 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
In Reply to: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon posted by Dave on October 05, 2002 at 15:57:02:
But those are such trite comments about "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon". For example, the comments using descriptives such as "gorgeous", "wonderful", and "beautifully". True Chinese martial arts films aren't about any of that. They're strictly about, frankly, ninjas flipping out and kicking people's asses, with extreme and swift violence of action. CTHD is yet another product that has been sugar coated and stripped of all the genre essence from which it came, not to mention the stereotypical condescendence smothered throughout the movie. It's no wonder that Chinese who are keen on Chinese martial arts films find Crouching Tiger wholly uninteresting.
Follow Ups:
Ummm...Wherever did you get that idea??? Yes, CTHD uses fight choreography , wire work and elements from the genre. Without the martial arts tradition CTHD would probably not exist. But Ang Lee was after something quite different than "kicking ass". He didn't make this film for martial arts fans. Lee used the conventions of the genre to tell a multilayered, mythic *story*.CTHD a martial arts flick? Nah...It's like saying the first LA Confidential is just about cops 'n robbers, or that Lord of the Rings is just about fairies and monsters, or that The Searchers is just about cowboys and Indians.
If you don't geddit, there *are* plenty of "true" martial arts genre films from which to choose for the die-hard aficionados.
I don't AGREE - I think CTHD *is* gorgeous. And wonderful.
Don't know if you'll get this one in the West, released about 18 months ago in Japan, it's the very best of the genre I've yet seen; yet is nothing like any of the Kurosawa or Run Run Shaw or Chinese films in style
Kind of a revisionist take on Samurai dramas almost in a way "Unforgiven" is for Clint Eastwood Westerns
Well worth a look, it's a true quality piece
Eric
Tokyo
"...true Chinese martial arts films aren't about any of that. They're strictly about, frankly, ninjas flipping out and kicking people's asses, with extreme and swift violence of action. CTHD is yet another product that has been sugar coated and stripped of all the genre essence from which it came, not to mention the stereotypical condescendence smothered throughout the movie. It's no wonder that Chinese who are keen on Chinese martial arts films find Crouching Tiger wholly uninteresting..."
hi Adriel, I think I responded to a message of yours before, and I don't mean to be picking on you, but it seems you have very strong feelings about things you probably don't know much about.
It is a very well done piece of its genre. No it's not the Chinese martial arts movie a la Jackie Chan, Jet Li, or even Bruce Lee, that American audience is relatively familiar with. It belongs to a complete different genre. This film, I believe, came from a novel, which was adapted into a TV series in Hong Kong (I think), and was available on vcd (see these pics: 1 , 2 , and 3 ), before it was made into a much better, shorter, larger-budget film. FYI, it is not Chu Yun Fat (??)'s first gig of the genre either.
This genre draws a huge number fans, including myself, but largely goes unnoticed by most Americans (excluding a very few such as Queentin Tarantino who talked about that in one of his interviews).
If the style, preaching attitude (which is not indicative of its genre),etc.. are not up to your tastes, then that's fine....But really, being familiar with this type of movies and literature, I must say it is a well done piece. I think it's also refreshing that many American audience really like it, despite not knowing that there's alot more to it.
When I asked for recommendations for other movies if one liked CTHD.I tried some Jet Li and some Jackie Chan movies so far. I'm not sure there is anything I've enjoyed like CTHD though.
I thought Iron Monkey definitely paled in comparison as I also tried that one as someone else gave a recommendation for one to try.
If I ever placed Jet Li or Jackie Chan movies in the same level as CTHD, it's unintentional. CTHD while not to everyone's taste is much better in terms of cinematography, etc... And it's not even the same. Chan and Li's movies have specific commercial objectives. I'm not at all a fan of either. Martial arts without "context" looks really odd. It works quite similarly to Lord of the Rings in that the setting is so right that you just yield unconditionally to imagination. Taking that out of proper "context" and settings will result in horrible copies. This is why the remake of Planet of the Apes couldn't evoke the same feelings as the originalHere, It's not the martial arts that entertains, it's the imagination; it's the arts in martial arts. CTHD is a beautiful film, the first and only (thus far) recommendable film of an interesting genre.
