In the year 2000, Chinese cinema production caught the attention and interest of the western world with the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This production, by Taiwanese director Ang Lee, was a very well-received worldwide film. It became the starting point for wuxia or martial arts movies. It is based on one of the books written by Wang Dulu, which is part of his work called The Crane-Iron Pentalogy. It starred popular Chinese artists of different nationalities from Asia. It included Chow Yun-Fat from Hong Kong, Michelle Yeoh from Malaysia, Zhang Ziyi from China and Chang Chen from Taiwan. For Zhang Ziyi, this film became her golden ticket into receiving fame internationally because of its success by of winning four Academy Awards in 2001 for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Music.
This film, in comparison to those from the Fifth Generation, stands as an example of the evolution of Chinese cinematography. Ang Lee incorporates unconventional situations in Chinese traditions and uses western influences to attract his largely western audience. He used common themes that are portrayed in western movies and subtlety incorporated it in his film.
One theme emphasized by Ang Lee is the Chinese rebellion against tradition. In the film, Jen (Zhang Ziyi,) the daughter of an important governor, falls in love with a bandit by meanings of fate. But because of her elite position, she is arranged to be married to another wealthy family. It was once a common tradition among elites in ancient China to arrange marriages based on convenience. Jen, knowing that a future with her lover is an impossible dream, lives every day with the hope of somehow attaining freedom. It is observed that the ability for her to make a decision in her life is important and thrilling at the same time. It is hard for the audience to understand what she is experiencing; however, during that period, her issues were a reality. Because she has always lived a restrained life inside her household under the wing of her parents, she rebels against this monotone life. Although she is hesitant at the beginning, her reencounter with her lover the day of her wedding motivates her to run away. Together with Cheng Kaige’s Yellow Earth, the films deals with the same issue of women’s lack of freedom in choosing the path of their future. In both movies, the leading female protagonists end up making a decision from which they could never turn back. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the female protagonist jumps from the mountains; and in Yellow Earth, the female protagonist goes on a boat in the Yellow River. Their life at the end is unknown. They attain their happiness through the hope of freedom after giving up everything they have, including their lives. This shows their urgency and necessity for change in their lives to not follow what was already planned for them.
Another theme is the unexpected power of women portrayed in the film. This differs from conventional Chinese traditions, in which women are expected to be passive and delicate. Ang Lee, creats female characters with personality, who are just as strong or even stronger compared to men. We can notice this throughout the entire movie in the fighting scenes between the female protagonists. At the beginning, when Jen is disguised as a robber and steals Li Mu Bai’s (Chow Yunfat) sword, she was speculated to be a male. Although in Chinese, there is no difference in pronunciation between the words “he” and “she,” it seems that the director wanted to emphasize to the non-Chinese audience the assumption of the robber as male. Ironically, it is later revealed that this great fighter is the unexpected princess. She is the last person we would consider to be a fighter because when we first met her, she is portrayed as an educated delicate girl from an elite family who knows nothing about fighting. The other lead female character Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) and the antagonist Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei) are both also physically strong women who have successfully mastered the martial art. It is acceptable to say that the director draws from the western ideologies of equality between man and woman. Although, Li Mu Bai is depicted as superior in strength through his fights with Jen, he eventually dies after being poisoned by Jade Fox. This situation empowers the female characters, as they become the strongest fighters in the movie.
When switching to a more superficial analysis of the movie, it is easy to view it as a marketing project for Chinese culture. It all starts with the emphasis on martial art, which is the center of attention for the movie. The beautiful, coordinated and smooth movements of the body and flying abilities portrayed intrigue the audience and inspire in them awe. This type of martial arts is different from those that the western world is accustomed to watching; for example Bruce Lee’s or Jackie Chan’s movies. Their movies depict only fighting as their main theme, while for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, there is more meaning behind it. The music of the movie is fascinating because it is encompassed to provide a set of emotions to the audience while watching the film, like the composition based on drums played whenever the female protagonists fought. Consequently, unique Chinese music composed with tradition instruments is subtlety introduced to the western world. The aspect of the film that I enjoy the best, however, is the shots of the beautiful sceneries of China. At first glance, these places can be breathtaking. Vivid imagery of the desert and the forest transports the viewer into the same world of the characters. After the shot is over, it leaves them viewers with the sense of desire to visit these places to see their beauty for themselves.
The main themes, scenery and music of the movie worked together to bring the project to international success. The director understood film tastes of the western world, and produced a work based on those preferences. The themes and visuals used by him serve to attract western audiences and introduce to them characteristics of Chinese culture and the country’s landscape. In the end, the film became a great success.
I agree with your comment on the unexpected degree of female empowerment found in the movie. To further that thought, I think it's interesting that Jen is probably the most dynamic character, in that she undergoes the greatest character change. The male leads Li Mubai and Lo, while strong and respectable in their own separate ways, are both extremely static characters. On a similar vein, I think it is also interesting to note that the longest fight scene occurs between Yu and Jen in an era when men are generally considered the stronger fighters. Of course, that might be because of Michelle Yeoh's aptitude for martial arts in real life, but I think it also appeals to the more Western notion of gender equality--that is, anything men can do, women can do better.
ReplyDeleteI also like your point about the beautiful scenery and music. To a certain degree, I wonder sometimes if movies like this aren't in reality a two-hour advertisement for the virtues of the Chinese culture.