A very good movie

If I recall it correctly, I saw this one in the movie theater when it was released back then when I was living in England and I was really impressed but, after all these years, I thought it was really time to watch again the damned thing. Well, first of all, this movie was really gorgeous and it was something really unexpected from Ang Lee, considering he just directed a Western (‘Ride with Devil’), a 70's drama (‘The Ice Storm’) and a periode piece (‘Sense and sensibility’). The first time I saw this movie, it was my first contact with the wuxia genre and I really liked this flick, it gave also a new international exposure to this genre and many really neat movies followed like 'Hero' and 'House of Flying Daggers' both directed by Zhang Yimou. To be honest, after all these years, I was actually rather surprised by how small the scope actually was. Indeed, except for a fight scene in a restaurant, you usually get only a handful of characters involved. It doesn't mean that it was an issue and I especially enjoyed the sweet and gentle relationship between Li Mu Bai an Yu Shu Lien. Eventually, they would release a sequel 16 years later, produced by Netflix, but I have some serious doubts if it is really worth a look but maybe I will check it out at some point. Anyway, it was another really strong feature from Ang Lee and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.