Was screwed over best picture
I like gladiator but it was not better then this film.
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MovieChat Forums > Wo hu cang long (2001) Discussion > Was screwed over best picture
That's a tough choice between gladiator and CTHD.. They are so even when it comes to overall quality and enjoyment level..either film could have won and I would have been ok with it.. I think CT was better overall by the smallest of margins but a Chinese martial arts movie wasn't going to win over gladiator. The academy is so political oftentimes and it wasn't the first instance of the better film not receiving the Oscar. Nor was it the last.
If you know Mandarin, you know it's the weakness of this film. The dialogue is mechanical and terrible, the actors struggle to speak Mandarin lines right. But for non-Chinese audience, they can't tell the difference. This one is 7/10 at best.
Gladiator is a solid 8-9/10.
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I see your point.
But there's 50 million different English accents on Game of Thrones - including some made-up ones (I'm looking at you, Peter Dinklage) - because the actors are of 50 million different origins. Some of the minor actors have clunky line delivery, but it's still a rock solid, sound show overall.
Also, what the non-Chinese audience doesn't know, can't hurt them. Marion Cotillard could have been struggling to speak French lines right, spewing mechanical and terrible dialogue throughout all of "La Vie En Rose," for all I care. As part of the non-French audience, it wouldn't change my opinion that she gave a stunning performance from what I could see and hear her emote.
Crouching Tiger isn't really a jaw-dropping, original movie. There was always wuxia in the 70s, and films like A Chinese Ghost Story, The Bride With White Hair, with people randomly flying for no apparent nor explained reason to Westerners (outside of The Matrix world physics) etc.
What Lee did was re-frame familiar tropes into a narrative structure and lensing that was palatable to Western critical tastes and aesthetic standards. He made something quirky and niche cross-over in a major way.
I still think the rooftop chase and forest fight are expertly shot and edited, with breathtaking beauty. And the McGuffin with the sword, "Green Destiny," makes it no less of a good yarn than your run-of-the-mill Star Wars type blockbuster with fantastic delights such as lightsabres and The Force.
Maybe there's a bias because you've been exposed to this genre of film so it's old hat? You're obviously entitled to your opinion, but I think 7 / 10 is rather harsh, especially if you're generous enough to give Gladiator a 9 / 10.
Crouching Tiger stole the show at Cannes, was the talk of the town, and the buzz overshadowed most other films... despite not even screening in competition. It then proceeded to set the TIFF on fire and won The People's Choice Award - and there is no dearth of Asian moviegoers in that city.
Gladiator was more accesible, more mainstream (those are not insults, BTW) CTHD never had a chance.
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Brokeback Mountain was more screwed over best picture by the heavy-handed Crash in 2006 TBH.
It's one of the most egregious errors by the Academy in the last two decades, only rivalled by things like Gwyneth Paltrow's campaign for "Shakespeare in Love" landing a triumph over Cate Blanchett's "Elizabeth" (Blanchett acted Paltrow into the ground, TBH.)
Crash: "Racism is bad, mmmkay?"
And it's funny how the 2006 Crash isn't even the best Crash film. Cronenberg wants his movie title back.
Brokeback Mountain was a cultural touchstone. People still quote lines from and reference it today - who even cares about Crash in 2017?
“Sometimes you win by losing, and nothing has proved what a powerful, taboo-breaking, necessary film Brokeback Mountain was more than its loss Sunday night to Crash in the Oscar best picture category,” wrote the Los Angeles Times at the time.
“Despite all the magazine covers it graced, despite all the red-state theaters it made good money in, despite (or maybe because of) all the jokes late-night talk show hosts made about it, you could not take the pulse of the industry without realizing that this film made a number of people distinctly uncomfortable…
In the privacy of the voting booth, as many political candidates who’ve led in polls only to lose elections have found out, people are free to act out the unspoken fears and unconscious prejudices that they would never breathe to another soul, or, likely, acknowledge to themselves. And at least this year, that acting out doomed Brokeback Mountain.”
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It's a shame Crouching Tiger was mostly relegated to the Foreign Film ghetto when it was such a revelation at Cannes and then blew up at TIFF.
I'm also not entirely sure how a director can accomplish the rare feat of MULTIPLE Best Director Oscar wins yet be shut out of other categories that matter. You directed the $h1te out of these movies but they just aren't good enough for acting awards or best picture... sorry, boy bye.
Gladiator WAS better, IS better, actually.