Chapter 141: The Rising Tide

Chapter 141: The Rising Tide

In his previous life, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was immensely popular among Western audiences.

Western viewers might not fully grasp the righteous deeds of the martial artists embedded in Eastern chivalric culture. However, for this film, the righteous actions of the heroes are no longer the primary focus; rather, their joys and sorrows, gains and losses, and inner thoughts as they navigate between the martial world and secular society take center stage.

Moreover, Thomas could sense that the director of this film did not solely fixate on the escalation of conflicts. Instead, he often intentionally or unintentionally intertwined the main storyline with the secular society and human customs of that era, thereby providing imaginative space to explore the intricate, thousand-threaded connections between them.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon lacks the carefree, arrogant swagger typical of traditional martial arts films. It replaces that with a profound contemplation and subtlety in search of the humanistic connotation within the martial world. It was precisely this contemplation that captivated Westerners while failing to resonate as strongly with Eastern film fans. Perhaps the film's cold reception in the East and warm reception in the West during his past life was related to this.

Naturally, Thomas had no way of knowing that Zhang Le had essentially replicated a classic from his past life. After watching it, he felt a deep sense of admiration for the twenty-five-year-old young director. No, wait—that director was only twenty-five now, meaning he was merely twenty-four when filming it.

It was hard to imagine how a twenty-four-year-old young director could produce such a magnificent film.

From an entirely new and modern perspective, the entire film elevated traditional Chinese classical aesthetics and emotional philosophy to unprecedented heights.

From the standpoint of cinematic language, all audiovisual elements—whether cinematography, art direction, action choreography, sound recording, or music—fully embodied the director's profound style and his praise and love for classical Chinese culture.

Thomas could not fathom how a twenty-four-year-old director could make a film achieve such perfection.

After finishing the movie, Thomas sat in his seat in silence for a long time before doing something that surprised even himself: he decided to buy a ticket and watch it all over again. What surprised him even more was that tickets for the very next screening were already sold out.

It was a hit. Three days after its release in North America, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon became an absolute sensation. The tallied box office figures left the executives at Paramount dumbfounded.

Increase the promotional efforts; expand the theater count.

The number of theaters more than doubled from the initial one thousand to over two thousand—a figure absolutely unmatched by any other Chinese-language film.

Not only did the film cause a sensation in North America, but it also sparked a massive wave upon its release in Europe and other regions. A wave of classical Chinese martial arts was slowly brewing across the global film scene.

Chinese-language films were winning glory abroad; not only did it win the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, but it also caused a sensation at the box office. This completely shattered conventional perceptions. Since when had Chinese-language films become so formidable?

It was not the first or second time a Chinese-language film had won an award at Cannes. Although people were somewhat bewildered as to why Zhang Le, a director adept at commercial films, could win at Cannes—given that most films winning at Cannes typically achieved little at the box office—the overwhelming box office success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon abroad left countless people in disbelief, feeling as though they were dreaming. No one expected a film that won an award at Cannes to also achieve such explosive box office numbers in North America. To use a popular internet phrase: This simply defies science!

Chinese-language films making a name for themselves abroad undoubtedly satisfied national pride. It proved that Hollywood films weren't the only ones capable of rampaging across China; Chinese cinema could also run rampant through the North American market.

A week later, when Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon miraculously claimed the top spot at the weekly box office, foreign territories were in an uproar while the domestic scene fell silent—especially those in the film industry, who found themselves utterly baffled.

Winning a major award at the most prestigious art film festival while simultaneously capturing the weekly box office crown in the commercially driven North American market—how on earth did Zhang Le pull this off?

It was an unprecedented feat for a Chinese-language film to claim the North American weekly box office championship, especially for a movie exuding such thick oriental charm. How could a classical martial arts film possibly achieve this?

If it were a modern action movie, people might not have been so shocked, but a classical martial arts piece genuinely left foreign film companies unsure of how to gauge the North American market.

Which domestic film company hadn't studied the North American film market? To cater to it, they had filmed countless movies aimed at pleasing North American fans, even shamelessly imitating Western styles, only to be met with dismal box office failures.

Yet the martial arts genre—a type of film increasingly difficult to produce domestically—had actually been brought to life by Zhang Le, a rookie director who had only ever made two films, and taken abroad to conquer North America.

Many filmmakers felt a dull ache in their heads. It wasn't born of envy, jealousy, or hatred, but of sheer incomprehension. Why was this happening?

With Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon reaping a double harvest of box office success and critical acclaim internationally, domestic fans' anticipation for the film reached an all-time high.

The combination of art and commerce in this film must have had its own unique merits; otherwise, it could never have won the highly artistic Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and still secured the weekly box office crown in North America.

Consequently, the general public and countless filmmakers alike held sky-high expectations for the movie.

Eight days after its North American release, it premiered domestically on July 2nd.

However, the worries that troubled Zhang Le did not materialize. The box office explosion of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in China far surpassed its overseas performance, and its word-of-mouth reputation was exceptionally stellar. Although quite a few fans expressed that they didn't entirely understand it or find it as thrilling as imagined, they still revered the film as a classic.

After a moment of thought, Zhang Le immediately understood why.

In his previous life, the domestic box office of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was pitifully low, and the reason had nothing to do with the film itself.

Because one of the production companies had a falling out with the main distribution agency over another film, the movie's domestic release was abruptly postponed at the very last minute—delayed by a full three months, which caused it to miss the optimal screening window. This provided an opportunity for illegal pirates to exploit the situation, and overnight, pirated VCDs flooded the market. This severely damaged the film's subsequent theatrical run, resulting in devastating box office losses.

Bad timing, piracy, and numerous controversies surrounding copyright were the true culprits behind the film's terribly low domestic box office. Had it not been for those factors, the domestic box office of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would never have languished at a pitiful sub-twenty-million figure.

Now, clearly, such issues did not exist. Although piracy still existed domestically, it was not as rampant as in his past life, and the timing of the release window for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was seized impeccably. When it premiered domestically, domestic fans' anticipation for the film was at its absolute peak.

Furthermore, compared to his past life, Zhang Le's version of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon came with the added honor of the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize and the title of North American weekly box office champion. Such prestige alone was enough to draw countless people into the cinemas.

Above all, the box office drawing power of the film's director and leading actors was already immensely formidable.