Thank you for the explanation. You explained very well.

My interpretation of the story is rather different. The ending is deliberately ambiguous to make viewers think, hypothesise & discuss. The two couples are polar opposites, yet similarly out of balance with their best solutions - the older couple who respect social rules so much that they cannot act to find their own happiness; the younger couple who flout social rules to the point where they cannot have validation, approval, safety or ultimately each other. Jen comes to recignise the shallowness & selfishness of her choices. Before her leap, she asks her lover what he would wish for - his answer shows that he has learned nothing. I see her descent from the mountain as an act of pure faith (the first in her life). If the legend is true & she selflessly wishes for her would-be mentor to return to life & find happiness with his true love, she undoes some of her wrongdoings. If the legend is just a fairytale, she dies & pays a real price for the pain she has inflicted. Both possibilities are steps in the right direction according to her frame of mind at that point.

@@phantomstrangermedia great comment! I see it as commentary on Love vs Lust and Selfishness vs Selflessness.

@@triumphonyoutube3659 You misread my text & misunderstood the narrative of the movie as it touched upon the legend of the 'leap of faith'.

It doesn't stand ! Happy day of the sandwich ! She is not guilty for the death of the inspector moreover for the death of Mu Bai ! It is illogical, it doesn't make things just, moreover even compliant to Daoism. The point of the movie is the understanding of Wudang art (this sounds like a clan too) and the right to hold the green sword ! Mu Bai can't achieve the so-called enlightenment, even based on those eastern heretical teachings of Buddhism and so on, since he needs to pass the art down to a disciple, the same way it was passed down to him by his teacher, otherwise the sword remains useless and unfit, it poses the risk of being used for evil ! The key here is to understand that in order to learn Wudang you must have nothing that holds you back and you need pure heart ! That is the key to receive the honor to hold the sword ! Wudang warrior can defeat even an evil one that has the sword ! Based on that, she took her test, by risking/sacrificing her life this time for the truth and justice, for Wudang as before, not for the sword, and thus she received the honor to be a disciple and learn the Wudang, contrary to the Fox that failed the test ! After learning it, she needs to receive the sword and destroy the evil enemy that wants to attain the sword and enslave all, thus also keeping the sword and passing it down to another disciple. All of that is her dharma ! I personally as a Christian believe that this loop must end, since the sword itself poses a danger, just like the lord of the rings stuff, so it will fulfill its destiny and will go to where it came from, to rest or be destroyed ! I have no knowledge of all those stupid novels and the idea behind the sword's origin, but it seems its purpose is to destroy a future enemy ! Thus, we wait for the third part, in which the dragon will be revealed ! And may be for a fourth one to deal with the final solution for the sword ! THE ONLY THING THAT DIED ON THE TOP OF THAT MOUNTAIN WERE THE TWO THIEVES WITHIN THEMSELVES ! The other thief, can't find peace in the desert, he needs to grow and achieve his dharma (martial arts too), and learn about his beloved that she is still alive and receive her hand ! Ultimately Mu Bai didn't die, they believed so, the continuation will show how she landed somewhere and reveal the legend, also how she came and helped him ! They needed to hide in order for him to teach her, this also could be shown, she will have to destroy an enemy, in order to fulfill the justice, since the Fox killed 2 including the teacher of Mu Bai, while Jen sinned and was mislead, she needs to do good to establish the balance ! The two couples will come to peace with themselves and enjoy their love, ultimately it will end in the desert, but this time without the sinful burden they had before, the only things that will be lost will be their illusions and their weakness ! This is the mystery, in my opinion, of this movie, the destiny of the sword is unknown at this time ! They took the sword to Wudang mountain in part two, this is not random ! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eN-kpbJ00MW5aWw.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qcWjn9NztrWye2w.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rN2hg82jxpq2fHk.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/o9SUmL1e29eukYU.html Probably nobody will give anything for the plot I stated here ! When I watched the movie, I didn't understand the ending, the only feeling it leaves is the disappointment, since it doesn't show the whole thing, and makes no sense ! You better learn about Orthodox Christianity and look from that point of view !,

I always thought some characters had the ability to fly in this movie and interpreted her last action as getting away from Lo and his parents as far as possible. As she had mentioned earlier in the movie, she never wanted to marry anyone and saddened by the fact that men control women.

@@vikraal6974 Lo was the man she thought was worthy of her. She stabbed him, fought him kicked, and punched him all in the same eerily yet steamy scene back at his cave. I do not think she was forced to give herself to him as much as he felt he was HER equal and worthy of her. Let's look at the ending again, she could have stayed in Wu Dan Mountain and Trained with Mi Lu Bi AKA Li. Where she could have stayed with Lo and trained. But she helped kill the man that should have been her master. At the end of the film, she was scared as any teenager would be. She saw the power she had and what she could do with it and was terrified as how it could hurt people she did not want to be hurt. She remembers the sad loneliness of Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) who lived that lifestyle. So she gave it all up to be with the one thing she still knew that was true; Lo's Love for her. Ok dammit, now I am tearing up again think about it.

