Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Aroview: A fantasy-fuelled, Chinese feudal melodrama laced with jaw-dropping combat sequences (arguably the best ever staged), this represents a new high watermark for Asian cinema both artistically and commercially (now the highest-grossing foreign-language film of all time).

While indebted to a long tradition of martial artistry on camera, ex-pat Taiwanese director Ang Lee elevates this to an uncharted plateau through his poetic, understated grace and his unique vision that spans the divide between Eastern and Western cultures. It stars the royal couple of Hong Kong cinema, Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh, but the show most belongs to the gloriously stroppy Zhang Ziyi, as the teenage heir-brat who refuses to toe the traditional line.

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