MICHELLE YEOH:

FROM WOW TO WOE TO WHOA!
by Dr. Craig D. Reid

In a male dominated society, where women are considered to be submissive, meal-preparing, child bearing, sexual objects, Hong Kong action film ironically depicts females as fearless, overbearing, eccentric characters -- forces to be reckoned with. And what better woman in the Hong Kong elite film community to play the quasi-brooding lead swordswoman Yu Shu Lien in what appears to be this year's most talked about, yet misunderstood film in the West, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, than arguably the gutsiest actress/stuntwoman in the Hong Kong film industry -- Michelle Yeoh. In CROUCHING TIGER, Yeoh portrays her alter-ego with just enough vulnerability that she doesn't threaten the very fabric of the chauvinistic Chinese society, yet she still oozes enough atypical qualities that she is viewed as any man's equal.

"Back in 1998, I was the first person Ang Lee approached actor wise," Yeoh matter of factly relates, "When I was doing Bond publicity tours, he was starting RIDE WITH THE DEVIL. He told me he wanted to do a SENSE AND SENSIBILITY with martial arts and that I'd be perfect in that movie. I was sold on the story right away but it's Ang's reputation on how he handles his actresses and how he is very sensitive to his feminine cast that impresses me. I also wanted to do more than just action and believed he'd find the balance, that it wouldn't just be action for action's sake, and that it would be drama driven."

I can't help but to play devil's advocate by pointing out that she had just finished this big budgeted Bond film and now she has gone back to a lower budgeted "kung-fu" film. A smirk later she quips, "Ah, I definitely see where this question is going. That has never been a concern of mine. I love what I do and it's not about the luxury and perks of big budgeted films that disappear when you do smaller films. The most important thing is you must want to be in that particular film, believe in the director, the story he's telling and that he has a vision with his dream. So it's more important to work with people who are passionate rather than just big budgets. I'll never leave my roots or say things like, 'Well, I'm doing Hollywood films now so bye-bye to Chinese films.' What's dear to me is I want to make movies with Chinese talent and themes, to have joint East-West or all Asian productions, and do things we can be proud of."

And this was a major reason for turning down MATRIX. She explains, "My priority in film now is my new production company Mythical Films. In as much as MATRIX is a wonderful opportunity, a big franchise and budgeted film, you've got to look into yourself and know what your priorities are and where you want to go with things. It didn't fit into the schedule of what we have going here. Mythical Films is the most important thing for me. I really love the industry, and want to do more than just be an actress, I want to do a lot more behind the scenes, like being a producer. We want to nurture the next generation of filmmakers. Our first film will possibly be THE TOUCH, where I'll produce and act. It will be interesting doing 2 roles. It's not easy. As an actress, you're more cool and protected, you do your stuff and wish everybody luck. But being a producer, everyone is looking to you and wanting you to make decisions on how things are going to work. It's very exciting and for me I believe in the talent of Asian cinema and in the quality of Asian films. I don't want to direct right now, maybe in ten years, who knows."

Chronicle
How did it all start? Born as Yang Zi Chong in Ipoh, a small mining town in West Malaysia, Yeoh grew up speaking English and Malay before Chinese. As a teenager she moved to England and studied ballet and acting at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Returning home in 1983 she became Miss Malaysia and Miss Mooba in Melbourne, Australia. Her acting career started in 1984 after being cast in a commercial opposite Jackie Chan. During a stint at D&B films she was known as Michelle Khan before adopting Michelle Yeoh. In her first film, OWL VS DUMBO (1985) she plays a subdued, shrinking violet character but later that year, Sammo Hung cast her in the female cop-buddy film, YES MADAM. Her cop guise continued in ROYAL WARRIORS (1986) before being cast as Huo Ming Mong in the Indiana Jones yarn, MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS (1987). This film is a definite wow. After the non-actioner EASY MONEY (1988), Yeoh married D&B's founder Dickson Poon. He encouraged her to retire and 3 years later they were divorced.Woe.

When Stanley Tong directed Jackie Chan's SUPERCOP (1991), he did it with the condition that the world's best stuntman and stuntwomen worked together. Yeoh's return opposite Chan was magnificently engaging. After reprising her cop role in Tong's PROJECT S (1992), her next efforts with Hong Kong's outrageous, fant-Asia film action director Ching Siu Tung, BUTTERFLY AND SWORD, HEROIC TRIO and its sequel THE EXECUTIONERS (all 1993), would give her characters a more mythical dimension. Her next vehicle, HOLY WEAPON (1993) was an off-centered fant-Asia farce. She next starred in Yuen Woo Ping's THE TAI CHI MASTER (1993) and WING CHUN (1994), the first time Woo Ping cast a female as his lead fighter and character. Prior to TOMORROW NEVER DIES, she did Ching's WONDER 7 (1994) and Sammo Hung's AH KHAM (THE STUNTWOMAN) (1996), a film dedicated to her as she suffered her most serious injuries to date. Whoa. Her films are available through at www.martialartsmart.com

Crouching Tigress
And in keeping with her tough stuntwoman facade, CROUCHING TIGER was no different as injuries once again plagued her. So what happened? "Well, I just landed wrong," she embarrassingly giggles, "Accidents really happen when you do these kind of action sequences, and you've seen the action sequences we do. They're long. One second you're on a wire and the next you're not. It actually occurred during the very first action sequence of the film. I tore my ACL. We were working late nights, it was 3:30am, the last day of after ten days of non stop fighting. Plus the mind, the ground was uneven, who knows. It wasn't even a difficult moment, but all of us were just stunned. But when things like that happens, you've just got to go on with it.

