The best martial arts movies have nothing to do with fighting and everything to do with personal excellence. Their heroes transcend space, gravity, the limitations of the body and the fears of the mind. In a fight scene in a Western movie, it is assumed the fighters hate each other. In a martial arts movie, it's more as if the fighters are joining in a celebration of their powers.
December 22, 2020
Taiwanese director Ang Lee gestures as he arrives on the red carpet of the 55th Golden Horse Awards on Nov 17, 2018.
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It s almost impossible to watch the fight scene that takes place above a bamboo forest in the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and not let out some kind of verbal exclamation.
Twenty years later, the exhilarating grace of Ang Lee s martial arts masterpiece is just as breathtaking. The way figures glide across the water. The extraordinary lightness of it. The craft and choreography are only further evidence of a mantra uttered in the film: A sword by itself rules nothing. It only comes alive in skilled hands.