Word: martially
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...result is a vertiginous, romantic clash--a war of wills between a wise god and a defiant young goddess. Just like the fruitful friction between a martial master and his demanding director...
...easy, filmmaking is hard. But everyone was so serious on Crouching Tiger because Lee, who made his reputation with adult dramas of manners like The Wedding Banquet and Sense and Sensibility, had a child inside screaming to get out. He wanted to pay homage to his lifelong ardor for martial-arts novels and pictures. He had made beautiful films; now he would bend his considerable artistry to make, dammit, a movie. The sad story has a happy ending. All that agony has produced exactly what Lee hoped to create--a blending of Eastern physical dexterity and Western intensity of performance...
...1930s, the script by James Schamus, Wang Huiling and Tsai Kuojung concerns the theft of a sword, the Green Destiny. This is the holy weapon of Li Mubai (Chow), a legendary warrior looking for peace in his later days. He entrusts the sword to Yu Shulien (Yeoh), a gifted martial artist with whom he shares an unspoken love. Then Jen (Zhang), daughter of a political bigwig, arrives, and everything tips off-balance. The wiser, more cautious adults sense Jen's avidity for rare and dangerous toys like the Green Destiny. They are also suspicious of her governess (Cheng Peipei...
Before shooting, Zhang and her young screen lover Chang worked with an acting coach. Chow and Yeoh crammed to speak Mandarin. And throughout, Lee was learning the limitations in the laws of stunt physics from the martial master Yuen. Movies are an education on the fly, with pop quizzes every moment. How apt, then, that the theme of Crouching Tiger should be teaching. In this war of the generations, the adults are as eager to instruct the young as the kids are to rebel against authority. In life as in martial arts, knowledge is power. And only the most powerful...
Yuen comes from an illustrious family of martial artisans. His father Yuen Siu-tin (Simon Yuen) was a martial-arts teacher in films as far back as the 1920s and earned late stardom in the title role of 1978's Drunken Master. Wo-ping's four brothers have carved notable, knockabout careers in movie action; one of them, Cheung-yan, supervised fight scenes for the new Charlie's Angels. The brothers often work together, billed as the Yuen Clan...