03/26/2001

By William Foreman / Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is much more than a film to many ethnic Chinese.

	Lo Sai Hung / AP
	People at Hong Kong's Time Square gather in front of a big screen showing director Ang Lee holding his Oscar Monday. Lee was honored with the best foreign language film for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

It's a symbol of the greatness that can be achieved when Chinese in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and other Asian communities pool their imaginations and resources.

The martial arts fantasy, winner of the best foreign film award, is a perfect marriage of Taiwanese creativity, Hong Kong star power and China's stunning scenery.

It was directed by Taiwanese Ang Lee, and features Hong Kong mega star Chow Yun-fat, the up-and-coming actress Zhang Ziyi from China, and kung fu star Michelle Yeoh, an ethnic Chinese from Malaysia.

"The film's success proved that when people in Chinese societies pull together their talent, they can create magnificent things,'' said Debby Lee, an office secretary, while discussing the Academy Awards in a cafe in Taiwan's capital, Taipei.

It became an unlikely success in the West, earning more than $100 million at the U.S. box office, the highest-grossing foreign-language film in the United States.

The Mandarin-language film, which tells the story of two warriors searching for a mythical sword, has been popular in Taiwan and Hong Kong. But it was a box office disappointment in China, where its release was delayed. Many potential filmgoers saw it at home on pirated videos or DVDs.

Kevork Djansezian / AP
Michelle Yeoh (left), lead actress of the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon holds the Oscar for Best Foreign Film with the film's lead actor Yan-Fat Chow (second from right), with his wife Jasmine Chow at his side and the director of the film Ang Lee at the Sony Pictures party in Beverly Hills, Calif., after the 73rd annual Academy Awards Sunday.

For many ethnic Chinese who grew up watching martial arts films the movie was nothing new.

In Hong Kong, civil servant Theodore Wong praised the scenery. Much of the film was shot on the vast grasslands, deserts and mountain regions of China. But the story line failed to impress him.

"Foreigners are not familiar with this type of film, but there are loads of similar ones in Hong Kong,'' Wong said. "The plot is just average, although the filming technique is pretty innovative.''

For decades, civil war, colonial rule and the Cold War have helped carve up the region known as "Greater China'' – comprised of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. But in recent years, the pieces of the large Chinese puzzle are beginning to fit together, especially in the business world.

For many, there is a feeling that if ethnic Chinese in the three places can overcome their political differences and forget their historic grudges, a new force could emerge, challenging the Japanese and U.S. economic juggernauts.

Already, longtime rivals China and Taiwan, which separated amid civil war in 1949, are allowing their economies to be closely linked together. In the past decade, Taiwanese investors have flooded into China's huge potential market.

Hong Kong, the former British colony, has formed an even closer relationship to China since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

On Monday in Taiwan, the Oscar ceremony was shown live on cable television, and Taiwanese were swelling with pride as Crouching Tiger began winning awards. The film also won Oscars for cinematography, original score and art direction.

"I am so proud of Ang Lee,'' officer worker Kate Huang said. "He never forgot his roots in Taiwan, and he also traced his roots back to China.''

A crowd of Taiwanese TV crews watched the ceremony with Ang Lee's family in the southern city of Tainan. Lee's father, Lee Sheng, just smiled when it was announced that Gladiator won the best-picture award and apologized "for letting everyone down.''

Although China's state-run media have criticized Crouching Tiger as a sellout to Western audiences, the movie's success at the Academy Awards was on the front page of the Beijing Evening News, along with a picture of a smiling Lee and his family.

Scanning newspapers, office worker Mary Chen said she had seen the film several times on Beijing television.

"It's well deserving of an Oscar,'' she said. "Winning is an honor for all Chinese.''