Yeoh discusses `Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'
By LAUREN BECK
News Writer
Actor and martial arts expert Michelle Yeoh said she attributes the recent success of Asian films in the global market to their use of martial arts.
Yeoh, who starred in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," said that the film was able to transcend cultural boundaries.
"East met West with [the film's director] Ang Lee … He described the film as `Sense and Sensibility' with martial arts," Yeoh said.
Yeoh shared her experience with kung fu films in a panel discussion Friday that examined the role of martial arts in global entertainment. The panel was part of the Conference on Globalization and Media in Asia and also included three Notre Dame faculty members.
History professor Dian Murray said martial arts had made their way into cinema as Asians' distinct film genre.
Yeoh agreed, adding that the fluidity and energy of martial arts captivated audiences.
"We want the audience to feel the blow because we feel the blow. It's full contact and very realistic. It is beautiful choreography but painful and very tough," Yeoh said.
The panelists all discussed "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as the pinnacle of Asian martial arts films for the global stage.
"It was not the be-all end-all of martial arts films. It was a culmination of the blood and sweat filmmakers have put into the genre. They assembled the best from the East and the West to make a truly global film," Yeoh said. "The surprising element is how Western audiences took an Oriental theme and culture and so warmly embraced it."
Margaret Wan, assistant professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures, said that the ambiguity of the ending of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was the key to its global acceptance and perception. "It gives [audiences] the footage to piece the film together as they want it … Ang Lee is intentionally giving up responsibility for interpretation and provoking thoughts and emotions from the audience," Wan said.
Lee refused authoritative interpretation and left the ending open enough to be interpreted differently by the film's various audiences. "Lee reacted against Hollywood commercial cinema and narrative structure," Wan said.
Asian media has not only succeeded in the West, but it has also brought martial arts to American film.
"The `Asian-ization' of American cinema came in the form of `Tomorrow Never Dies.' James Bond moved into the new century as I tried to convince audiences they couldn't accept the traditional kind of Bond girl any longer. I worked with the director to incorporate Hong Kong style martial arts into the Bond film," Yeoh said.
Consumers must view martial arts films with a critical eye, however, said assistant professor of film, television and theater Wendy Arons. She warned against perceiving Asian culture based on one's own cultural framework, saying it could lead to incomplete comprehension.
Yeoh pioneered a pathway for women in Asian martial arts films as she entered a male-dominated arena. She chose action films because she could incorporate her dance background into them.
"Martial arts were choreographed and that related to my dance background. They involved energy, strength, choreography, flexibility, and discipline. I thought, `I can do this,'" she said.
But Arons said the arrival of women on the martial arts scene posed a problem for Western feminists.
"The depiction of women is not always wholly positive or unproblematic according to Western feminism," she said.
Women in martial arts films were strong and independent fighters, she said, but their femininity was still defined in terms of beauty and desirability. Beauty and power were often incompatible as kung fu heroines were portrayed as androgynous and undesirable.
Arons said filmmakers needed to "synthesize martial artistry with femininity" in order to affirm the female's role.
Yeoh said producers had another duty: to preserve the integrity of martial arts and to protect and nurture the authentic Asian culture even as it spreads to global audiences.
All News Stories for Monday, March 4, 2002
