Ang Lee, director of such remarkable films as Sense and Sensibility and The Ice Storm, has done the impossible.

He has created an action movie overflowing with visual poetry, beauty and meaning. Think of it as a dream captured on film. The movie in question, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, features Chinese film stars like Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, literally flying through the air, defying gravity in a Chinese fable about love and loyalty. But, in doing so, he takes the action form, which often dominates the screen with hyperkinetic energy and movement, and instead creates a placid, dreamlike atmosphere that offers a spirituality rarely found in martial arts films.

Crouching Tiger's plot is literally so complex that to summarize it here would do it a great injustice. But its depth and cleverness will please martial arts aficionados as well as moviegoers looking for something beyond the traditional three-act dramatic structure. As for action, Matrix fight choreographer Yuen Wo-Ping has found a way to make it almost poetic and spiritual, while sparked by a high adrenaline content. Impressively fluid martial arts moves become downright astonishing when the fighters begin leaping and flying. Each of the film's many action sequences builds on the one before, raising the stakes and the level of fantasy ever higher.

Adding to the film's dreamlike quality is the cinematography of Peter Pau, who bathes nearly every scene in a milky blue moonlight, and the graceful, placid reserve of Chow and Yeoh. Although Jet Li was originally considered for Chow's role, Chow imparts the right mixture of intensity and nobility perfect for this film. It's hard to imagine Jet's nonstop energy fitting the pace of this film as well.

One of the most pleasant surprises in this film is that it relies on its two female leads to carry most of the plot and provide the bulk of the action. This adds an almost ballet-like feel to the combat sequences, as well as upping their emotional stakes beyond that of mere exercises in martial skill. In short, the film wrenches the genre from the male stranglehold that has dominated it since its inception. When Yo-Yo Ma's cello resounds as a backdrop to these fight sequences, you feel a level of excitement that accompanies the witnessing of an entirely new art form.

Hopefully, Lee's arthouse following -- a devoted lot who've fawned over such gems of his as Eat Drink Man Woman and Ride with the Devil -- won't abandon him based on this film, representative of a genre about which most art film lovers don't have a clue. If they do, they're shortchanging themselves. In addition to Lee's trademark graceful pacing and visual artistry, Crouching Tiger is literally bursting at the seams with something for everyone -- unrequited love, evil villains, hidden identities, and brilliant fight scenes that take up nearly a full half-hour of the film. Although these fight scenes are breathtakingly innovative, Lee obviously revers the martial arts genre, a genre he says occupied a great deal of his moviegoing experiences while growing up. The resulting hybrid redefines the genre. Lee suffuses his film with a profound underlying philosophy of destiny and heretofore missing romantic elements that raise the bar for all martial arts film to follow.

Notes

CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON Directed by Ang Lee; written (in Mandarin, with English subtitles) by James Schamus, Wang Hui Ling and Tsai Kuo Jung, based on the novel by Wang Du Lu; director of photography, Peter Pau; edited by Tim Squyres; music by Tan Dun; action choreographer, Yuen WO-Ping; production designer, Tim Yip; produced by Bill Kong, Hsu Li Kong and Mr. Lee; released by Sony Pictures Classics. Running time: 120 minutes. This film is rated PG-13. WITH: Chang Chen, Chow Yun Fat, Cheng PEI-PEI, Lung Sihung, Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi. In theatres now.