Released Year: 2000Directed by 李安 Ang Lee
Casted by:
周潤發 Chow Yun Fatt as 李慕白 Bai
楊紫瓊 Michelle Yeoh as 俞秀蓮 Lien
章子怡 ZiYi Zhang as 玉嬌龍 Long
張震 Chang Zheng as 羅小虎 Hu
鄭佩佩 Pei Pei Cheng as 碧眼狐狸 Jade Fox
Story:The film is set in the Qing Dynasty during the 43rd year (1779) of the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. Li Mu Bai is an accomplished Wudang swordsman. Long ago, his master was murdered by Jade Fox, a woman who sought to learn Wudang skills but was rejected due to her gender. Mu Bai is also a good friend of Yu Shu Lien, a female warrior. Mu Bai and Shu Lien have developed feelings for each other, but have never acknowledged or acted on them. Mu Bai, intending to give up his warrior life, asks Shu Lien to transport his sword, also referred to as the Green Destiny, to the city of Beijing, as a gift for their friend, Sir Te. At Sir Te's estate, Shu Lien meets Jen, the daughter of Governor Yu, a visiting Manchu aristocrat. Jen, destined for an arranged marriage and yearning for adventure, seems envious of Shu Lien's warrior lifestyle.
One evening, a masked thief sneaks into Sir Te's estate and steals the sword. Mu Bai and Shu Lien, with the assistance of Sir Te's servant Master Bo, trace the theft to Governor Yu's compound and learn that Jade Fox has been posing as Jen's governess for many years. Bo makes the acquaintance of Inspector Tsai, a police investigator from the provinces, and his daughter, May, who have come to Beijing in pursuit of Jade Fox. While the three are eating lunch, Jade Fox fires a dart with a written message attached to it, challenging them to a showdown that night. Following a protracted battle, the group is on the verge of defeat when Mu Bai arrives and outmaneuvers Jade Fox. Before Mu Bai can kill Jade Fox, the masked thief reappears and partners with Jade Fox to fight. Jade Fox resumes the fight and kills Tsai before fleeing with the thief (who is revealed to be Jade Fox's protegée, Jen). After seeing Jen fight Mu Bai, Jade Fox realizes Jen had been secretly studying the Wudang manual and has surpassed her in skill. After finding out that Tsai was a police officer, a guilt-ridden Jen returns the Green Destiny to Sir Te's estate but is intercepted by Mu Bai. Mu Bai easily defeats her and asks her to become his pupil. Jen angrily rebukes his offer and flees. When she returns home, Jen confronts Jade Fox and banishes her from the Governor's compound.
That night, a desert bandit named Lo breaks into Jen's bedroom and asks her to leave with him. A flashback reveals that in the past, when Governor Yu and his family were traveling in the western deserts, Lo and his bandits had raided Jen's caravan; Lo took an heirloom comb from Jen and she pursued him to get it back, but succumbed to exhaustion in the desert. Lo took her to his cave hideout, where after an escape attempt and Lo's kind hospitality, the two fall in love. Lo eventually convinced Jen to return to her family, though not before telling her a legend of a man who jumped off a cliff to make his wishes come true. Because the man's heart was pure, he did not die. Lo came to Beijing to persuade Jen not to go through with her arranged marriage. However, when Jen refuses to leave with him, he returns the stolen comb and leaves.
After the wedding, Jen runs away and steals the Green Destiny again. Mu Bai, Shu Lien, and Lo are ordered to find and retrieve Jen. Jen visits Shu Lien at one of her dojos, who tells her that Lo is waiting for her at Wudang Mountain. After an angry dispute, the two women engage in a duel. Wielding the Green Destiny, Jen gains the upper hand by destroying every weapon that Shu Lien uses. However, Shu Lien finally uses a broken two-handed straight sword, jian, to her advantage, surprising Jen by managing to press its broken but still sharp edge to her throat. However, rather than acknowledging her defeat and handing over the Green Destiny, Jen injures Shu Lien when she lowers her broken weapon. Mu Bai arrives and pursues Jen into a bamboo forest. A duel ensues where Mu Bai overcomes a challenge Jen sets before him (to determine whether she will be his pupil), regaining possession of the Green Destiny. But when Mu Bai succeeds and Jen continues to refuse, Mu Bai realizes that she is without honor, thus unworthy of becoming his pupil despite her skills and throws the sword over a waterfall. In pursuit, Jen dives into an adjoining river to retrieve the sword, and is then rescued by Fox. Fox puts Jen into a drugged sleep and places her in a cavern in which later Mu Bai, Shu Lien and Bo discover her. Fox suddenly reappears and attacks the others with poisoned darts. Mu Bai blocks the needles with his sword and avenges his master's death by mortally wounding Fox, only to realize that one of the darts managed to hit him in the neck. Fox dies, confessing that her goal had been to kill Jen, because she was furious that Jen hid the secrets of Wudang from her.
As Jen runs off to prepare the antidote for the poisoned dart, Mu Bai prepares to die. With his last breaths, he finally confesses his love for Shu Lien, and dies in her arms as Jen returns too late to save him. The Green Destiny is returned to Sir Te. Jen later goes to Wudang Mountain and spends one last night with Lo. The next morning, Lo finds Jen standing on a balcony overlooking the edge of the mountain. In an echo of the legend that they spoke about in the desert, she asks him to make a wish. He complies, wishing for them to be together, back in the desert. Jen then flies over the side of the mountain and into the clouds.