@@hank1972 someday you'll watch again with a different perspective and realize how It's not a "love" movie. It's not a fight for love Henry.

@@ThePatriot6 Again I said that the film was more of a Coming of age movie. She ia a bratty teenager who ius rebelling against evcery thing that is expected of her. Regadless on how you about the themes in the move or book, it still happened.

@@ThePatriot6 May be American who do have a rebellious streak noticed this.

quextico Thanks so much for the kind words. I'm glad my work has helped you appreciate the film even further than before.

weak comment

@@CSM100MK2 You're gay

That is a really good point. In my research of this film, Buddhism was the only thing that came up in my research and since English is my only language, maybe the texts I read may have mistranslated a few things. I am thankful for the clarification. How do you suppose I can correct this issue? I have looked at the tenants of Daoism and I realise I may have to re-write a section in my video. That being said, I hope my original point about how Lee wanted to show that its all unimportant in the end still makes sense, even if I got the religions incorrectly. My thanks

wow, it's a tough question :) like you said this movie has very littel religious references. Chinese were and are not very religious and it's also uncommon for the wuxia genre to have deep religious meaning. Unlike western work of art like Lord of the rings and Narnia etc. I'm neither a philosopher or expert on religion. But sicnce you asked, thats my take on this movie:) I believe although Buddhism appears to have a nihilistic undertone, "its all unimportant in the end " does not do this Religion or this movie justice. All main characters have a tragedy which support their plot. Li and Yu both suppressed thier unfulfilled love for each other for many years until one of them dies. Jen is unhappy because she has no controll over her life and is forced to live a life contradict her natur. Jade Fox is misrable because she was denied of knowledge and respect because she is a women. All these grief has a common source, rules and restrains of society and tradition. Honour and respect for a long dead neutral friend denies love between Li and Yu. Additionally the sense of duty to revenge his master directly caused Li's own death and the lost of another life. Society and family denies Yen a free life. Sexual discrimination denied Yade Fox more accomplishment and respect. Li is tired of the world but is unable to find unlightment because of his feeling for Yu and he can't let it go. At the end he realised love is more important than anything, even enlightment. He used his last breath to express his love and regrets instead of try to achieve eternal life(Goal iof his religious practice). A life, even a eternal life is wasted without love. Yen's free spirit tries to break her "imprisonment" but is overwhelmed by the consequences and her own feeling of guilt at the end. My intrepretation of her final scene is a simple suicide. Only death can break her truly free. So my Intrepretation of this movie is it's more of a social criticism. It's very common for (chinese)artist to imply social and polital criticism in fantasy/historic genre to create distance between current time and reality to avoid censorship and prosecution. The only religious aspect i can think of is the anti-rule, free Spirit way of Daoism. Rules made by humans, society or establishment which force/lead human to live a unfree and unhealth life contradict human natur, like all these tragedy in this great movie.

and i want to say yours is the best review Video on KZfaq about this movie. It's my favourit chinese movie. I admire your dedication thank you for the hard work :)

Thanks - I appreciate the kind words and the fact checking too - I hope to keep your comment at the top so people can get the correction and hopefully I might find time to remake the video, unfortunately, it will be hard to do anytime soon. Again, thanks for the support.

I would say there is no hint from the movie that Jade Fox’s miserable life was a particular product of sexual discrimination (having taken into account that the society was a patriarchy). I guess you got this impression from Jade Fox’s claim that she has slept with Li Mubai’s master but still didn’t get access to the top class teaching of Wudang’s martial art, because, as she claimed, he looked down on women. My interpretation (based on my understanding from the Chinese soundtrack and subtitle and the background impression of wuxia literature) is that she has been a thief / robber well before she went to Wudang and she basically went there to gain access to those top class skills and she seduced Li’s master for that purpose (from the language she used I am pretty sure this is the case); after her access was denied she murdered Li’s master and stole the documents. (From her interaction with Jen we learn that Jen partially understood the teachings on those documents, while Jade Fox could not because she was both illiterate to read and lacked of the academic sophistication to comprehend those high level teachings.) So her interaction with Li’s master was her conspiracy from the beginning. Why Li’s master denied her access? We don’t know. Maybe he indeed looked down on women as Jade Fox claimed, maybe he still didn’t trust Jade Fox well enough despite having slept with her, maybe he thought intimacy relation is independent from the teaching of skills, etc. I would say her life was tragic because she chose to be an outlaw and enjoyed a life of killing (from her conversation with Jen). And all the above that I said has no personal discrimination against woman, I am just describing what appear to me as the right interpretation of the character’s story in the movie, and I believe there is no discrimination to have a female villain character.

