“I would rather drift by your side than enter heaven without
you. Because of your love, I will never be a lonely spirit.” This beautiful
line would have never been known to me until I watched the film, Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon. It has been very invigorating year at my University; full of
beautiful art and culture of China. Personally, I have had a very limited familiarity
with Chinese cinema and only now getting the chance experience them. As a result,
in this blog I will share my thoughts on Chinese cinematic film Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
As my
first choice of choosing a Chinese film, I found the film Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon to be one of my favorites. Although the film was an American-Chinese/Taiwanese
co-production, I felt that the film really represented a great example of
Chinese cinema. While watching the film,
I found the amount of passion the actors put forth into the film to be very intriguing.
In this sense, the film gave off a more realistic feel which allowed me to immerse
myself in their world. I personally
found the martial arts sequences to some of best cinematic shots I have ever
seen. Back in the 90’s, I fell in love with the Matrix films because of it
immense fighting scenes and in which the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon film
matched almost completely. While digging up some history on the film, I found
that the Matrix films received much of its influence from the Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon and would be used by other films to come.
To add
to the sense of realism is the amount of stunning cinematography shot
throughout the film. The film was not afraid to show off many wide shots to
capture the scenery that surrounded the actors. They also used exceptionally
well place medium shots and close ups that allows the audience to see the dedication
the actors had in the film. Furthermore, the cinematography of the fight scenes
that put you on the edge of a sword all the way to the top of trees is truly
stunning. The amazing fight scene
between Ziyi Zhang and Michelle Yeoh is probably the best example I could find
that shows a variety of cinematography at its best. This clip shows a fight
scene that virtually seamless of editing or cuts that would have taken place
within the production.
The
cinematography maybe stunning, but it would be very bland if it did not capture
mise-en-scene that went along with the film. These are the elements that make
up land scape of the film in which the director did very well in adding. During
the course of the film, our actors are surrounded by Chinese culture and architecture
that it seems as if this film was just glimpsing the past history of China. Not
only did the scenery match the time period, but the clothing that the actors
wore was head to toe flawless. To complete
this feeling of realism, the actors would also speak in their own vernacular
which matched the language during that time period. Most films like this,
especially being partially an American produced film, usually would have these
actors speak a broken English language simply for the ease of the audience.
In summary, I am very thankful for the encouragement to
study Chinese cinema and how it all got started. Although I am starting off
late, I have already been amazed by the beautiful film Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon. Through the elements of mise-en-scene, and cinematography it is no
wonder why Crouching Tiger continues to be hailed as one of the greatest and
most influential foreign language films in the United States.
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