Ang Lee’s audacious smash hit introduced a broad English-speaking world to a new kind of thrill and one that carried with it an unusual substanceWhen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was released 20 years ago, it was the culmination of a cultural exchange between east and west, and a glimpse into a future where America and China would only become more densely intertwined.
That the film was wildly successful in one country and flopped in the other may speak to some fundamental disconnect between them, as if director Ang Lee failed at the bridge-building that could have made it appeal to everyone at once.
Could this east-west hybrid be called a triumph if it was rejected by the culture that inspired it?In a word, yes.
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