The role of characters in a story basically is concerned with, if the story is plot/event motivated or character motivated, in the case of this piece of moving frames it touches both very “cinematically” keeping one in state of fiction of understanding as well putting art in a way , that dissolves within the story foreshadowed by other elements” as my fellow friend says.
The notion of freedom leans on the basic structure of one’s rights, their wishes and the allowance of pursuing those wishes. Crouching tiger and hidden dragon deals with the notion freedom in every instance and thus describing the story as a part of it is relatable. Freedom is one of the integral part of this film, characters weave their structure and we as viewers can fulfill our thirst of desires. Starting from Li mu bai, a martial artist who lived in a life as a warrior, goes to the Wudang Sect to get away from his bonding’s both emotionally and physically, learns that the freedom which he was searching for remains with his loved one only. Jiau long\ Jen Yu who struggles in both her identities both as a watchdog as well as a lady well bound to tradition. She thrives to live a life away from the tradition and royalty with her love but as for her family she resists to do that, but at the same time when she latches on to the other identity she thrives to make her place in the society, she awaits her freedom from the handcuffs of the society. Yu Shu Lien awaits freedom from the pledge of marriage in which her husband’s memoir remains, so that she could latch herself with the person who stood by her in all times. Jade fox the one who got the excess and dreaded part of the society, she got used by the most honored person in the society (Master of Li mu bai) and so her freedom gets latched away from the society and so she takes away from the people, because she knows that these people are only following the blind path.
Ang lee as a director who had is schooling from a western domain of cultural and capitalist medium of communication that is film, frequently uses the three act structure to define the narrative of his films, used this in a rather moulded way which reflects the Chinese traditional ideology to redefine the film in its way. Influenced, no one can say it’s the only path (Orientalism). Disney’s Cars trilogy as a story develops its character and gives us the audience the time to connect with them. Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon achieves the same effect, I will be talking about two of the most viable commercial film series of hollywood to explain the path a great figure follows, Disney’s Cars as well as Stallone’s Rocky series follows the journey of character’s Steve Mcqueen and Rocky balboa respectively. In both of the first films of the series we understand the story as well as connect with characters. In the consecutive parts we see the different sides of each character, but specifically pointing out Cars 3 & Rocky 5. There is a process of aging that occurs in our daily lives, that applies on us as well as the films we see
everyday, this aging is not only physical but also psychological, there are hurdles each characters had to cross, to grow from a rookie/beginner to a teacher/helper. In the Cars 3, Mcqueen grows and understands the aspects of modern day racing, while maintaining the old aspects, of what he learned from his master, At the end he decides to leave the ground for his disciple to take his place. Rocky 5 talks about balboa after he achieved the highest honour while fighting Ivan drago representing his country. What one does after he achieves the most, he tries to pass that passion, desire and compassion to the younger generation, the same happens with Mcqueen. For some, it’s the natural order of a protagonists growth and his aging mind, that will not be able to compete with the modern tactics, as much as the younger generation , and thus does this speaks about the influence of western film culture on Ang lee, one can’t actually comment on it but one can relate him to the culture and how his creations evolved in Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon.
Crouching tiger and hidden dragon is a film filled with motifs that shows us a cinematic world filled with nuances that describe our daily lives with most intricate points deeply seeded behind the ongoing story. Let’s Break the Paradigm – Breaking swords, balcony roof stalls, tables and desks, swords, weapons used for martial arts, pots holding water for house hold use, that is one that shows you the path of showing the outbreak the household paradigm of breaking away from the what is accepted of you as a wife of a human being. Ang lee showed us how to diegetically involve meaning of essays through small visual motifs.
Earlier films of Ang Lee, we can see there is a touch of of human nuances the hint of these are translucent in this film, the characters have drama within there arcs and it reflects within the the story itself. Crouching tiger and hidden dragon is a film that has been a hallmark for the generations of filmmakers to come in the future.
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