The Oscar Worthiness of ‘Crouching Tiger’

Congratulations to Trevor Corson on being lucky enough to spend two years in the late ‘80s hanging out with directors and students at Beijing Film Academy and even dating an actress! While these experiences surely enriched him as a person, they haven’t done much for his persuasiveness as a film critic.

His Counterpunch piece on “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (“It May Be Time for Oscar-Winning Asian Film; Is This Right One?,” March 5) indulges in the predictable tradition of bashing a movie that has clearly achieved too much success and recognition for his taste.

Nothing raises the hackles of a film fan higher or faster than the prosperous fate of a film now no longer small enough to remain the secret subject of their expertise. To say that “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” a film steeped in ancient Chinese storytelling tradition, isn’t an Asian film is a lazy and ridiculous conclusion to an argument that was dubious at the start. Awards or no, Ang Lee and company have made a wonderful film that now must endure, as exceptional films that also happen to be popular often must, the backlash of experts like Corson, whose whining will be thankfully inaudible beneath the thundering applause at the Shrine Auditorium on Oscar night.

DENNIS COZZALIO

Glendale

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I loved reading the March 5 Counterpunch, but I have to agree more with the second opinion. The first Oscar to go to a Chinese-language film should not be “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

I am a second-generation Chinese American who has thrilled to see the film make major box-office dough. However, before I first saw it myself, my parents told me that it was just the sort of film that they grew up on, and that it was no big deal.

Yes, seeing cool Asian people on screen is a great thing. The images in the film have affected my sense of identity in a positive way.

But, as Corson wrote, the film was a flop overseas. I thank the filmmakers for making the film, and society for receiving it well, but I don’t think the academy should make too big a deal out of it.

VIVIAN SHU

Los Angeles