Interview: Ang Lee on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon + Michelle Yeoh’s nomination and Bruce Lee

Last Updated on February 15, 2023

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a sensation when it was released back in the year 2000. No one expected Ang Lee’s martial arts epic to make over $100 million in the United States. The director, at the time, was best known for independent dramas like The Ice Storm. His taking on a kung-fu-filled fantasy epic seemed like a stretch, and when people learned it would be shot in Mandarin, they naturally assumed it would maybe be a nice art-house hit but not much more. Instead, the film played to boffo box office both internationally and domestically, leading to an unexpected revival for the wuxia genre, paving the way for the successful domestic release of Zhang Yimou’s Hero and more.

With the film back in theaters starting February 17th in a new 4K restoration, I was lucky enough to get some time with the director, Ang Lee, who proved to be an open book as for as his difficulties went while making the movie. As you can see in the interview above, Lee had only half the budget he had for the domestic drama, The Ice Storm to make his epic. In the interview, we discuss working with Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, with Lee praising Yeoh’s recent resurgence in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Lee has positive things to say about all of his actors, particularly Chow Yun-Fat, who he notes had to learn martial arts for the film (as he was more of a gun-guy in the John Woo movies that made him famous), shave his head and perfect his mandarin. He also notes how, when the movie wrapped, he lied about wanting to make a Crouching Tiger prequel for many years to prevent any follow-ups from being made (sadly, he was not successful). It’s a pretty intriguing interview that also includes some information about his upcoming Bruce Lee biopic. Check it out!

Will you be going to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon when it comes back to theaters on February 17th? Let us know in the comments!