Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon卧虎藏龙 ~ Chinese Movies&TV

Today let’s take a brief introduction of a famous Chinese movie named “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”.Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a Chinese-language film in the wuxia martial arts style, released in 2000. A China-Hong Kong-Taiwan-United States co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen. The movie was based on the fourth novel in a pentalogy, known in China as the Crane-Iron Pentalogy, by wuxia novelist Wang Dulu. The martial arts and action sequences were choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping, well known for his work in The Matrix and other films.

Made on a mere US$17 million budget, with dialogue in Mandarin, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon became a surprise international success. After its US premiere at the Hawaii International Film Festival, it grossed US$128 million in the United States alone, becoming the highest-grossing foreign-language film in American history. It has won over 40 awards. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (Taiwan) and three other Academy Awards, and was nominated for six other Academy Awards, including Best Picture.[3] The film also won three BAFTAs and two Golden Globes, one for “Best Foreign Film” as well as additional nominations for ten BAFTAs including “Best Picture”.

A Flim Review

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon affirms both Buddhist and Taoist belief systems. The acting, photography, and soundtrack of this picture all play various roles that serve to unify the movie using these philosophies, as well as taking the audience on a journey down the emotional paths of the characters as they struggle with love in a restraining social order. In terms of Hong Kong’s cinema, the film represents a technically innovative style that earned Crouching Tiger significant critical acclaim.

Crouching Tiger’sBuddhist and Taoist roots represent the mainstay of its philosophical content. Buddhist doctrine begins with the diagnosis and cure of humanity’s suffering via the Four Noble Truths. The First truth holds that life is suffering, or dukkha. The Second Truth indicates that the cause of that suffering is egoistic desire, or tanha. This being the case, then the Third and Fourth Noble Truths prescribe a solution: desire creates suffering, and following the Eightfold Path means the elimination of both desire and suffering. The Eightfold Path extends the Buddhist teachings into a way of life whereby a person may separate him/herself from the suffering of life and attain an enlightened state, or nirvana. These principles guide the movie in all elements, but especially in terms of its dialogue and character development.

武侠wǔxiá: which literally means “martial hero”, is a broad genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists.
章子怡Zhāng Zǐyí: born 9 February 1979, sometimes credited as Ziyi Zhang, is a Chinese film actress and model.
佛教Fójiào: a religion indigenous to the Indian subcontinent that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly known as the Buddha, meaning “the awakened one”.
道教Dàojiào: a philosophical and religious tradition that emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao (modernly romanized as “Dao”).