Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon[4] is a 2000 wuxia martial arts film[5] directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung.

[6] Set in 19th-century Imperial China, the plot follows two master warriors, Li Mu Bai (Chow) and Yu Shu Lien (Yeoh), who are faced with their greatest challenge when the treasured Green Destiny sword is stolen by the mysterious thief Jen Yu (Zhang).

With dialogue in Standard Chinese, subtitled for various markets, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon became a surprise international success, grossing $213.5 million worldwide.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won over 40 awards and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 2001, including Best Picture, and won Best Foreign Language Film, Best Art Direction, Best Original Score, and Best Cinematography,[3] receiving the most nominations ever for a non-English-language film at the time, the record was later tied by 2018's Roma , and broken by 2024's Emilia Pérez.

[12][13][14] In Qing dynasty China, Li Mu Bai is a renowned Wudang swordsman, and his friend Yu Shu Lien, a warrior, heads a private security company.

Mu Bai, choosing to retire from the life of a swordsman, asks Shu Lien to give his fabled 400-year-old sword "Green Destiny" to their benefactor Sir Te in Beijing.

Long ago, Mu Bai's teacher was killed by Jade Fox, a woman who sought to learn Wudang secrets.

Sir Te's servant Master Bo and Shu Lien trace the theft to Governor Yu's compound, where Jade Fox had been posing as Jen's governess for many years.

Master Bo makes the acquaintance of Inspector Tsai, a police investigator from the provinces, and his daughter May, who have come to Beijing in pursuit of Fox.

Fox is illiterate and could only follow the diagrams, whereas Jen's ability to read the manual allowed her to surpass her teacher in martial arts.

Lo eventually convinced Jen to return to her family, though not before telling her a legend of a man who jumped off a mountain to make his wishes come true.

Disguised in men's clothing, she is accosted at an inn by a large group of warriors; armed with the Green Destiny and her own superior combat skills, she emerges victorious.

Fox puts Jen into a drugged sleep and places her in a cavern, where Mu Bai and Shu Lien discover her.

Credits from British Film Institute:[16] The title "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a literal translation of the Chinese idiom "臥虎藏龍" which describes a place or situation that is full of unnoticed masters.

It is from a poem of the ancient Chinese poet Yu Xin (513–581) that reads "暗石疑藏虎，盤根似臥龍", which means "behind the rock in the dark probably hides a tiger, and the coiling giant root resembles a crouching dragon".

On another level, the Chinese idiomatic phrase is an expression referring to the undercurrents of emotion, passion, and secret desire that lie beneath the surface of polite society and civil behavior,[18] which alludes to the film's storyline.

[citation needed] The film's title refers to masters one does not notice, which necessarily includes mostly women, and therefore suggests the advantage of a female bodyguard.

In the world of martial arts, the use of poison is considered an act of one who is too cowardly and dishonorable to fight; and indeed, the only character who explicitly fits these characteristics is Jade Fox.

There are some scenes showing uncommon artistry for the typical martial arts film such as an airborne battle among wispy bamboo plants.

[18] The film was adapted from the novel Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon by Wang Dulu, serialized between 1941 and 1942 in Qingdao Xinmin News.

[18] In the contract reached between Columbia Pictures and Ang Lee and Hsu Li-kong, they agreed to invest US$6 million in filming, but the stipulated recovery amount must be more than six times before the two parties will start to pay dividends.

[26][27] The film was made in Beijing, with location shooting in Urumchi, Western Provinces, Taklamakan Plateau, Shanghai and Anji of China.

[3] On 12 January 2001, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon premiered in cinemas in wide release throughout the U.S., grossing $8,647,295 in business, ranking in sixth place.

[39] Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which is based on an early 20th century novel by Wang Dulu, unfolds much like a comic book, with the characters and their circumstances being painted using wide brush strokes.

Subtlety is not part of Lee's palette; he is going for something grand and melodramatic, and that's what he gets.Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was widely acclaimed in the Western world, receiving numerous awards.

The site's critical consensus states: "The movie that catapulted Ang Lee into the ranks of upper echelon Hollywood filmmakers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon features a deft mix of amazing martial arts battles, beautiful scenery, and tasteful drama.

Neither Chow (a native Cantonese speaker) nor Yeoh (who was born and raised in Malaysia) spoke Mandarin Chinese as a mother tongue.

The film also provided the breakthrough role for Zhang Ziyi's career, who noted: Because of movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and Memoirs of a Geisha, a lot of people in the United States have become interested not only in me but in Chinese and Asian actors in general.

Because of these movies, maybe there will be more opportunities for Asian actors.Film Journal noted that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon "pulled off the rare trifecta of critical acclaim, boffo box-office and gestalt shift", in reference to its ground-breaking success for a subtitled film in the American market.

[76][77] The character of Lo, or "Dark Cloud" the desert bandit, influenced the development of the protagonist of the Prince of Persia series of video games.