Comparison of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Pushing Hands

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Comparison Between Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon And Pushing Hands
The document presents a contextual analysis of two Chinese films by comparing and contrasting the ideas presented therein. It also examines conflicts as portrayed in the two films and how they were resolved using cinematic language and cultural contexts. The basis of the comparison of these Chinese films are in terms of plot analysis and actors of the films, film production, reception in the market, and awards accorded and title definition and relevance
Title Definition and Relevance
Title definition and relevance of the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a befitting title to the film drawn from an infamous Chinese idiom describing an invisible or unnoticeable strong force. It demonstrates strong feelings, passions, desires, and power hidden behind the simplicity of social life. This hidden power can only be unleashed when triggered by an equally strong counterforce. (Ang Lee et al.,61). This title's relevance has been portrayed throughout the film through characters like Jen, who could not be considered skillful, but they have been sharpening their Wudang skills to the expert level in the hidden.
Title definition and relevance of the film Pushing Hands
Pushing hands is also a befitting title of the film that is part of tai chi arts teaching that urges tai chi practitioners to yield when countered with a brutal strong force. Mr. Chu was a tai chi master who was brutally persecuted on the eve of tChina'scultural revolution. This forced Mr. Chu to send his son to America, but his wife was killed in the process. Pushing hands also illustrates an unwelcome foreign American culture that Mr. Chu encountered When he first arrived in America. Several opposing forces countered his struggles for self-dignity and independence. Still, he finally finds a place in the strange American Society when he settles to teach tai chi in Chinatown.
Plot Summary Analyses and Actors
Plot analysis and actors of the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The film presents a Qing Dynasty of the 18th century in China where Chow Yun Fat acts as Li Mu Bai, a warrior and a swordsman of Wudang martial arts. Li Mu Bai is obligated to avenge his master who was supposedly killed by Jade Fox and also as a symbol of honor required to denounce his love for his girlfriend Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeo), who is the head of a private security firm (Ang Lee et al.,201). Yu Shu Lien was betrothed to Mu Bai's friend, Meng Sizhao, before his death. Mu Bai gives his cherished sword "Green Destiny" to Yu Shu Lien as he chooses to retire and asks her to deliver it to their helper Sir Te (Sihung Lung), a well-respected leader in Peking and a friend to Shu Lien's father.
Shu Lien visited Sir Te to hand in the sword as instructed, but she arrives at an event and meets some of Sir Te's guests. Among the guests is Jen (Zhang Zhiyi), a daughter of a governor who was forced into a pre-arranged marriage that she did not like. Shu Lien made a display of the sword, but soon after that, a masked thief sneaked in in the evening and stole it. Everyone is sure of Jade Fox to be the thief. Shu Lien is convinced otherwise that the thief could be Jen. Mu Bai arrives in Beijing to reclaim the sword with Shu Lien. Sir Te's servants work tirelessly and trace the blade to Governor Yu's home, where it is discovered that Jade Fox has been Janes Aide. At this same time in Beijing, Master Bo befriends Inspector Tsai and his daughter May who are also in pursuit of Jade Fox.
Master Bo and Tsai make advances to corner Jade Fox, but the battle intensifies to a point where Bo and Tsai were on the verge of defeat. At this very time, Bai arrives, joins the fight, and outwits Jade. At the point of loss, Jade confesses to having killed Mu Bai's master because he had slept with her but later refused to take her as his Wudang student. She further revealed to have thought it justifiable for him to have died in her hands. Bai is infuriated by this confession, but just as he was about to kill her, the masked thief who had stolen the Green Destiny reappears and helps Jade. Jade uses this very opportunity to strike down and kill Inspector Tsai before taking a flee with the masked thief who at this point revealed her identity to be the governor's daughter, Jane, who had secretly studied Wudang martial arts, unlike Jade, who was illiterate and could only comprehend pictorial diagrams. (Ang et al.,201).
Late at night, Lo, a desert scavenger warrior, broke into Jen's bedroom, asked Jen to be his lover, and offered to leave with him, but Jane denies this proposal. A flashback reveals how Lo and Jen had fallen in love in the past in the western desert. Lo tries to convince Jen not to go ahead with her pre-arranged marriage since she did not like it, to which Jen still refuses. During the wedding procession of which Lo attends, he interrupts it and begs Jen to flee. Mu Bai and Shu Lien, who was also present, convinces Lo to wait for Jen at a place far away from her family, who are infuriated with him in Wudang Mountain. Before Jen's marriage got consummated on the wedding night, Jen ran away, leaving her husband disguised in male clothes. Though a group of warriors pursues her, she emerges victorious owing to the power of Green Destiny and her superb Wudang skills.
Later, Jen pays a visit to Lien, who reveals that Lo is waiting for her at Mount Wudang. The two have a violet exchange and start a fight. Despite Shu Lien being a superior fighter, with the power of Green Destiny, Jen destroys every weapon Lien holds but finally, Lien manages to outwit Jen using a broken sword. Shu Lien shows mercy towards Jen, but Jen uses this opportunity to strike Lien, wounding her in the arm. (Klein, 20). At that moment, Mu Bai arrives and draws Jen into a bamboo forest where he offers to take her as his student. Jen accepts the offer with the condition that Bai takes the Green Destiny from her in three moves. Bai snatches the sword from Jen with one motion, and Jen yields to become Bai's student.
Mu Bai, having taken the sword, threw it over a cliff to destroy it, but Jen dives after it, and Jade Fox rescues her. Jade drugs Jen to sleep in a cavern. Mu Bai and Lien see Jade and having seen them, and she attacks them with poisoned darts. Bai blocks the darts with a sword and then avenges his master by wounding Jade brutally, and Jade succumbs to the wound while confessing he intended to kill Jen for having hidden Wudang's best fighting techniques with her. Bai discovers that one of the poisoned darts had hit him in the neck, and the poison had taken a toll on him. Jen goes to prepare an antidote, but it's too late to save him. Bai dies in Shu Lien's arms while confessing his love for her. Green Destiny is taken back to Sir Te. Afterward, Jen leaves for Mount Wudang to meet Lo, where he spends one night with him. She later asks Lo to make a wish, and he wishes to spend eternity with her. Jen then jumps over a bridge and is seen flying in white clouds.
Plot summary and analysis of the film Pushing Hands.