Directed by Ang Li
In Chinese, English subtitles
Russian translation by headphones

This film, the talk of the upcoming Oscar awards, deserves the hype. The cinema adaptation of part of an epic adventure novel, it brings to the screen a China of legend and dream, a China that perhaps never existed at all, but that the viewer wants to believe existed.

The novel on which the film is based belonged to the Chinese equivalent of tales of wandering knights — freedom loving epic heroes who roamed the country performing great exploits. The heroes of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" fit the bill. Li Mu Bai, rightful owner of the Green Destiny sword, leaves the Wudan monastery, unable to renounce his love for his friend and fellow warrior Shu Lien. Jen, the daughter of an important official, has studied martial arts in secret using the Wudan manual stolen by Jade Fox, who killed Li Mu Bai's master.

Ambition, revenge, love, freedom and choice form a tapestry of motives and emotions, weaving the characters into its strands. The story moves across China from Beijing to the arid landscapes of the Gobi desert, snow-topped mountains near Central Asia and lush bamboo forests of Xin Jiang. Scenes of calm and reflection alternate with bouts of action.

Being a martial arts film, there are plenty of fight scenes, but these are not your average kung fu fare. Ang Li's heroes don't just fight, they dance, glide, fly, teeter way up in the air on slender

bamboo stalks. Lovers of strict realism may find it disconcerting, but this is China, after all, a land of dragons and mist and strange phenomena. To enter this China is to believe that warriors who have studied long and hard can fly over the roofs of old Beijing and fight high up in bamboo groves.

The film is in Mandarin Chinese, a symbolic choice. Coming from Hong Kong, martial arts films are usually in Cantonese. Hong Kong actors Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh had to play their parts in the Mandarin dialect for the first time in their acting careers. Ang Li himself is from Taiwan but is best known for his films in English such as "Ice Storm" and "Sense and Sensibility." "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is something of a return to his Asian origins and it is a sign of his success that, though filmed in Chinese, the movie has been nominated for the usually English language only best picture Oscar.

This is a film made to dazzle and impress the senses. Visually it is stunning. The soundtrack is an example of well-chosen music that moves with the film, blending more traditional Chinese melodies with Central Asian motifs and classical strains. All in all, it is a rich work that will leave you with a bit of China in your head for some time to come.