One evening, a masked thief sneaks into Sir Te's estate and steals the sword. Mu Bai and Shu Lien, with the assistance of Sir Te's servant Master Bo, trace the theft to Governor Yu's compound and learn that Jade Fox has been posing as Jen's governess for many years. Bo makes the acquaintance of Inspector Tsai, a police investigator from the provinces, and his daughter, May, who have come to Beijing in pursuit of Jade Fox. While the three are eating lunch, Jade Fox fires a dart with a written message attached to it, challenging them to a showdown that night. Following a protracted battle, the group is on the verge of defeat when Mu Bai arrives and outmaneuvers Jade Fox. Before Mu Bai can kill Jade Fox, the masked thief reappears and partners with Jade Fox to fight. Jade Fox resumes the fight and kills Tsai before fleeing with the thief (who is revealed to be Jade Fox's protegée, Jen). After seeing Jen fight Mu Bai, Jade Fox realizes Jen had been secretly studying the Wudang manual and has surpassed her in skill. After finding out that Tsai was a police officer, a guilt-ridden Jen returns the Green Destiny to Sir Te's estate but is intercepted by Mu Bai. Mu Bai easily defeats her and asks her to become his pupil. Jen angrily rebukes his offer and flees. When she returns home, Jen confronts Jade Fox and banishes her from the Governor's compound.
That night, a desert bandit named Lo breaks into Jen's bedroom and asks her to leave with him. A flashback reveals that in the past, when Governor Yu and his family were traveling in the western deserts, Lo and his bandits had raided Jen's caravan; Lo took an heirloom comb from Jen and she pursued him to get it back, but succumbed to exhaustion in the desert. Lo took her to his cave hideout, where after an escape attempt and Lo's kind hospitality, the two fall in love. Lo eventually convinced Jen to return to her family, though not before telling her a legend of a man who jumped off a cliff to make his wishes come true. Because the man's heart was pure, he did not die. Lo came to Beijing to persuade Jen not to go through with her arranged marriage. However, when Jen refuses to leave with him, he returns the stolen comb and leaves.
After the wedding, Jen runs away and steals the Green Destiny again. Mu Bai, Shu Lien, and Lo are ordered to find and retrieve Jen. Jen visits Shu Lien at one of her dojos, who tells her that Lo is waiting for her at Wudang Mountain. After an angry dispute, the two women engage in a duel. Wielding the Green Destiny, Jen gains the upper hand by destroying every weapon that Shu Lien uses. However, Shu Lien finally uses a broken two-handed straight sword, jian, to her advantage, surprising Jen by managing to press its broken but still sharp edge to her throat. However, rather than acknowledging her defeat and handing over the Green Destiny, Jen injures Shu Lien when she lowers her broken weapon. Mu Bai arrives and pursues Jen into a bamboo forest. A duel ensues where Mu Bai overcomes a challenge Jen sets before him (to determine whether she will be his pupil), regaining possession of the Green Destiny. But when Mu Bai succeeds and Jen continues to refuse, Mu Bai realizes that she is without honor, thus unworthy of becoming his pupil despite her skills and throws the sword over a waterfall. In pursuit, Jen dives into an adjoining river to retrieve the sword, and is then rescued by Fox. Fox puts Jen into a drugged sleep and places her in a cavern in which later Mu Bai, Shu Lien and Bo discover her. Fox suddenly reappears and attacks the others with poisoned darts. Mu Bai blocks the needles with his sword and avenges his master's death by mortally wounding Fox, only to realize that one of the darts managed to hit him in the neck. Fox dies, confessing that her goal had been to kill Jen, because she was furious that Jen hid the secrets of Wudang from her.
As Jen runs off to prepare the antidote for the poisoned dart, Mu Bai prepares to die. With his last breaths, he finally confesses his love for Shu Lien, and dies in her arms as Jen returns too late to save him. The Green Destiny is returned to Sir Te. Jen later goes to Wudang Mountain and spends one last night with Lo. The next morning, Lo finds Jen standing on a balcony overlooking the edge of the mountain. In an echo of the legend that they spoke about in the desert, she asks him to make a wish. He complies, wishing for them to be together, back in the desert. Jen then flies over the side of the mountain and into the clouds.
L² Scored: 9/10L² Comment:
Multiple awards winner, believe to be the best Asian & proudest film in year 2000. Every Asian see this as a great thing and open a lot of opportunity for Asian to get into Hollywood, this also make us proud and intro our Asian's martial arts to the whole world (after Bruce Lee's success).
The whole film is quite good and the style of fighting is exciting at that period, especially the running on wall thingy. This also bring Ang Lee, Chow Yun Fatt & Ziyi Zhang some fame in Hollywood (Michelle Yeoh already got her when she was in 007 few years back).
A big bravo to them, Ang Lee still continue to produce a lot of good film after this. Hope to see more from him soon :)
The whole film is quite good and the style of fighting is exciting at that period, especially the running on wall thingy. This also bring Ang Lee, Chow Yun Fatt & Ziyi Zhang some fame in Hollywood (Michelle Yeoh already got her when she was in 007 few years back).
A big bravo to them, Ang Lee still continue to produce a lot of good film after this. Hope to see more from him soon :)
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