Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is a martial-arts film, released in 2000, directed by Ang Lee, and starring Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi. It was the first
wuxia film to gain widespread Western acclaim, winning many awards, including four Oscars, and drawing new audiences to the genre.
A noble and well-known Wudang fighter, Li Mubai, decides to retire in 1778 after his failure to find the murderer of his master. Said master was murdered by his mistress, Jade Fox, who was embittered by his refusal to teach a woman the Wudang technique. Although his estranged
Lady Of War friend, Yu Shu-Lien, tries to talk him out of it, Li asks her to deliver his famed sword, the
Green Destiny, to a friend, Sir Te, so Li can leave his warrior past behind. Knowing the sword's deadly potential, however, Sir Te asks Shu Lien to have it safely stored in capital of Beijing instead. When Yu delivers the Green Destiny to the house of a governor, she meets the governor's headstrong daughter, the
Rebellious Princess Jen, and they become close owing to Jen's fascination with Shu Lien's free warrior life. Shu Lien realizes that Jen resents her
Arranged Marriage, longing to become a romantic adventurer like those of fairy tales.
However, a theft of the Green Destiny at night leads Shu Lien pursuing a masked assailant, and although the thief escapes with the sword, Yu comes across valuable information when she realizes that the thief is well-versed in the arts of Wudang. Li joins the investigation, and the two realize that Jade Fox had been posing as Jen's governess for a long time to avoid the authorities, including Inspector Tsai, who has been pursuing her in revenge for the death of his wife. Jade Fox challenges and kills Tsai in a secret showdown at night, but Li arrives and soundly defeats Jade Fox, who is saved only by the appearance of the thief, revealed to be Jen. Jen had, in fact, been the apprentice of Jade Fox, learning Wudang techniques from her, but Jade Fox quickly realizes that Jen had read the Wudang scriptures that Jade Fox, illiterate, had stolen, and surpassed the master in skill. Furthermore, a desert bandit who was once Jen's lover, Lo, arrives to disrupt her wedding.
And thus begins a chase of conflicting agendas and motivations, Li who wants to avenge his master's murder and pass his skills to the proper apprentice he sees in Jen, Shu Lien who wants to steer Jen back onto the right path and end this investigation, Jade Fox who wants to kill Li (and Jen out of jealousy for surpassing her), Lo who wants to take Jen away and marry her, and Jen herself, who just wants to be free...
Examples:
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: Green Destiny.
- Action Girl - Jen and Shu Lien
- The film featured two of Hong Kong cinema's most famous Action Girls, Cheng Pei Pei from the 60s and 70s (Jade Fox) and Michelle Yeoh from the 80s and 90s (Shu Lien), along with Zhang Ziyi (Jen), whom Ang Lee saw as a star of the future.
- Adaptation Displacement - Started out as the fourth book in a pentology Wuxia novel series, written by Wang Dulu.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys - Though Lo is less of a bad boy and more of a Lovable Rogue who fell for Jen because of both her beauty and her utter refusal to bow down to him
- Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Jen fits in this trope to an extent, particularly in the latter half of the story. She has The Gift of the art of Wudan, uses it arrogantly, and treats a lot of people she meets as enemies. Granted, she isn't a guy, but otherwise fits this trope for the aforementioned reasons.
- Arranged Marriage - Jen is supposed to marry a high-class guy to further her dad's career. Her estranged lover Lo does not agree. (Of course, neither does she...)
- Awkward Ability: Jen catching a teacup (another character deliberately dropped it to make her reveal her skills).
- Bittersweet Ending - After killing Jade Fox and avenging his master, Li Mubai dies of poisoning in Shu Lien's arms, finally confessing his love for her as they share a Last Kiss. OTOH, Jen is finally free from her family, so she and Lo are ultimately reunited... only for Jen to have to leap off the side of Wudan Mountain in order to make her and Lo's "wishes" come true. It's strongly implied that this is the only way they'll get to be happy together, considering all of Jen's transgressions.
- Blade Run
- Broken Bird - Jen, and to a degree Shu Lien
- Cannot Spit It Out - Very tragically played with Li Mubai and Shu Lien, who are clearly in love with each other but can't act on it because Shu Lien's deceased fiancé was Li Mubai's partner and best friend, and Mubai couldn't save his life. In fact, Sir Te lampshades the trope several times, urging Shu Lien (and IIRC, Mubai as well) to just act on their mutual love.
- Clean Cut: The Green Destiny, in the hands of the right wielder, can be drawn, cut pieces of iron in half, and sheathed again all in the one movement.
