Film Forum

U.S., 2000
Directed by Ang Lee
Starring Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Chow Yun-fat, Chang Chen
WINNER Academy Awards® – Best Foreign Language Film, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, 2001
Approx. 120 min. DCP.

“A Chinese village, sometime during the Qing dynasty where two highly skilled fighters and longtime allies, Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-fat) and Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh), are about to have a long-overdue reunion. They have some important business concerning a trip to Beijing, a deadly sword and Mu Bai’s impending retirement, but their cautious body language tells a more personal story.” – Justin Tang, Los Angeles Times

Presented with support from The Reginald S. Reinhardt, Ling-Makekau Fund for Asia-Pacific Films and The Ada Katz Fund for Literature in Film

Reviews

“The most exhilarating martial arts movie I have seen.”
– Roger Ebert

“Culmination of a cultural exchange between east and west, and a glimpse into a future where America and China would only become more densely intertwined.”
– Scott Tobias, The Guardian

“Taking B-movie pulp and transforming it into a tragic fable, a feminist story of repression, a heartbreaking love story and a technically groundbreaking action blockbuster.”
– Brandon Yu, The New York Times

“So gloriously choreographed, shot and edited that it literally has you gasping for breath.”
– Ian Nathan, Empire

“Martial-arts fantasia that combines the pop impulse of Hong Kong fighting films with the delicacy and classicism of an earlier, more spiritual style of storytelling. The effect is paradoxical: a muted extravaganza.”
– Peter Rainer, New York Magazine