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Director Ang Lee has been nominated for an Oscar for his work on the martial arts extravaganza, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. During his last visit to Malaysia, Ang Lee visited Shook!, the restaurant of the stars in Starhill Shopping Centre, together with Michelle Yeoh, who held a pivotal role in the movie.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon received 10 nominations for the Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Foreign Language Film and a Best Director nomination for Ang Lee. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is only the 3rd foreign language film in Academy history to be nominated for Best Picture and Foreign Language Film.
The Chinese-born director is already highly acclaimed for his works such as The Wedding Banquet (1993), Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Ice Storm (1997) and Ride with the Devil (1999).
Eat Drink Man Woman was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign Film whereas Sense and Sensibility was nominated as Best Picture for the same award the following year. Lee was voted the year’s Best Director by the National Board of Review and The New York Film Critics Circle.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a tale about a skilled martial artist (Chow Yun Fat) who plans to retire. His final task is to polish the skills of a young female thief (Zhang Zi Yi) with the condition that she stops her evil deeds. Her innocence is deceiving as she turns out be dangerously skilled, opening up a story of love, revenge and martial arts.
Malaysian actress, Michelle Yeoh, who played the part of the martial artist’s love interest and friend-foe of the young thief, found Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon different from other movies that she had done. “We have always put loyalty, honour, tradition and martial arts ahead of everything else but (Lee) deals with inner emotions like fear, and death, which is something we’ve touched on, but we have never truly explored in that way.”
That is not the only magical touch Lee put into the movie. The dramatic cinematography created the perfect setting of an ancient China where the epic love story unfolds. The fighting scenes are artistically choreographed.
The movie had been marked for a nomination since it was released in the United States in December 1999. It took in US$60.3 million in North America, ahead of Roberto Benigni's Holocaust comedy, which grossed US$57.1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has already won two Golden Globe awards – one for Lee and the other for best foreign-language film, numerous critics awards and is up for the top prizes from the Directors Guild and Writers Guild.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has been nominated at the Academy Awards for the following categories:
| Best Picture - |
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Chocolat; Erin Brockovich; Gladiator; Traffic |
| Best Director - |
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Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot); Ridley Scott (Gladiator); Steven Soderbergh (Traffic and Erin Brockovich) |
| Cinematography - |
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Gladiator; Malena; O Brother, Where Art Thou; The Patriot |
| Film Editing - |
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Almost Famous; Gladiator; Traffic; Wonder Boys |
| Art Direction - |
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Gladiator; Dr. Suess' How The Grinch Stole Christmas; Quills; Vatel |
| Screenplay: Adapted - |
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Chocolat; O Brother, Where Art Thou; Traffic; Wonder Boy |
| Costumes - |
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102 Dalmations; Gladiator; Dr. Suess' How The Grinch Stole Christmas; Quills |
| Foreign Language Film - |
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"Amorres Perros (Life's a Bitch)" (Mexico); "Divided We Fall" (Czech Republic); "Everybody Famous!" (Belgium); "A Taste of Others" (France) |
| Music: Original Score - |
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Chocolat; Malena; Gladiator; The Patriot |
| Music: Original Song - |
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"I've Seen It All" (Dancer in the Dark); "A Fool In Love" (Meet the Parents); "My Funny Friend and Me" (The Emperor's New Groove); "Things Have Changed" (Wonder Boys); "A Love Before Time" (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) |
The 73rd Annual Academy Awards ceremony will be held at The Shrine Auditorium on March 25, 2001. |
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