- QUOTES: MICHELLE YEOH
- IN CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
- "this martial-arts marvel embraced all the best traits of
Cannes. It had red-carpet glamour in its cast-we're convinced
Michelle Yeoh is the world's most beautiful movie star".
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- Richard Corliss, Time Asia
- "Michelle Yeoh has always been beautiful in my book, but here
in Ang Lee's lens she has made a breakthrough, displaying one of
the most expressive but restrained performances I can remember in
a historical drama. Incorporating shots with little or no dialogue
and still managing to convey feelings of longing, loss and anger
is something many western actresses cannot accomplish".
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- Keith Loh, Movie Nutz
- "...Ms. Yeoh, who gives one of the most adult and deeply felt
performances ever seen in such a movie".
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- Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times
- "Michelle Yeoh, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The action
superstar takes on the unusually mature role of a warrior who has
had to repress her love for co-star Chow Yun Fat. While engaged
in martial artistry, Yeoh had the added technical difficulty of
speaking her lines in Mandarin Chinese, which she does not know
well. "I'm surprised she hasn't been getting nominations," says
People magazine's Rozen. "There is no more moving moment in a film
this year than when she's sitting in a room with Chow Yun Fat and
says, 'My hand is real.'" ".
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- Andy Seiler, USA Today
- "here is the kind of filmmaking magic that we've been missing
for years. Breathless storytelling, ravishing romance and martial
arts miracles to sweep us into adventures beyond our imaging. It's
great, gorgeous fun. Both actors (Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun Fat)
bring startling intimacy to a relationship that has been thwarted
by a rigid sense of honor. Yeoh, radiating strength and graceful
beauty, is a knockout. If there is a more visually stunning scene
on film this year, I haven't seen it. Chow reveals astonishing
depths. But the revelation is Yeoh. Yeoh scores an acting triumph
in a heroic role that she instills with power and true romantic
yearning".
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- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
- "with her fearless stunts, Yeoh won over
American audiences in Jackie Chan's
"Supercop." (She had made her mark much
earlier in Hong Kong with pictures like the
thrilling "Heroic Trio.") Yeoh's role here shows
off her more nuanced skills as an actress --
she glimmers with quiet dignity, and her fight
scenes are magnificent. But her sexual vitality
remains too tastefully veiled; I want to see an
actress as sparkling as Yeoh getting a little bit
of enjoyment out of life, and out of love, not just
suffering nobly every minute".
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- Stephanie Zacharek, Salon
- "and yet no Y2K movie can top Lee's masterwork for visual
miracles and the romantic yearning found in the exquisite
performances of Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh".
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- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
- "Michelle Yeoh gets to show of not only her considerable fighting skills intact but also just how graceful and dignified she can be - a true class act of a lady".
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- Garth Franklin, Drak Horizons
- "she captures beautifully the
emotional depths behind the placid exterior of Shu Lien, giving
her culminating scenes with Chow surprising power".
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- Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
- "Yeoh (best-known for her work in the James Bond movie "Tomorrow
Never Dies") gives Shu Lien a melancholy maturity that is haunting
to watch".
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- Glenn Whipp, Los
Angeles Newspaper Group
- "Michelle Yeoh does a wonderful,
understated job of portraying the
intelligent, capable Yu Shu Lien. There is
real pain in her face as she explains to
the young Jen that independence has its
price - a life full of loneliness. Yeoh is
intriguing to watch in her action work,
but she also garners sympathy with her
sad acceptance of the cost of her
independence".
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- Robin Clifford, Reeling
Reviews
- "Ms. Yeoh, one of Asia's most popular female action stars,
gives an inspired performance; each of her movements reveals
volumes about her feelings".
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- Charles Ealy, Dallas Morning News
- "going into the film, I was prepared to be awed by the
spectacular martial-arts sequences. But what caught me by
surprise was how emotionally invested I became in the
characters. Chow, with his soft, stern stare, and Yeoh, with a
downward cast of her sad, almond eyes, can say more in a
glance than pages of dialogue. They actually ache for each
other on screen".
