cannot have. They are separated by vows of warriors and marriage. The women in this film are portrayed just as strong if not more so than the men witch is a change form classic Kung Fu.