This is a Region 3 DVD, marketed to Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and other points East. But the very English packaging and label design suggests that this Columbia Pictures release will look almost identical when it gains Region 1 release.
--Anthony
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Directors: Ang Lee
Producers: Bill Kong, Hou Li Kong, Ang Lee
Writers: Wang Hui Ling, James Schamus, Tsai Kuo Jung
Features: Audio: English (5.1), Mandarin (5.1), Thai and Cantonese (Surround) Subtitles: English, Chinese, Korean, Thai Trailer Featurette: Interview with NMichelle Yeoh Commentary: Ang Lee and James Schamus (English) Costumes Gallery Music/video clip: Coco Lee, 'A Love Before Time' (English and Mandarin) Talent Files Weblink Animated Menus
Characters:
Li Mu Bai - Chow Yun-Fat
Shu Lien - Michelle Yeoh
Lo - Chen Chang
Jen Yu - Ziyi Zhang
Genre: Action/Adventure
Review:
This is a Region 3 DVD, marketed to Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and other points East. But the very English packaging and label design suggests that this Columbia Pictures release will look almost identical when it gains Region 1 release.
The transfer is very fine – a sharp widescreen anamorphic transfer, and with the two main languages (Mandarin and English) given Dolby 5.1 tracks, with Surround Sound for Cantonese and Thai. The film was shot in Mandarin, and it’s best viewed with that; the English subtitles carry the story along very well.
And it’s a great story. Director Ang Lee (The Wedding Banquet, Sense and Sensibility) has produced a very human martial arts movie which never subdues the human stories of individual quests for strength and meaning in life. The martial arts scenes, choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping (The Matrix), are spectacular, full of energy and a surreal beauty. But they complement perfectly the story of human change and development.
The film communicates directly to a Western audience, but you sense that here are film-makers who are attempting to return to the roots of their own culture – and that feeling hits you most dramatically by the film’s ending, which can only be explained and understood with reference to that culture. Luckily, the optional director/writer audio soundtrack gives us a small cultural reference point to cling to.
Western audiences will know two of the leads, Chow Yun-Fat (Anna and the King) and Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies). Michelle Yeoh gives the performance of a lifetime. This beautiful martial-arts star acts with a deepness and richness she had never given before – and she was asked to age at least 15 years for the camera. The feature interview on the DVD with her is a revelation – is this the same person? Also revelatory is the fact that before making this film, she couldn’t speak Mandarin, and had to be coached through every line!
This Region 3 DVD, with its director/writer commentary tracks, feature interview, and video files in English and Mandarin of Coco Lee singing ‘A Love before Time’, would seem to have everything lovers of this film would need or want. But there are rumours that Columbia plans to pack even more features into the Region 1 release when it’s finally given release. So hang on and wait – but if the same film transfer forms the basis of the local release, you won’t be disappointed.
---Anthony Clarke