ASPA 3970-02 Main Menu Pixlr "Supreme" Creative Edit Midterm Media Project Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Expanding the Scene (Literally) Group Facilitation Summary Final Class Reflection Meet the Author-Resume

Post 1: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Expanding the Scene (Literally)

32262
Watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) for the first time was certainly a joy for me, but a scene that truly stood out to me for a multitude of reasons was the restaurant fight scene between Jen (Zhang Ziyi) and the army of martial artists whom she had disrespected. From the revelation of Jen as the protégé of Jade Fox, it was difficult for me to not view Jen as a villain, despite her multiple changes of heart, however, this particular scene, from its dialogue’s and monologues, to the cinematography of the fighting itself, changed my outlook on the character from seeing her a villain, to somewhat of an antihero, a neutral force with a true will and a love for fighting.
I found the fighting of the scene itself to be absolutely fantastic, and, despite the confines of the battleground, I very much agree with Christina Klein’s positive review of Ang Lee in her writing “Crouching tiger, hidden dragon: A diasporic reading” as she cites his usage of space as one of his notable strengths in his directing of fighting scenes (pg. 28, “Cinema Journal” 43, No. 4). As Klein noted, the constraining of Jen’s movements while utilizing all of the horizontal and vertical space the scene had to offer brings a uniqueness to the scene and allow Jen to redefine the space to make it appear so much more abundant that it truly was. Lee’s usage of every staircase, furniture item, rafter, and table in the restaurant made the movements seem extremely fluid while his usage of different cuts and shots throughout Jen’s monologue and fighting allowed for the blows and cuts with the sword to seem all the more powerful. Ang Lee’s directing of this scene coupled with the importance of this scene as defining Jen as a true, combat-loving warrior help change my view of the noble daughter, and ultimately, it enhanced my love for Crouch Tiger, Hidden Dragon and made subsequent scenes involving Jen that much more amazing.

This page has paths:

  1. Midterm Media Project John Nimmers-Minor
  2. John Nimmers-Minor: ASPA Final Portfolio John Nimmers-Minor

This page has tags:

  1. Post 2: A Force To Be Reckoned With John Nimmers-Minor
  2. Post #3: KPop, Masculinity, and the Global Market John Nimmers-Minor

Contents of this tag:

  1. Posts