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- Donald Munro, The Fresno Bee
- "even without the exhilarating action sequences,
Michelle Yeoh's powerful, stoic performance is a wonder to behold
in itself".
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- Eric D. Snider, Eric D. Snider
- "Hong Kong superstar Michelle Yeoh has the fixed stare
and lithe grace of a hungry panther. When she first springs into
action to pursue the shadowy thief who makes off with the sword
across the compound rooftops at night, you're left breathless by
her buoyancy".
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- Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
- "...when he (Chow Yun-Fat) and Michelle Yeoh held each other, I was convinced there's was the greatest love of all. That Michelle Yeoh can stand toe-to-toe with Chow Yun-Fat and hold her own is a testament to her star power. She has a regal bearing and a pitch-perfect stoicism that makes her emotional scenes all the more effective".
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- J. Robert Parks, Phantom Tollbooth
- "...as his female counterpart, the great Michelle Yeoh (you loved her in Tomorrow Never Dies), shows up lithe as a cat and blessed with a face that shows every quiver of emotion. These two play characters who have labored long and hard as warriors in service of their master.
Their loyalty to the work has caused both to put aside their own lives and, it becomes apparent, a strong romantic attraction. In Yeoh's face, especially, you will read the discipline and sorrows.
She is beautiful beyond belief, a woman, who in the fullness of her life, brings both determination and regret to the path she has chosen. Rarely do movies adore a mature female adult in the way that this one does".
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- Susan Stark, Detroit News
- "Yeoh, ... is incredibly moving. She brings a host of subtexts
into play with a single movement of her eyes".
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- Amy Taubin, Village Voice
- "all three lead cast members - but especially the superb
Michelle Yeoh, whose character is at the emotional center
- contribute the kind of nuanced performances you'd never
expect from a martial arts film".
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- Jonathan Foreman, New York Post
- "I'd add an Oscar nod for Hong Kong action star Yeoh. Chow gets
top billing, and Zhang will sew up the youth audience, but it's the
graceful, downcast Yeoh who stays in mind as the tragic heart of
this fantasy-adventure".
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- Glenn Lovel, San
Jose Mercury News
- ""Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger) was robbed!" declares
Roeper. "I think that her acting is getting lost in all the
publicity about her stunts, which she did herself. There's the
fact that she's acting in Mandarin - which is not her native
tongue - yet is so good. Here we are watching the movie in
subtitles, and she's speaking a language that she did not
know until she basically learned it phonetically.""
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- Daniel R. Coleridge, TV Guide
- "but the big
crime is the lack of a best actress nod for star Michelle Yeoh...
Yeoh deserved to be
acknowledged: Seldom in popular cinema has an action hero also
shown such nuance and depth of character".
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- Doug Kim, Seattle
Times
- "Yu Shu Lien, is played by
Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies), whose beauty is equaled only by her
eagerness to do her own stunts. How many American leading ladies can claim
that?"
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- Patrick Vuong, OC Weekly
- "the actors live up to their reputations here, giving deep and stirring performances (note how much can be read in Yeoh's facial expressions)".
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- James Berardinelli, ReelViews
- "but the two are even more impressive in the dramatic scenes. They have a nicely understated chemistry that lends heartrending pathos to their characters' relationship. Li and Shu Lien have long been in love, but they've denied their passion in honor of the memory of Shu Lien's late fiancé, a brother by oath to Li. Their tortured longing is subtly, wrenchingly conveyed in Yeoh and Chow's vividly expressive eyes".
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- Michael Dequina, IMDb
- "Ang Lee and his longtime collaborator James Schamus are unusually successful in bringing out the human elements, especially the unrealized love between the Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh characters. There are times when they're together that you forget about the swords, and are just watching a man and a woman, tenderly cherishing the unspoken bond between them".
