Ang Lee's epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has been the cinematic surprise of this winter. Already the all-time box office champ for foreign language films (see 'Crouching Tiger Breaks Record,' Crouching Tiger gives every indication that it will surpass $100 million in domestic U.S. box office and it has garnered no fewer than ten Oscar nominations. More importantly for the specialty market, the film, with its brilliantly staged martial arts sequences, legendary heroes and spectacular settings, has a strong appeal to our core audience. The problem is that until Crouching Tiger is released on video in June, retailers have few ways to take advantage of the film's popularity.
Fortunately, thanks to Newmarket Press, there is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A Portrait of the Ang Lee Film, available both in trade paperback (ISBN 1-55704-457-0, $19.95) and hardcover (ISBN: 1-55704-459-7, $32.95) editions. This 144-page volume includes the screenplay, 120 full-color stills from the film, and commentaries from director Ang Lee, from Time Magazine film critic Richard Corliss, and from University of Wisconsin film professor David Bordwell (whose book on Hong Kong action cinema--Planet Hong Kong from Harvard University Press--is another volume that retailers should consider). Bordwell provides historical perspective, placing Crouching Tiger within the genre of 'wuxia pian' or films of martial chivalry, and mentioning other films that fans who enjoy Crouching Tiger will want to see.
Other cool features of this book include biographies of the filmmakers, a complete list of credits, and sidebars by Lee and screenwriter James Schamus discussing the fighting choreography, the exotic locations, how the difficult sequences like the lyrical swordfight on the top of the bamboo forest were filmed, as well as the costumes and language difficulties of the actors. All in all this volume is a great memento of an epic film.
Since Crouching Tiger opened in limited release in December, this illustrated and annotated screenplay was set for a January publication. Few volumes are published this early in the year, and specialty distributors that we checked did not solicit for this oddly scheduled volume, which has been out in the mass market for a month. But with Crouching Tiger's box office totals growing over the past few weeks, it is not too late to take advantage of a film whose legendary heroes resonate deeply with the fantasy loving fans of our own industry. FM International, Ingram, and Baker and Taylor are probably the best sources for the present.