by David Liu

• WARNING : The questions at the bottom of the page contain plot spoilers !! Don't scroll down the page if you haven't yet seen the film! •

"So what is the big deal about this movie anyway?"

Many Western viewers drawn to the film by its critical hosannas have been confused by their discovery that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is 'merely' a martial arts adventure film, without any of the oblique symbolism or political subtexts that has fuelled other celebrated Chinese films of recent years. Fans of the genre meanwhile have claimed that there is nothing special about CTHD, and that it is merely a slow-moving entry in the WUXIA genre that has been hyped up in the West. The main reason why the film has seen such critical acclaim and commercial success, is that it is the first film in the long-established Chinese WUXIA genre that has proved to be accessible to a large international audience. Another reason the film has received so much attention has been the staging of the fight sequences: digital wire removal has allowed the superhuman leaps to be revealed in wide long shots, instead of being chopped up into a rapidly edited sequence of shots previously employed for staging these feats in WUXIA films .For those in doubt: people who have experienced CTHD as a fantasy/adventure film haven't missed very much. In its presentation of a magical world of myth and adventure not unlike Star Wars, though the characters and events in CTHD clearly have a much fuller emotional resonance.

"What is this WUXIA thing?"

WUXIA is a big part of Asian cinema culture and fantasy novels dating from as far back as the 1920s and maybe even before then. You can compare its popularity in Asian countries to how popular sci-fi and fantasy novels are in the U.S. The WUXIA genre is also the Asian equivalent of superheroes when compared to their Western counterparts. WUXIA has its own brand of mythos in which various martial artists learn through forbidden texts to attain a certain godlike mastery of enlightenment and ability beyond regular mortals.

"Why are the actor's flying? I don't get it, it's so.. like.. unrealistic!"

This is part of the WUXIA mythos: the flying is a form of "Chi enlightenment", a superhuman mastery of martial arts and swordsmanship. They aren't literally "flying" but more like reducing their own gravity to be able to glide on air.

"CTHD copied The Matrix!!"

CTHD is based on the WUXIA genre, which has used the same theme of supernatural "flying" since the 1950s. I believe The Matrix premiered in April 1999... Sorry, Matrix lovers, but the WUXIA genre predates this movie by far. Also, The Matrix is roughly based on Hong Kong-style action movies, the Wachowski brothers acknowledged Hong Kong cinema and anime as some of their major inspirations for this film. Also, Yuen Woo Ping is acknowledged as having worked the fight scenes in The Matrix thus giving it that Hong Kong feel which was intentional. Yuen Woo Ping has worked on WUXIA films and dozens of martial arts films before The Matrix as well.

"The dialogues/script sucked!!"

Well, the subtitles only translate correctly about 80% of the literal meaning of the Mandarin dialogues. Much of Chinese can only be awkwardly translated for Westerners to understand. Chinese is like poetry in a way, its meaning varies significantly with tone, nuance, and context. Subtitles don't do the movie justice, but it's the closest thing to understanding at least some of the movie. The dubbing is an atrocity, so I can imagine how someone would dismiss the screenplay as crap after listening to the English-dubbed version. The screenplay is however a decent attempt to bridge the enormous gap between Asian martial arts cinema and a type of movie palatable to Western audiences.

"What is this Wudan text they keep mentioning?"

The martial arts "text" is usually a big part of WUXIA films, which are supposed to contain forbidden knowledge to allow supernatural attainment in mastery of martial arts skills. This is a fairly common theme and usually one or more protagonists are always fighting to gain this knowledge.

"What is this Giang Hu place they keep talking about?"

Giang Hu is sort of like the inner society in which these martial artists and villains who have attained this superhuman mastery live. Compare it to the Western comic book world... with heroes and supervillains that regularly battle each other and rarely are regular people involved in their conflict.

"Why did Jen steal the sword in the first place?"

She's a repressed daughter of a rich noble, who learned the secrets of the WUXIA type martial arts only coincidentally when she was young. She later rebels by stealing the sword and wants to try her hand at it herself in the real world as an adventurer, thus she plunges herself into the Giang Hu society once she reveals her abilities.

"What is the relationship between Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien?"

Li Mu Bai used to be a comrade or friend of Shu Lien's husband, who died. Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien apparently went on a lot of adventures together and became close but they have repressed their feelings for each other. A lot of this romantic involvement is never fully illustrated, mostly remaining implicit in their scenes together, and Ang Lee has expressed his desire to make a prequel for CTHD to explore their dynamic and history further. A lot of this has to do with honor since they don't want to dishonor Shu Lien's dead husband. In ancient China it wasn't at all unusual for widows to grieve for their whole lives without remarrying, it was part of the culture of repression.

"What is the relationship between Jade Fox and Jen?"

Jade Fox apparently was the secret "tutor" and motherly maiden to Jen when she was younger. Jen learned martial arts from her by watching at age ten, and was later tutored, but she turned out to be a natural "prodigy" in learning the arts from the stolen WUDAN text. Jen was able to supersede her master at learning the text. Apparently, Jade Fox was grooming Jen to be her accomplice/apprentice for evil purposes later on.

"Why did Jen jump at the end?"

There are many possible interpretations to this, the first is she could have felt extreme guilt at having caused the death of Li Mu Bai. Jumping from the cliff was her way of ultimate atonement and her wish to make things as they were. The second interpretation is that she wanted to leave the noble life behind and escape it all with Lo.

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