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- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
- "Yeoh paints a portrait of a woman of great dignity, intelligence,
strength and beauty. With a look, Yeoh conveys all the years of hidden
love and yearning Shu Lien feels for Li Mu Bai, with a gentle word, and
a knowing expresssion, she reveals the depth of plans, and her incomparable
battle scenes will take your breath away, and make your heart pound".
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- Michael R. Colford, Chlotrudis Awards
- "Michelle Yeoh should be receiving some serious attention for a Best Actress nomination. Her subtle work here is heart breaking and the most compelling in the film".
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- Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews
- "the relationship between Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien is perfectly played; Chow Yun Fat ... contributes the necessary been-there/done-that world-weariness, while Michelle Yeoh displays a host of nuanced gestures and furtive glances that convey volumes about her passions".
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- Bill DeLapp, Syracuse New Times
- "Michelle Yeoh, who was lost in the noise and clutter of the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, is simply remarkable as a proud woman whose unrequited love gives her distinguished beauty a stifled passion".
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- Kevin Courrier, CBC Infoculture
- "restraint describes the performances of Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh as well as any word I can think of. They express profound love, admiration, and yearning for each other with subtle facial expressions and through their eyes without ever physically touching. ... The love here is no less obvious here without a physical consummation, and the spirituality behind it affected me to the point that I found myself wiping away some tears late into the film".
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- John Nesbit, Epinions
- "not only do they (Chow and Yeoh) have the physical presence needed for their roles, their chemistry makes the relationship between their characters extremely believable and almost heartbreaking".
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- Jeff Vice, Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
- "what makes it so great is the acting of Michelle Yeoh, whose wise face and expressive eyes give away the story far more than the subtitles of what she says".
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- Sasha Stone, Oscar Watch
- "Michelle Yeoh may be better known for her incredible moves in films such as "The Heroic Trio" and "Wing Chun", but in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", she exhibits her depths of acting skill by delivering a poignant performance as a heroine reluctantly caught in the middle of a simmering confrontation".
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- Anthony Leong, MediaCircus
- "but it's Michelle Yeoh who distinguishes herself in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. American audiences know her mostly as a sidechick for James Bond or Jackie Chan. Here, she looks older, sadder, and wiser, and her big, expressive eyes convey a profound sense of regret and heartbreak. It's a powerful, wistful performance by someone who hasn't gotten the credit for her acting skills that she deserves".
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- Curtis Edmonds, Epinions
- "Michelle Yeoh gives what may be the best performance of her career. Her Yu Shu-lien is a complex character, torn between her love for a man that she can never be with and her duty to the Giang Hu life. Ms. Yeoh gives such a grand performance that we can feel her heartbreaking in every scene she shares with Chow Yun-fat".
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- R. L. Strong, Cornucopia of Film
- "Michelle Yeoh, who appeared on American screens in "Tomorrow Never Dies," is lustrous and holds her own, action-wise, with the men.
There is a scene between her and Chow Yun Fat, near the end of the movie, in which the two are drinking tea in an exquisite mountain setting, where much of the truth about their past relationship is revealed, and the regrets that come through in both actors makes it one of the most magical movie moments ever".
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- Carlos deVillalvilla, Triviana Reviews
- "those familiar with Chow's work will find that he brings his usual assertion to the role, and Yeoh is one of the loveliest actresses working today".
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- Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News Critic
- "the subtle chemistry between Yeoh and Yun-Fat perfectly captures the essence of longing and despair their characters share in a love that has been suppressed for many years".
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- Ryan Freeman, Daily Beacon Online
- "but it is Michelle Yeoh, in my opinion, who carries the film, bringing her thoughtful gaze to bear on the world around her and carrying us with her".
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- Peter Berger, Themestream
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(click to view full version)
Michelle Yeoh
as
Crouching Tiger's
Yu Shu Lien
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