"So apart from the language and character, the physical aspects due to having to get back into it after the injury, was the biggest challenge. I was back in Baltimore for 3 1/2 weeks and then returned to shooting. I needed that time to make sure everything was set and the two screws and the new ligament were in the right place and after that it was just pure pain, hell and rehab. It was traumatic but it also builds character, it makes you learn perseverance and I wasn't ready to pack it in and say, "I'm hurt guys. Sorry I'm not coming back." I mean you feel the responsibility and that everyone is on the edge saying, "Oh my God what are we going to do now? How the hell are we going to replace Michelle?

"I knew getting into this film the physical side would be challenging, but I was prepared for it because I'm training all the time and I've done my fair share of "wu xia pian" movies. I actually focused my research and preparation time into the dramatic side of things. Whereas for the action, well you've worked on action films before, you know that so long as you are accurate and you know the style of what you have to perform on film, then there is basically no rehearsal, you just get in there and then you are told what you have to do and you do it. So in a sense, you can't really prepare in depth for the action in this. Obviously I took up taiji for the story Ang prepared for this film. But with the accident the challenge was now compounded. After the injury and getting back to the set, I must get back in shape for the final confrontation as well as still focus on the dramatic aspects of my character."

And speaking of martial arts training. Although she diligently practices martial arts for film, she hasn't had formal training. To be a complete martial artist one must understand the philosophical and spiritual sides. So has Yeoh ever felt deprived of those aspects of the art? She joyfully tells, "Oh no, that's the side that attracts me most. In the beginning, it was the physical side, getting it out on screen, making sure it looks right and the power and energy is there. As you learn, you might initially get into it because visually it's stimulating or when you see someone do it, it's powerful and you want to be part of that. But once you get into martial arts, it's the philosophy behind it that makes it work. I don't believe in fighting, it's one thing that I stay away from. I do martial arts for my own peace of mind and health, and I'm physically and mentally in tune with my own body. Spiritually, it can become very religious and that's when meditation comes in and you can get in touch with your spiritual side. I've been reading more books about that and it's a sense of discovery as well understanding what is around you, what is beyond the material and physical side."

At the Academy Awards, Roger Ebert applauded Michelle's performance because according to him, she doesn't speak Chinese. To paraphrase Homer Simpson, "D'oh." (It would be nice if these "experts" would do their research) Yeoh speaks Cantonese and Mandarin but her Mandarin does sound pretty weird. When I ask her about that she gives me the "D'oh," saying, "Most of the critics here don't speak Chinese or know Chinese film. (long drawn sigh) Did it show? (laughs) Well, I don't read Chinese. It was a great challenge in that sense. But you know, I had my dialogue coach and Ang with me, who is such a perfectionist and who would just grill me until I got it right. It was first about understanding, then digesting, then pure memorizing and being accurate. And oh no, I was hoping it didn't show. My character lived outside of Beijing and so I didn't need a Beijing accent."

Although most martial artists have seen the film, and if you haven't, shame on you, it's always interesting to get the actress's perspectives on their character and how they relate to them. So in keeping with that spirit Yeoh shares, "The film is set in the Ching Dynasty. Yu Shu Lien is very contained, regal, gracious and in a man's world. In that moment of time, it was very rare that a women would be heading a big security firm where she shoulders a lot of responsibility and being so respected in the world of Jiang Hu (Jiang Hu: Someone who travels around the Chinese world. It can also loosely be considered the "martial art world."). That's why when she saw the young girl and the young girl says, "Oh, it's so wonderful that you guys can just ride out and do whatever you want and fight your enemies and blah, blah, blah." She doesn't stop to think that we have even more strict rules and codes of conduct that we have to live by. Being and knowing that character is very important to me. So when I walk onto set in that costume, I'm a woman of that time. I wasn't this contemporary, modern women who would not understand this kind of love. I mean, you love a man so much but because of the tradition, because of the dead fiancee, you can't express your love and for the rest of your life you are basically being a widow. She does reflect a lot on modern day women and men, and I think that's why a lot of people can feel for her.

"Initially, it was difficult relating to her because I'm a very outspoken person when it comes to things like this. I'd think about Shu Lien thinking, "My God, this has gone on for 10 years, and not a word, not even a bit of communication." Yet she is so supportive of him. Instinctively, girls always blame guys for that, right? By right, the male should makes the first move. And we still live by that code unfortunately."

She closes with a few words about the point of the film and how that personally touches her. "It's very much about emotion, love, honor and tradition. The great thing about this film genre is that these stories are very close to the Chinese culture and I'm most happy that they're being embraced by the world and not thinking these films are chop socky. It's light weight in that sense, but with the dramatic side of this triangle, the high moral codes, the beauty and poetic visual feel of the film, the world has the chance to look at it and take it seriously in that way.

"Because of the emotional depth of my character and the very dramatic death scene with the love of her life, this is my most favorite film I've been in. At that moment, this character really blows up to the point where you can see, even at the final moment where she knows he is gone to her, she will turn around and still be that noble character, even down to his final breath. I mean these swordsmen, these heroes, they train for years to attain that final enlightenment and they truly believe that when they attain that, your energy will live on and your spirit is free. So for me, this film is working up to this scene.

"Fortunately, I haven't experienced such a great loss. So to dig into myself, I can't do it superficially, it has to come from within. And to get to that state, it was exploring within myself. That's the thing that really gets to you, the sense of loss, emptiness, that there is someone so close to you that you have held in your heart for so long. And for me, it's not a tragedy in this sense in this film, it has that bitter sweet love, there is still hope, she will still continue and has all these things, and that is such a strength. This character has meant the most to me compared to the other action films I've done, because it's easy to be sidetracked by the action where the drama almost becomes the side dish."

About Dr. Craig D. Reid :
Dr. Craig D. Reid is a writer and martial artist based in Los Angeles, California.