That is incorrect, she didn't , since she wanted to cure Li, she changed right before going to the mountain ! u messed it up !

Yea, could be. There can be so many ways to see it.

They could literally float in the movie

@@vikraal6974 it is using Qi Gong to defy the forces of gravity. In common Chinese Folk Law and Daoism. It is believed that once you have trained enough to mastered the Qi(Air Forces in your body) you can tap into supernatural powers that defy reality. This is done through training the qi physically and through meditation to reach a deep state of mind close to what they call enlightenment in Buddhism. My Mum knew a family friend who knows a master from the E Mei faction that was a rivaling faction of Wu Dang. I have met the master himself and he told me stories of how he became a master in the past. He came from a large poor family that had 7 children (quite normal before in Ancient China), his parents once met a Monk from E Mei Faction and because the family was struggling so hard to have enough to feed the Children, His parents gave him to the Monk to raise in the E Mei mountains in SiChuan. He said during the initial years living with the Monk, he had undergone extremely hard training conditions which required him to train physically and mentally up in E Mei Mountains. He literally had to live and meditate inside a cave for at least 15 years before he really started the reach a basic level where his master started teaching him the Qi Gong and Chinese Medicine. In his early 40s, he became the 62nd successor of E Mei Faction "The Bu Qi Gong Mastery". I have seen him use Qi Gong to perform feats that are supernatural. Reality is you can't fly, but only jump to higher and further places using Qi Gong similar to the fight scenes in the movie. He said Qi Gong can be not only used as a means of Healing in Chinese Medical Practice, but it can also be used as a means of protection and weaponry. Qi Gong if used properly and right, it can Heal and Help people and yourself and open your wisdom. If used unwisely, Qi Gong can harm, kill and make you be possessed into an evil state.

It is possible that you can't find many interpretations that share your view because it is not a common view. Its an ambiguous ending after all.

No. Her act was selfish. It had to do with her own desires, not much with his. Which is sad because she does actually love him. It just isn't enough to save her from herself. She doesn't want Lo to do anything in particular.

I think the sacrifice wasn't her life but the love she promised Lo. She didn't want to marry anyway.

she faked her death.

@@mikumiku8231 Possible but that won't help Li either ! or her ! She wanted to know the art !

Yes, the entire video dedicates time to look at multiple ways people have interpreted the film. In the end, I decide that the meaning behind it is: "whatever you want it to be" because I state that: "No matter the power of the green destiny, Jen dies at the power of her own hands, her own choice." The film is about choice. All the choices Jen makes is because of her preceived view of freedom. It is only until others have been affected by her choices does she realise this. I have never said Jen was not free, she was making choices based on her expectations. In a sense we are all free to do what we want, but what choice do we make of that? I believe you have just not fully comprehended the video essay correctly I'm afraid. I appreciate the correction when none was needed - I did say that Jen makes these choices freely, but for many different reasons. The entire film is about choices: Lee giving up Enlightenment for ShuLien, ShuLien choosing to investigate herself despite being told not to, Jen stealing the sword, twice and running away, twice and leaving Dark Cloud, twice - showing that Jen is ALSO technically not free of her own impulses perhaps? In the end, its an ambiguous ending - hence the title and why the film has received many interpretations over the years.

movies mean different things to different people. There is no right or wrong way to interpret a film. It is ambiguous for a reason.

​@@RoomA7 I want the world to see movies about the real face of the so called west and all the rest of the world probably! that can improve the movie industry, and make it normal, not rape cult of deceit and lies and subversion and brainwashing! We can see the good plots shown the right way! IT is not about choice, you should watch it again, it has predefined context, they predict certain things in the movie, it suggests something very different !

Yes, hence the correction in the description, the correction in the pinned comment and the discussion below, where I had with some fan a couple of years ago.

That's incorrect. The proper phrasing is "bear with me."

@@RunDub That's right. "I was in the forest, and when I turned around I found a bear with me".

It's definitely a difficult film for western audiences to "get" and I often have to remember that my brain has to switch back and forth from Ang Lee's Chinese direction and his Western experience in UK and Hollywood. That being said, because this film was being taught as part of the Australian HSC, I also had to ensure that my students wouldn't get "lost" trying to bridge that same gap. So without getting too deep, the video had to look at the western intentions of Lee's direction whilst trying to stay true to the Chinese culture... And even today, I still find that extremely hard. Thanks for the comment! (Full disclosure... Grew up as an Asian Australian - Filipino background with Chinese and Filipino grandparents with a western education. Yikes.)

Ok, it goes on... Jesus :/

My God. Deliver us from the greatest tyranny of our age; its shallow, base, and vile ''music'' that so inescapably permeates every aspect of our existence. Amen.

Such a shame about the form. Your content is very relevant and informative!