- Combat Breakdown: Jen fights Shu Lien with the Green Destiny, with Shu Lien using a wide variety of different weapons against her as the sword whittles down everything she tries. Shu Lien still wins.
- Cool Big Sis - Jen sees Shu Lien as this at first, even calling her "older sister".
- Cool Sword - the Green Destiny, also the Mac Guffin
- Crowning Moment Of Awesome - Several, including:
- A certain restaurant fight scene where Jen effectively mops the floor with everyone there.
- She doesn't just beat up the people, she beats up the restaurant.
- When Shu Lien fights Jen in the sparring room and the Green Destiny cuts through all her weapons, she wins the fight by deliberately allowing Jen to cut off the upper half of her last sword, so that the lower half slips under her guard, coming to rest on her neck.
- Duel To The Death: This movie has a duel in which a father and daughter challenge an old villain who slew their wife/mother. Later, Jen, armed with Green Destiny, fights Yu Shu-lien, armed with a variety of weapons, though the duel is not lethal.
- Empathic Weapon: The Green Destiny always described as a mystical, ancient weapon made out of "no ordinary metal" which only the hero can properly wield, although we never see it actually betray its thief, talk, or do anything similarly magical besides look really cool. And cut through basically anything, resulting in the complete destruction of first a tea house and later on every weapon in Shu Lien's armory.
- Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting - Half the clientele of the restaurant turn out to be disciples of one kind or another. It doesn't help them at all.
- Evil Mentor - Jade Fox, to Jen
- Faux Fluency: The dialogue is in Mandarin, but of the four actors, only Zhang Ziyi is a native speaker.
- Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Asian audiences (not everyone though) dismissed the movie as just another wuxia flick. Western audiences loved it to death.
- Groin Attack: Averted. Jen tries to karate chop Lo, but he catches her hand.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Asian audiences may recognise Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi (in her breakout role).
- Hot Chick With A Sword: Certainly Shu-Lien, and probably Jen too.
- I Have The High Ground: The fight along the tops of the bamboo grove.
- Imperial China
- In A Single Bound
- Interesting Situation Duel - In and on a bamboo forest.
- Jerk With A Heart Of Gold - Lo
- Kneel Before Zod: "Bow to your teacher!"
- Lady Of War - Shu Lien.
- Loads And Loads Of Characters
- Master Swordsman - Li Mubai, of course. He demonstrates the superiority of his technique to Jen using a twig at one point.
- Meaningful Name: "Jen" is just what the American translator slapped on her; in Chinese it's "Jiaolong". Likewise, Lo is "Xiaohu." These translate as something about a dragon and a tiger, respectively...
- Not to mention the title itself, which is drawn from a Chinese proverb reminding us to beware those who hide in plain sight.
- Mysterious Protector - Lo, at some point
- Named Weapons: Green Destiny.
- Not Even Bothering With The Accent: The producers tried to have all the actors speak the same accent, but considering that all four main actors spoke with different accents (Cantonese, Malaysian, Taiwanese, and Beijing-regional), they decided to give it up as a bad job. Some members of the Chinese audience was not impressed.
- Razor Wind
- Rebellious Princess - Jen
- Roof Hopping
- She Fu - Jen
- Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace - Lo disagrees like whoa! (Attacks with knives. While shouting. A lot.)
- Star Crossed Lovers - Li Mubai and Shu Lien, Jen and Lo. The first couple don't get together, the second do. To a point. (See Bittersweet Ending.)
- Suicide Is Painless: The finale appears to involve this in mimicry of a legend earlier told, except she's seen again in a sequel.
- Supernatural Martial Arts
- Tear Jerker - Li Mubai's last words and Last Kiss with Shu-Lien; Jen's final act.
- Tree Buchet: Shows up during the bamboo forest fight.
- Villain Exit Stage Left: Jade Fox is almost killed by Li Mu Bai, but escapes the legendary warrior - who is capable of Roof Hopping to the point of flight - by jumping over a wall. And he just lets her get away. Justified, Li Mu Bai wanted to steal her apprentice, if he'd pursued he probably would have had to kill them both, hell even killing Jade Fox would kill any chances of getting the apprentice.
- Walk On Water
- Wall Jump
- Wall Of Weapons: Yu Shu Lien is using a Wall of Weapons to try to defeat Jen Yu who wields the legendary sword Green Destiny.
- Warrior Therapist - Both Li Mubai and Shu Lien.
- Wet Sari Scene: Jen toward the end, in a decidedly non-erotic scene that underlines her vulnerability
- Wire Fu
- Wuxia
