![]() From the Asian side, only Jackie Chan has that world-beating potential.Įven so, Crouching Tiger has, it is hoped, improved both sides of the equation. Films that succeed globally are usually out-and-out Hollywood epics such as Titanic or Mission: Impossible 2. Frequently they have been forced to smuggle their films out of China for the benefit of appreciative western audiences.įor a film to conquer all corners of the world, it would have to be the cinematic equivalent of McDonald's: a big, bland, undemanding work of the type Lee will hopefully never produce. ![]() Likewise with mainland stars such as Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern), Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine) and their successors. Wong Kar-Wai, for example, has triumphed on western arthouse and film festival circuits with meditative urban tales such as last year's In the Mood for Love, but his films have only been minor hits in Hong Kong itself. So Lee didn't quite crack the global formula, but he is not the first Chinese auteur to be feted in the west and ignored at home. Most importantly, the screenplay was in continual ping-pong between James Schamus and two Chinese scriptwriters, teasing out cross-cultural resonances from the source text: the fourth episode of Du Lang Wang's historical fable. Elements of the film were undoubtedly selected with western appeal in mind, however: cast members with international recognition a score by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, well known in western classical circles fight sequences by Yuen Wo-Ping, who now carries the suffix "of Matrix fame". ![]() Schamus also dismisses as "western xenophobia" recent accusations that director Lee has tailored his "Chineseness" for western audiences, to deliver "cleverly packaged chop suey". It didn't do well in some places, but who's complaining? Not me!" James Schamus, Crouching Tiger's co-writer and executive producer, is quick to defend it: "It was the highest grossing Chinese-language film in virtually every Asian territory even if it hadn't been released in the west, it would have been a huge success. It was, in effect, off the market for three and a half months because of a dispute between producers, during which time millions of pirated DVDs of the film are said to have flooded the market, killing off subsequent demand. Given China's strained relationship with the renegade republic, the mainland authorities are unlikely to have taken to the film. In mainland China, where the film was shot, receipts have also been low, estimated at US$1.5m, though its performance may have been affected by Lee's Taiwanese nationality. Crouching Tiger's static drama was exacerbated for audiences in Hong Kong by seeing their Cantonese-speaking heroes, Chow Yun-Fat and Malaysian-born Michelle Yeoh, struggling with Mandarin prose. The fight scenes are usually longer, more frequent and more technically skilled (Michelle Yeoh was the only real martial arts expert in Crouching Tiger).įurther, any intervals between fights are filled either with slapstick comedy or rapid-fire exposition, so as to cram in the extravagantly complex plotlines. But Crouching Tiger is so slow, it's a bit like listening to grandma telling stories."įor Hong Kong and Chinese audiences, the historical martial arts (or "wire-fu") genre is exemplified by 1980s films such as Ronnie Yu's The Bride With White Hair or Tsui Hark's Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain and his Once Upon a Time in China series. "For Hong Kong Chinese there's simply not enough action," says Maria Wong, a post-production film executive in Hong Kong. By way of comparison Jackie Chan's latest, Accidental Spy, has racked up almost twice as much in Hong Kong in its first three weeks. In Hong Kong, despite critical acclaim, the film has taken HK$15.8m (£1.45m) since July, including a recent re-release. The film has scored well in Singapore and Taiwan but, in Korea and Japan, it has been outshone by domestic and Hollywood competition. Back on home territory, however, the reaction has been decidedly mixed.
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