Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a movie based on the
traditional Chinese “wuxia”which was a surprising success worldwide.The film became the highest grossing foreign film in many countries, including the United States and the UK, and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Director at the Academy Awards, besides, it ended up with Best Foreign Language Film and three technical awards. The success of Crouching Tiger demonstrated that Lee's artistry had a general appeal; it also inspired some directors such as Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige to explore wuxia films for Western audience.
This situation, usually an embarrassment in Chinese culture, put enormous pressure on the couple, but with Lin's support and understanding, Lee didn't abandon his career in films but continued to generate new ideas from movies and performances. He also wrote several screenplays during this time.