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'Crouching Tiger' wins four Oscars
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DIRECTOR Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", which mixes gravity-defying martial arts with heart-breaking love stories, won four Academy Awards on Sunday, including the best foreign-language film.
The Mandarin-language movie was Lee's entry for the US film industry top honours, the Academy Awards, and it is the first film directed by a Chinese to win a foreign-language film Oscar.
"Crouching Tiger" had also won Oscars for cinematography (Peter Pau), original score (Tan Dun) and art direction (Tim Yip). Its ten nominations were a record for a foreign language film.
"Crouching Tiger", has won strong critical praise in the United States, and has become the highest grossing foreign film ever in North America with box office receipts topping the US$100 million mark.
The 10 Oscar nominations garnered by Lee's fantasy are the most ever received by a foreign language film, breaking the previous record seven held by Italy's "Life is Beautiful," with seven.
Its success has been even more spectacular given that it is spoken in Mandarin and subtitled in English, and US audiences generally spurn subtitled movies.
Still, the chilling fight scenes by Hong Kong martial arts stars Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh have wowed audiences and the special effects that have the actors gliding across rooftops and over treetops has thrilled them as well.
It has appealed to younger children who are exited by its visuals and older viewers drawn by the magical love story.
Its theme of duty versus desire is a familiar one for Lee, who directed "Eat Drink Man Woman," "The Wedding Banquet," "Sense and Sensibility," and "The Ice Storm".
Chinese-born composer Tan Dun won the Academy Award for best original score, which features western and traditional Chinese instruments and a passionate performance by internationally acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
Tan Dun wrote "Symphony 1997 (Heaven Earth Mankind)" to mark Britain's handover of Hong Kong to China.
(SD-Agencies)
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