卧龙藏虎

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In 1999, Hsu Li-kong, Ang Lee's old partner and supporter, invited him to make a movie based on the traditional "wuxia" genre concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Excited about the opportunity to fulfill his childhood dream, Lee assembled a team from the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Mainland China for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000). The film was a surprising success worldwide. With Chinese dialogue and English subtitles, the film became the highest grossing foreign film in many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, and was nominated in 10 categories at the Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Director. It ended up winning Best Foreign Language Film and three technical awards.

Lee pitched the film to Michelle Yeoh as "'Sense and Sensibility' (1995) with martial arts." Similarly, the first draft of the screenplay said, "You will note in the script that none of the fight scenes are described, and I will just inform you now that they will be the greatest fight scenes ever in the history of cinema, period."

The stunt work was mostly performed by the actors themselves and Lee stated in an interview that computers were used "only to remove the safety wires that held the actors" aloft. "Most of the time you can see their faces," he added. "That's really them in the trees."

"I didn't take one break in eight months, not even for half a day. I was miserable—I just didn't have the extra energy to be happy. Near the end, I could hardly breathe. I thought I was about to have a stroke."

In an interview with the New York Times, Lee explained about the final scene between Yu Shu Lien (Yeoh) and Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat). "I knew those were real tears." he said of Yeoh filming a tearful goodbye scene. "A lot of pressures gushing out, months of repression, and perhaps a lifetime of hopeful thinking. All that effort comes up." After witnessing Yeoh's performance on set, Lee said he had to excuse himself to cry in private for 15 minutes. "In Chinese, we call it xiang you xin sheng -- your countenance, when the way you look comes from the heart." (IMDb/Wikipedia)

Happy Birthday, Ang Lee!

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