A Chinese Ghost Story can challenge CTHD as the best film of its genre. If I have to choose the most entertaining film I have seen, A Chinese Ghost Story get my vote. This film could have been a succes at the box office if only at that time (1987), peoples had a more open mind about foreigh films. So good that it was even shown at my High School theater.2 upcoming films from 2 of the most favorite director among movie lovers could be as good as CTHD... and with the hottest chinese actors and actress.
- HERO, by director Zhang Yimou, the score by Tan Dun (CTHD), cinematrographer Chis Doyle (Wong Kar-wai's cinematrographer), starring Jet Li, Zizi Zhang (CTHD), Donnie Yen (Iron Monkey), Tony Leung & Maggie Cheung (In the Mood for Love), from what I hear it seems this is going to be a jackpot... and Zhang Yimou have never made a bad movie. Danm, I can't wait to see this film. Sorry Gang of New York, Hero is now on top of my must see list.
- 2046, by director Wong Kar-Wai, produce by Zhang Yimou, starring Zizi Zhang, Tony Leung, Maggie cheung,BTW, I just saw Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger, featuring Samo Hung and Chen Pei-Pei (aka Jade Fox). Too bad, the subtitles is not in english, so I forget it for now and it doesn't seems that good.
HERO, it seems, is a very promising film.Zhang Yimou directed the great "Raising the Red Lantern".
Christ Doyle made "In The Mood for Love" simply beautiful.
Donnie Yen is a good actor. I saw him demonstrate martial arts a few years back in Boston. I like him most in the long TV series, "Fist of Fury"; a nice tribute, though much better and longer than Bruce Lee's "the Chinese Connection".
Tony Leung is quite capable. I liked him when he played a eunich. But his most memorable performance is in "Heaven Sword, Dragon Blade", adapted from a great novel. He was also great in "In the mood for love", such a beautiful and great souding film.
Overall, I like the western influence on Chinese films. First, it's the money; the more, the better the quality as a result. Second, its positive influence is similar to the way that European influence has on Korean soccer in that I think most Chinese actors have great potential and they just need to be pushed differently.
Budget: 30 millions, that's a lot of money for a asian film.
Action director: Ching Sui-Tung ( the director of A Chinese Ghost Story).
Costume designer Emi Wada, who worked with Akira Kurosawa for Ran and Yume.Comments:
Southern City reports many people who saw the rough cut have thrown some very good words on it and said HERO was a new height of Zhang Yimou's career.
"This is definitely an Oscar contender!! A movie worth watching more than once.A Visual feast for the eyes, Great Sound effects, Powerful acting and a very interesting storyline. Not to forget the beautiful settings."
"HERO will inevitably be compared to CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON. It bears the same feeling of melancholy, and its fight scenes could easily be mistaken for each other"
Not available anywhere for rental. Perhaps netflix but I don't plan to deal with that.I have seen Chinese Ghost Story mentioned quite a few times in searches I have done on this board for some info and probably will break down and buy it. Some suggested that they liked The Bride with White Hair and I thought about that one also.
PS: another note in terms of styles. Note that the novel was written a while ago, probably around 50s or 60s. So, i'm not sure if it's stereotypical...
You're right Adriel - why transcend a genre when we can simply remake the same lowbrow Chinese chop-socky crap over and over? We should all live in a tiny little compartmentalized world like yours without any variations on theme, and strive for conformity and mediocracy. I've forwarded your comments on to the Academy Awards committee -- I'm sure that they will agree that CTHD is a loathsome piece of garbage, and should never have won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Score, Best Art Direction and Best Foreign Film. (Can you believe it? Those retards actually gave CTHD nominations in TEN different categories? What fools they are -- if only they had Adriel to show them the error of their ways).Thank you for your insightful criticism; comments like yours certainly make the effort of posting here worthwhile.
...
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
