Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Screening as part of our Art of Action season, the breathtaking wuxia masterpiece. 

Watching this two decades after its release, this ground breaking movie has lost none of its magic. Not a single ounce. It works on several different levels: as an electrifying martial arts extravaganza, a deeply affecting love story, and it carries a powerful thematic depth rarely seen in the martial arts genre. Therefore it's not surprising that the first draft of the screenplay said: "You will note in the script that none of the fight scenes are described, and I will just inform you now that they will be the greatest fight scenes ever in the history of cinema, period."

The actors almost invariably performed their own stunts. CGI was only used to remove the wires holding them up. Michelle Yeoh spent a year before the shoot learning Mandarin and preparing to perform her own stunts. She tore her ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) during the shooting of an early fighting sequence and had to be flown to the US for knee surgery.

Join us for this celebration of 'wire-work' and the wonderfully talented Michelle Yeoh who at aged 60 has made a comeback with her Oscar award-winning performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once (also showing as part of our Art of Action season), wowing audiences all over again with her kick-ass stunts and acting!

Michelle Yeoh's outstanding career

Michelle Yeoh had one of the most dynamic and prolific careers in the world long before she won Best Actress Oscar at the Oscars in 2023. The beauty queen–turned–action star has worked with some of the best Asian filmmakers ranging from Jackie Chan to Johnnie To, bringing her signature grace and charisma to a huge variety of roles.

From her early roles in Hong Kong action movies to her performances in hits like the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) Yeoh has never shied away from challenging roles, sometimes putting her life on the line to perform her own stunts. Although Yeoh had plenty of experience performing her own stunts throughout the 1980s, nothing in her career proved as dangerous as her performance in Police Story 3: Supercop (1992), in which she portrayed an Interpol agent who teams up with Jackie Chan’s police officer protagonist. Quentin Tarantino famously claimed Supercop boasted “the greatest stunts ever filmed in any movie ever,” and one of the best was when Yeoh actually jumped a motorcycle onto the top of a moving train. “What was I thinking?” Yeoh said to Entertainment Weekly. “I was swinging at the side of trucks. I was riding a motorcycle onto a moving train. I was doing the most insane stunts.”

Yeoh was nearly killed during one stunt, which is shown as an outtake during the movie’s end credits. Yeoh accidentally slipped during a scene in which she is thrown onto the hood of a moving convertible. A panicked Chan tried to hold onto her from the driver’s seat, but she fell off the car. Yeoh not only escaped a serious injury, she got up and performed the stunt again.

The season has been co-curated by Young Electrics.

Listen to our Art of Action podcasts!

The film students at Bexhill College who have been working with us on the Art of Action season have created a set of Art of Action-themed podcasts for your listening pleasure - enjoy!

Stuntwomen in Cinema: Agata, Anni and Mathilda

Hong Kong Vs Hollywood Action Films: Fabrizio, Joshua and Oscar

History of Stunts: Poppy and Taya

Screening as part of Art of Action, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network.

Fabulous Christmas parties at the cinema!

It's that time of year again - work Christmas parties come around so fast! Book ahead for your office treat, or invite family and friends for a very special Christmas do at our bijou cinema in the heart of Hastings Old Town. Book your party now.

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