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‘This film is on its way to becoming a classic’
joeyta
bose
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“Each incredible martial arts encounter
transcends mere battle – it becomes a ballet and stretches
your conception of the possible”
– Shyam Benegal
MARCH 13: The deep of night and calm cradles a slumbering
Peking. In a flash, emergency erupts within the dark cocoon
of Te’s high-walled home — the exquisite and mythical
sword Green Destiny has been robbed. Lanterns appear like
pregnant fireflies and the chase is on. A lithe thief treads
air, scaling walls with an effortless whisper of feet, using
the roof to make a stealthy exit from the confusion below.
Suddenly...an opponent...a deadly martial arts ballet begins
- thrust, parry, somersault, soar - it’s Ang Lee’s
Hidden Tiger, Crouching Dragon and imagination perches, engrossed,
on the edge of its seat.
A showing of the movie over, the floor fell open to director
Shyam Benegal. There to create a framework within which Crouching....
could best be appreciated by an audience comprising students
and film buffs, Benegal’s opinion gave way to lively
discussion at the Russian Cultural Centre on Tuesday.
‘‘This film is on its way to becoming a classic
simply because it has taken the martial arts genre and given
it a definitive style of movement and myth. Now, when people
think of such films, Crouching... will be the first to come
to mind and future films will be judged against this one,’’
says Benegal.
Mythology was a peg for debate as Benegal revealed that Lee
had picked on Chinese parables of good and evil as an axis
for his plot.
‘‘The story and its ending has a definite Zen feel
to it that comes from Lee’s awareness of an ideology
integral Chinese culture. If an Indian director spins a film
around one of our myths as beautifully as he has done, it
will have a similar feel,’’ he opines.
Asks a militant voice from the audience, ‘‘But isn’t
it the responsibility of directors to create their own mythologies
like George Lucas did in Star Wars?’’
‘‘Well, it is possible to do so but remember that
an audience’s response is fine tuned by their cultural
context. It’s easier to create a mythology in the West
because their past embraces a couple of centuries while we
have traditions and beliefs honed over eras,’’ he
explains.
Budgets and audiences dominated much of the discussion.
‘‘Don’t think that Lee made this very artistic
film without an eye on the profits,’’ replies Benegal
to a question on whether cameras are subject to creative impulses
or market forces. ‘‘He has used actors like Chow
Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh - both acclaimed internationally
as stars to create basic appeal and draw in a crowd,’’
he informs. An interesting titbit: Sony Classics released
the film as a foreign film in an international market and
then re-positioned it as a mainstream film when it saw the
crowds it was drawing!
While the audience was consistently awed by the fantastic
special effects used in the five tight, heart-twisting fight
sequences, Benegal reminds them that the only reason the film
worked is because they were ‘imbued with emotion’.
‘‘Each incredible martial arts encounter transcends
mere battle - it becomes a ballet and stretches your conception
of the possible - if you have seen Chinese opera, you will
know that it is possible for acrobats to tear up walls and
twist their bodies into alien positions...so Lee pushes the
boundary of this knowledge to piece together a startling sword
battle atop trees while warriors flit across a gleaming stretch
of water,’’ he explains.
‘‘Many Bollywood films have the same love stories
yet Lee, in television interviews keeps classifying his story
as a love story. I thought the action was more rivetting than
the emotion,’’ comes a comment from the audience.
‘‘Who is Lee talking to?,’’ asks Benegal,
‘‘...an American audience...where film makers have
largely forgotten how to make a love story. Yes, unstated
love and the suffering it brings may be run-of-the-mill stuff
in Eastern cultures but in the West, its novel.’’
he adds.
Is it worth the Oscar? ‘‘Well, I’ve seen Gladiator
and I would definitely pick this one, he laughs.
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