Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Action movies have a huge fanbase. The popularity of action movies like those of Wuxia Films can be attributed to their peculiarity in the action genre. These films contain action related to a particular, less-screened field of martial arts. Although the popularity of these movies is growing daily, the case of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is different. It is a case of counter flow which can be defined as the special case of media flow from east to west against its prevailing opposite direction (Wu, Huaiting. Chan, Joseph M. 195-217).

The difference between this movie and other action movies is that it is a joint venture of China Film Co-Productions Corporation, Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, Edko Films, Good Machine International, and Zoom Hunt Productions. This along with its storyline borrowed from a Chinese novel Wang Dulu and multiple screen releases across the globe can be attributed to its success.

A great fix was done to the gender role of characters as it basically targeted the global audience especially the western part. The role of the female gender was elevated as the screen time and action involved much of female characters. The queer, negative, female character of Jade Fox plays a pivotal role in the plot of the movie. Also, the lead female characters Yu Shu Lin and Jen Yu are quite unorthodox regarding the part they play in an action-packed Kung Fu movie.

Although it is traditionally held that the origination of martial arts has been traced back to woman masters, the inclusion of a woman master in the movie can’t be observed. In the broader sense, the gender portrayal has been positive as compared to other action movies where woman are portrayed in supporting-role of housewives. And I think the movie makers have got some success in changing the gender portrayal of the Chinese Cinema.

The poison has a remarkable presence in the movie. Its utility is mainly confined to the character of Jade Fox who administers it physically and spiritually to the characters of the movie. The physical efficacy of the poison comes into fore when she poisons the master of Li Mu Bai (only narrated in the movie) and Li Mu Bai himself. As a matter of desperation, she indulges in the act of poisoning her enemies which is considered as cowardice disguised as deception in Martial arts (Fairlamb, Horace L. p.196).

The spiritual aspect can be understood by the fact that the waywardness in the character of Jen can be attributed to the poisonous teachings of Jade Fox. Although Jen doesn’t fully abide by the evil commands of her master, she does commit some crimes. In the scene when Jade Fox gets murdered, she alleges that she was poisoned by an eight-year-old which points towards the scrutiny of Jen’s character about whom Mu Bai is also sceptical. This can also amount to spiritual poisoning.

The obscurity of the mastery is what I would like to call it. It is prominent in every Kung Fu movie as the tradition backing the martial arts sees it as a mechanism of defence. The portrayal of this characteristic is done very cleverly in this movie also. The men with talent and power find their tranquillity in namelessness, the theme reciprocates throughout the movie and it makes one ponder upon the practicality and romanticism supporting it. Nevertheless, a peaceful rather archaic ending to the violent stimulation is the motive of Kung Fu at least this is what they try to show and has worked out well for this movie.

I consider this obscurity of mastery old fashioned. The meaningless attainment of power without using it make the lives of other people better, to me it is redundant. The attainment of power comes with a sense of responsibility; although obscuring it to retain one’s privacy is fine, its utility for the maintenance of peace is also essential. To restrain oneself to the mountains can bring peace to the mind but not to the chaos-hungry world.

 

Works Cited

1.      Wu, Huaiting; Chan, Joseph M. "Globalizing Chinese Martial Arts Cinema: The Global-Local Alliance and the Production of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Media, Culture & Society 29 (2) (2007): 195–217.

2.      Fairlamb, Horace L. "Romancing the Tao: How Ang Lee Globalized Ancient Chinese Wisdom," Symploke vol. 15, No. 1-2 (2007): p.196.