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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
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Composed, Conducted, and Produced by:
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Tan Dun
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Performed by:
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The Shanghai Symphony
Orchestra
The Shanghai National Orchestra
The Shanghai
Percussion Ensemble
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Co-Produced by:
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Steven Epstein
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Release Date:
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November 14th, 2000
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Awards:
Golden Globe nomination, Academy Award win, 2001.
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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: (Tan Dun) Receiving critical and
popular praise from nearly every corner of the globe, director Ang Lee's
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is building up a formidable momentum
as the season of annual awards draws near. The film's premise involves two
female warriors in 19th Century China, contemplating and acting upon love,
honor, and sorrow. Woven together are scenes of romance and intense fighting.
Lee's films have always evoked a sharp artistic edge, and his choices for
composers in the past have included Patrick Doyle and Mychael Danna. For this
project, he decided to employ one of China's most popular concert and opera
composers, Tan Dun, who has also produced scores for a handful of recent
American films (though none of immense success). In the East, Dun is most
recently famous for the concert he composed and arranged by the name of
"Symphony 1997," commemorating the return of control of Hong Kong to China. A
collaborator on his past concert works (including "Symphony 1997"), cellist
Yo-Yo Ma is a consistent performer for Dun, and most Western film score
collectors will recognize his haunting performances from John Williams' Seven
Years in Tibet, also in 1997. Together, Ang Lee's all-around Chinese
approach to his personnel, together with Dun's styles, create an ethnically
precise Eastern score.
For Western ears, Dun's music will present a challenge. Because of the inherent
subtlety of Eastern music of the period, there are no sweeping themes for
characters or grand rhythms for fight scenes. Instead, Dun correctly tackles the
project with an underscore that strikes a balance between minimalism and ethnic
romance. The score is tight with tension throughout, with its melodies brooding
in percussion and strings while other percussive elements set the basic tone and
style of the music. There is nothing flashy about Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon; even with its tale, Dun's lyrical impressions are repetitious and
yet elevated by the diversity of its own instrumentation. The cello solos by Ma
are, as to be expected, very good, but the melodies he performs offer only hint
of thematic romance. The rest of the score is dominated by string motifs,
occasional blasts of brass, and the stunning array of specialty instrumentation.
The two-stringed erhu is perhaps the most recognizable aspect of traditional
Chinese music, and its use is almost constant. Dun adds the bawu, dizi, rawap,
and lesser-known waterphone for an almost mystical effect. The drum performances
of fourth track "Night Fight" offer one of the only extended, intrustive moments
in the score. Together, these elements all create a dissonance in the style of
Takemitsu, requiring a careful appreciation of subtle tension in the music for
it to blossom.
As a typical fan of Western movie music, the score for Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon on album is more problematic. Dun's composition can very well
be heard as a concert piece, relying heavily on its intense solo performances
and intimate treatment of traditional Eastern music. While underlying Western
romanticism is easily evident, the unsettling repeating motifs of the Eastern
instrumentation causes the score to remain just out of reach. Its effectiveness
in the film is not questioned, but had it been scored by Zhao Jiping, whose
career emphasis rests on Chinese film music rather than concert works, then the
album may have been more accessible. While the music never becomes burdened by
its own repetitions and defeated attitude, this album is awkwardly disturbing.
But even if it fails to gain the admiration of many Americans, as I suspect will
happen, it remains a piece that should be well-received in concert. The song
performed in English and Mandarin by CoCo Lee at the end of the album goes
against the fundamental sound of Dun's score, inserting an easily marketable pop
song interpretation to boost sales. Ironically, because the song boasts a
translation of that Eastern romanticism into a Western band, it might be better
received by Western ears. Also of note is the seemingly long pause inserted
between each track of the album, causing an occasional break of mood. Overall,
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the type of score that wins Western
awards because of the critical success of its film, and even though it might be
a strong Oscar contender, the music is likely too engrained in Eastern tradition
to be accepted in America. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (3:24)
• 2. The Eternal Vow (3:01)
• 3. A Wedding Interrupted (2:16)
• 4. Night Flight (3:10)
• 5. Silk Road (3:08)
• 6. To the South (2:21)
• 7. Through the Bamboo Forest (4:23)
• 8. The Encounter (2:40)
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• 9. Desert Capriccio (4:33)
• 10. In the Old Temple (3:46)
• 11. Yearning of the Sword (3:34)
• 12. Sorrow (4:02)
• 13. Farewell (2:25)
• 14. A Love Before Time (English) (3:45)
• 15. A Love Before Time (Mandarin) (3:38)
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Insert contains no extra information
about the score, but does contain English lyrics for the song.
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