Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: how Ang Lee’s martial arts classic mixes sword fighting, romance and female empowerment
- Director Ang Lee combines Western and Eastern storytelling and genres with romance, sword fighting and aerial stunts
- Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh play two skilled swordswomen, in an early nod to female empowerment in wuxia
But Crouching Tiger is nonetheless an interesting melange of East and West, an unusual combination of filmmakers and performers from different cultural backgrounds combining their skills to make a unique kind of wuxia film.
The film, which was scripted by American producer and screenwriter James Schamus, and heavily rewritten by Taiwanese writer Wang Hui-ling with Schamus’ approval, features a potpourri of themes from Hong Kong wuxia films and martial arts literature.
There is the need to avenge a murdered martial arts master, the desire to possess a masterfully wrought sword, the wish to understand a special combat manual, and an overriding theme about the need for proper training so that martial arts skills can be used to benefit, rather than destabilise, society.
But the storyline is motivated by romance – in fact, two romances, one youthful and fulfilling and one older and unspoken – something which rarely plays a part in classic martial arts films.