Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wohu canglong, 2000) is a wuxia film by director Ang Lee, a co-production of Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and the USA shot in Mandarin. It is based on a novel by Wang Dulu, the fourth part of his five-part Crane-Iron cycle. The story is set in 1778, under the Qianlong Emperor. Two master fighters, the Wudang swordsman Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien, search for the sword Green Destiny, a four-hundred-year-old jian stolen by a mysterious female thief. Mount Wudang is one of the settings. The film does not seek historical accuracy: according to English Wikipedia, Ang Lee wanted to show a “China of the imagination”. The fights were choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping, and Lee saw each movement as an extension of character and each fight as a reflection of how relationships develop. Besides the jian, there are Jade Fox's poisoned needles and a sword that destroys its opponent's weapons. The scenes in the treetops were shot on wires; according to English Wikipedia, computers only served to remove the safety cables, and the actors did much of the stunt work themselves. According to English Wikipedia, the film raised interest in Chinese wuxia films in the West and inspired, among others, Zhang Yimou's films Hero and House of Flying Daggers; in the USA it became the first foreign-language film to earn over 100 million dollars. It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and Yuen Woo-ping won action choreography awards for it at the Golden Horse Awards (2000) and the Hong Kong Film Awards (2001).

Martial arts in this work

Origin

The source is the novel Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long) by the writer Wang Dulu, whose real name was Wang Baoxiang (1909–1977). It is the fourth part of the Crane-Iron pentalogy; serialised in 1941–1942 and issued as a book in 1948. According to English Wikipedia, the film took elements from other books in the series as well and stresses the characters' love relationships. The original choice for the role of Li Mu Bai was Jet Li, who turned the offer down because his partner was pregnant. The role finally went to Chow Yun-fat, a native Cantonese speaker, who learned Mandarin through phonetic preparation; on the first day of shooting he needed 28 takes because of the language. The sequel Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016) was shot in English by Yuen Woo-ping, based on the fifth novel of the cycle, Iron Knight, Silver Vase. Michelle Yeoh returned in it and Donnie Yen joined.

Fight choreography

The fight scenes were led by Yuen Woo-ping, son of martial arts film actor Yuen Siu-tien, trained at the China Drama Academy under Yu Jim-yuen. Zhang Ziyi, who was nineteen at the time of filming, was a trained dancer, and her dance training was put to use in the fights. Michelle Yeoh began with ballet and gained her fighting skills making Hong Kong action films, not through formal training; she injured her knee during filming, and we did not find the details in the sources. Chow Yun-fat said of himself that he is not like Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan and relies on stunt coordinators; we have not been able to document his own martial arts training. Shu Qi, the first choice for the role of Jen Yu, turned the offer down because she found the training too demanding. Filming began on 31 July 1999, lasted eight months and took place in the Gobi Desert, in the Taklamakan, in Ürümqi, in Beijing, in Shanghai and in Anji.

People and martial arts

• Ang LeeDirector
• Yuen Woo-pingFight choreographer
• Chow Yun-fatActor — as Li Mu Bai· Wudang Sword (portrays the art on screen)
• Zhang ZiyiActor — as Jen Yu· Wudang Sword (portrays the art on screen)
• Michelle YeohActor — as Yu Shu Lien· Kung Fu (portrays the art on screen)

Awards

• Won · Golden Horse Awards, Best Action Choreography (2000) — Yuen Woo-ping
• Won · Hong Kong Film Awards, Best Action Choreography (2001) — Yuen Woo-ping
• Won · Academy Awards, Best Foreign Language Film (2001)
• Won · BAFTA, Best Director (2001)
• Won · Golden Globe Awards, Best Director (2001)