How I Got Interested in Asian Film
One movie started it all. This film opened up an entirely new genre of film to me and refocused pretty much my entire area of film interest. In short, it opened a door into a world I never knew existed.
The film is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Prior to watching this movie, my experience with Asian cinema consisted of a few Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies. I liked those well enough and was impressed by the skills and stuntwork, but I knew nothing beyond that.
I had read a couple of glowing reviews for Crouching Tiger and figured, okay, looks pretty good.
I saw it and was mesmerized. I felt myself welling up with emotion just watching the fight scenes. My chest hurt after the first confrontation between the characters played by Michelle Yeoh and Ziyi Zhang. I realized that I had forgotten to breathe, I was so overwhelmed. I went back again and again to experience these wonderful feelings. Eleven trips to the theater. Sometimes dragging others along. Mostly by myself. There is a movie theater 2 blocks from my office. Several times I slipped out of work to watch this again. And again. It was a painful realization that I could only see it for the first time once.
I had never heard of wuxia before this. I was not aware of martial arts fantasy films. I didn't know what other types of movies Hong Kong and other Asian countries had been putting out.
So I started watching. VHS at first. I scoured the “foreign” sections of the local video rental stores for any and all Asian movies. It didn’t take me long to realize that the future of my hobby was going to be DVDs and a region-free player. OAR and no more crappy dubs! (And several versions to choose from--do I get the Hong Kong release or the Korean, or perhaps the R1? Ah, the choices DVD has opened up to me!)
I had already been introduced to Jackie Chan, so I started delving deeper into his catalogue. Then on to other classic martial arts/comedy/action films such as Sammo Hung and Jet Li.
I looked for other films similar in genre to Crouching Tiger. My infatuation with Michelle Yeoh and, later, Maggie Cheung led me to other movies and other genres. Butterfly & Sword. Iceman Cometh. Flying Dagger. Comrades, Almost a Love Story. Green Snake. The Heroic Trio. Wing Chun. Royal Warriors. Yes, Madam!
I continued on and found Iron Monkey, Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain, Chinese Ghost Story, and The Bride with White Hair. Later came Hero and House of Flying Daggers.
I discovered John Woo. A Better Tomorrow. Hard-Boiled. The Killer. Then other action films. In the Line of Duty. Tokyo Raiders. The Big Heat. Beast Cops. Righting Wrongs. Infernal Affairs.
And then there are the Category III movies.
It gone oes on and on, and has spilled over into other Asian cinema. Japanese: Kurasawa and Ozu of course. But more than that. I watched the entire Zatoichi series, 20+ films (starring Shintaro Katsu), and next it was the Lone Wolf and Cub series. Lady Snowblood. Sex & Fury. Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl. The Mystery of Rampo and Angel Dust. Cultish films such as Junk, Evil Dead Trap, and Reborn From Hell: Samurai Armageddon. Versus and Returner. And of course, Battle Royale.
And I haven’t even touched on Korean film here. Is was about 2002 and I was kidding with my wife (who is Korean). She asked my why I never watched any Korean movies. I told her that no one watched Korean movies because they all sucked! Who would ever watch a Korean movie? She said “Yeah, that’s true!” But then Korean filmmakers started getting it together and I discovered some good ones that had already been made. I started off with Tell Me Something, Shiri, Art Museum By the Zoo, Christmas in August, JSA, Bichunmoo, and Volcano High. Not all of these are 5-star films but I was hooked. Over the past 15 years I have watched over 300 Korean films. Some of my favorite films of any genre have been out of Korea. For example A Tale of Two Sisters and The Classic.
And it all goes back to the door that was opened when I watched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I owe Ang Lee a world of gratitude.
The Great Movie Tournament - 2000s: Round 4 - Group 11 of 16
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Originally Posted by divemaster
