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Synopsis: Taoist hero Li Mu Bai has grown weary of the life of a martial arts warrior and intends to retire. Towards this end, he entrusts his sword, The Green Destiny, to his best friend, Shu Lien, to be delivered to Sir Te, Li Mu Bai's sponsor in Peking. Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien have deeper feelings for each other, but their duties have conspired to keep them apart. Shortly after the sword is delivered, it is stolen by a thief in the night. Shu Lien chases the thief across the rooftops of Peking in a running kung fu battle. The thief knows secret techniques of the Wudan order, secrets that suggest the thief is in league with Li Mu Bai's mortal enemy, Jade Fox, who killed Li Mu Bai's master and stole his order's their training scriptures. The thief, it turns out, is Jen, the daughter of a governor from the west. She is shortly to be married, but longs for a life of adventure. Jade Fox has been grooming Jen as her successor, but Jen has secretly surpassed the skills of Jade Fox because she is able to read and understand the scripture. Li Mu Bai recognizes Jen's potential and offers to become her teacher. Further complicating things is the arrival of Lo, the bandit known as "Dark Cloud," with whom Jen had a passionate affair on the journey to Peking. Eventually, Jen is persuaded to give The Green Destiny back, but she steals it again on her wedding night and sets out on for a life of adventure, picking fights with every wandering adventurer she encounters. Armed with The Green Destiny, she is unstoppable, but, unsatisfied with the life she has chosen, she goes to Shu Lien for comfort. They quarrel, and Jen and Shu Lien duel to a standstill in Shu Lien's exercise yard. Jen flees when Li Mu Bai arrives to settle things, and he follows her across the tree tops. When at last she yields to Li Mu Bai's mastery, she is kidnapped by the vengeful Jade Fox, leading to a final, fatal confrontation.

Bodies in Motion: Like the best martial arts movies from Hong Kong during the last fifteen years or so, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a wonder of kinetic energy, of bodies in motion. The best fight scenes in this film are among the best action sequences in film and impart a kind of giddy exhilaration to the audience. They are energizing. Were that the only thing to recommend the film, it would still be worth the trip.

Chick Flick: Subtract the martial arts from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, you would be left with a chick flick. The relationship between Jen and Shu Lien is archetypal female bonding--even if they are bonding while fists and feet are flying. The relationship between Jen and Lo, which is one of the hidden heartbeats that drive the movie, is the stuff of romance novels. The unrequited romance between Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien lends the film it's poignancy. This last part is so marvelously played by Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh that both actors' screen animas are completely sublimated into their characters. Michelle Yeoh, in particular, gives the performance of her career. If the film were an English language film, she would be on the short list of Oscar's Best Actress nominees. Even more astonishing is the fact that neither Chow Yun Fat or Michelle Yeoh is a native speaker of Mandarin, the language spoken in the film. Remarkable.

Visionary Wonders: I suspect that this film will have a greater impact on an audience that has no experience with Hong Kong-style martial arts fantasy. Anyone who has seen movies like The Blade, The Bride With White Hair, or A Chinese Ghost Story will be in familiar territory. Which is to say that this particular subgenre has been pushing the envelope of the possible for quite some time. These movies take audiences to new places and show them new things in a way that makes American equivalents look mundane. Crouching Tiger is merely one of the most subtle and artful of these movies. Ang Lee has recognized in this type of movie the possiblity of testing his characters in new ways, ways that aren't possible in, say, Sense and Sensibility or Eat, Drink, Man, Woman. The film seems destined for a breakout success, which can only be a good thing. Maybe it will teach the heathen gwailo who run Hollywood a thing or two.