Ang Lee Interview: Looking back at Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a sensation when it was released back in the year 2000. No one expected Ang Lee’s martial arts epic to make over $100 million in the United States. The director, at the time, was best known for independent dramas like The Ice Storm. His taking on a kung-fu-filled fantasy epic seemed like a stretch, and when people learned it would be shot in Mandarin, they naturally assumed it would maybe be a nice art-house hit but not much more. Instead, the film played to boffo box office both internationally and domestically, leading to an unexpected revival for the wuxia genre, paving the way for the successful domestic release of Zhang Yimou’s Hero and more.
With the film back in theaters starting starting February 17th in a new 4K restoration, I was lucky enough to get some time with the director, Ang Lee, who proved to be an open book as for as his difficulties went while making the movie. As you can see in the interview above, Lee had only half the budget he had for the domestic drama, The Ice Storm to make his epic. In the interview, we discuss working with Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, with Lee praising Yeoh’s recent resurgence in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Lee has positive things to say about all of his actors, particularly Chow Yun-Fat, who he notes had to learn martial arts for the film (as he was more of a gun-guy in the John Woo movies that made him famous), shave his head and perfect his mandarin. He also notes how, when the movie wrapped, he lied about wanting to make a Crouching Tiger prequel for many years to prevent any follow-ups from being made (sadly, he was not successful). It’s a pretty intriguing interview that also includes some information about his upcoming Bruce Lee biopic. Check it out!
Will you be going to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon when it comes back to theaters? Let us know in the comments!
SUBSCRIBE for the LATEST CELEBRITY INTERVIEWS here: bit.ly/328dQ7H
#AngLee #crouchingtigerhiddendragon #MichelleYeoh

[@BackLooking]

Crouching Tiger.... is an important movie for me. It was released in 2000, but here in my country (Czech Republic) it came to the theaters I think in the summer of 2001. At that time I was already a big fan of martial arts movies. But in our video stores, there were not that many Hong Kong movies. We had like 5 Shaw Brothers movies, some Jackie Chan films, and several others like the In The Line Of Duty films, Iron Angels 1 and 2, and Tiger Cage 1, 2, 3. So I knew Michelle from Yeoh from Yes Madam, Royal Warriors and Police Story 3. I knew Chow Yun Fat´s name but hadn´t seen any of his films at that point yet. So when I saw the news in the film magazines that Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was coming, I was looking forward to it. When it finally came to my town, I went to the cinema to see it. And my feelings about it were quite mixed. It took me a while to digest the wires in the action. I wasn´t used to it. But it took another like 5-6 months till it was released on VHS and I watched it several more times because I was so excited that there was this new Chinese martial arts movie set in ancient China. And I started to be fascinated by the flying in the choreography. It had such a magic to it and it felt very poetic. It wasn´t something I expected from a kung fu film, but I loved it. And it actually opened the door to Hong Kong cinema for me. I started to look for more. I wanted to see movies like A Chinese Ghost Story trilogy, New Dragon Gate Inn, Tai Chi Master, Swordsman trilogy, Butterfly And Sword, Duel To The Death....and many others where the warriors fly, have basically superpowers, and anything can happen. It took some effort to get my hands on those films back then, but when in 2002 Hero was released, I was totally prepared to see some flying in that film. 😀

[@JoBloCelebrityInterviews]

thanks so much for watching and sharing that with us :)

[@maggiechan33]

Both Chow + Michelle were soulful + GORGEOUS 23 yrs ago, AND they still are !!!!!

[@primusmoss-ln6jc]

This man is an incredible director! Those fight scenes in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon were just beautiful! The whole movie was beautiful! Ziyi Zhang and Chow Yun Fat werent even trained Martial Artists, but they were VERY believable! Michelle Yeoh was already a wonderful fighter! I loved Hulk too! The fight with the dogs and the military and the jumping and transformation scenes were done just right. Mr. Lee was the first one to stay faithful to the comic book in my opinion! The other adaptations never showed the Hulk leaping properly. Ang Lee DID! His Bruce Lee movie is going to be AMAZING! Just watch! He's made me a believer!!!

[@maggiechan33]

I have always posted that Michelle should have gotten a nod from the Academy for her portrayal of Shu Lien; the love, longing + tenderness in her eyes, as she watches Mu Bai practice with the returned Green Destiny, is a master class in mesmerizing, poignant, subtle acting.

[@BootsandUtes]

Yep, Michelle should have been nominated for Crouching Tiger. And despite all the critical buzz of Zhang Ziyi, it's crazy she wasn't nominated either.

[@isuriadireja91]

and don't forget she didn't speak Mandarin...so she learned it phonetically and STILL gave a top notched tough and emotional performance. and yeah...I too, think she was SNUBBED (in its TRUEST meaning) by the academy of a nomination for her work on the film.

[@maggiechan33]

Michelle has more than earned her Best Actress Oscar with EEAAO.

[@isuriadireja91]

it's crazy, despite all the successes this movie had, financially and critically...Ang Lee still haven't gone back to directing another martial arts movie to this day. It should've won the Best Picture Oscar that year..and become the FIRST ever non-english speaking film to win it, instead of Parasite. It truly deserved it.

[@JoBloCelebrityInterviews]

we hope he does someday! thanks for watching!

[@James_Baggott]

When Ang said it was cleansing when Jen jumped...i felt that.

[@TheSabado215]

Ang Lee The Master.

[@DarinWaugh2x]

Great interview, thanks!

[@maggiechan33]

Hopefully Ang Lee's biopic of Bruce, will correct the mistake that pompous Tarantino made.

[@isuriadireja91]

I've always thought of all that Bruce Lee stuff as just a joke in the movie...but with no ill intention behind it. cos, the fight wasn't quite finished. and it was just to show how tough Brad's character is...in setting him up for that finale. I mean, come on....everyone knows Bruce was a REAL badass in real life...and how more FAKE this movie has to be than to show Brad's character killing Manson's minions, while keeping Sharon Tate and her friends alive at the end. anyway...I hope Ang's got his groove back after the disaster of his last two movies....and will be in his CTHD or Life of Pi mode when making his Bruce Lee biopic. I also hope he'd get just the right person cast as Bruce. Looking forward to it.

[@milesgreb3537]

Hong Kong is not China.

[@TheMikenanners]

I think by ‘Chinese movies’ he means Chinese language movies, which would apply to the separate state of Hong Kong

[@HakuYuki001]

Are you a cultist. Because you seem to be unable to understand basic reality. Hong Kong is officially a part of China. Your feelings don't change that fact.