Ang Lee 李安

[Lu]

I don't recall ever seeing a Spielberg film that is even remotely as good as Brokeback Mountain. But then, I'm not the Oscar jury :-/

[skylee]

I saw it again yesterday and it still made me cry (very strange). But the giggling audience was very annoying ...

[Ian_Lee]

IMO Stilll no sure win for Ang Lee in Oscar.

Five years ago Ang Lee was also widely tipped to win the Best Director -- he grabbed the Golden Globe and voted by Time magazine as Best American Director of the Year.

Somehow he lost to Steven Soderberg who directed "Traffic" in Oscar.

[gato]

For "Crounching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"? The Academy might have had a bias against voting for a "kungfu movie," but in truth "Crounching Tiger" was all that great of a kungfu movie, though it clearly had better production value than most kungfu movies. So I don't think it was a surprise that Lee didn't win for "Crounching Tiger." "Traffic" was a more interesting movie, though it did drag at point and the part about drug czar's daughter was hokey.

I haven't seen "Brokeback," but given all the publicity surrounding the movie and the critical praise (even the hard-to-please Anthony Lane of the New Yorker), I expect it to win. Plus the Academy loves to be politically correct. A vote for a gay movie would make them feel pretty good about themselves.

[roddy]

The Academy might have had a bias against voting for a "kungfu movie," but in truth "Crounching Tiger" was all that great of a kungfu movie, though it clearly had better production value than most kungfu movies.

For my money, CTHD was only vaguely a kung-fu movie - more like a romance with fight scenes.

[wushijiao]

I saw Brokeback, and I thought it lived up to the hype. The thing that suprised me the most was the pain, misery, and humiliation brought to the straight women who had unknowingly fallen in love with men who could never really love them back to the same degree, and would always have cheatin' hearts.

If nothing else, Ang Lee is a very diverse director and a great storyteller. I hope he wins.

[Lu]

Wushijiao: It was very sad for Ennis' wife, but I think Jack and his wife would not have had a very happy marriage if he was straight either. If I understood it correctly they had to get married because he gets her pregnant, but they don't have much in common and just grow apart.

[wushijiao]

If I understood it correctly they had to get married because he gets her pregnant, but they don't have much in common and just grow apart.

That's probably true. I agree. I suppose their marriage's biggest killer was carrerism, and being workaholics. That can equally affect gay or straight, of course.

Nonethless, (stop reading here if you haven't seen the movie) when Jack's wife called Ennis to describe how he died, there was a clearly a lot of angry emotion in her voice. Whether that was bitterness, anger, resentment, frustration, loathing, embarrassment...etc, I don’t know. Probably a combination of all of those, possibly combined with homophobia as well.

[skylee]

Ennis calls Lureen. She knows Jack has a good friend, but doesn't really know about him.

[kaichengbugong]

Ennis calls Lureen. She knows Jack has a good friend, but doesn't really know about him.

Whether that was bitterness, anger, resentment, frustration, loathing, embarrassment...etc, I don’t know. Probably a combination of all of those, possibly combined with homophobia as well.

I agree - I think when Laureen receives the phone call, the penny drops, so to speak. She finally understands that a part of Jack's heart was always somewhere else (in an emotional sense, on Brokeback Mountain). Perhaps it was from the shock of something that you have always suspected, but when fully realised, is still perturbing.

Anyway, I think she must have had some sympathy for Jack's circumstances. Impossible love is a fairly ubiquitous theme!

[Lu]

No, I think she knew already. And so did other people, that´s why Jack died. Maybe the whole thing is not entirely clear for Lureen, but when Ennis calls she knows she´s speaking with Jack´s lover. And you can hear it in her voice, like wushijiao says.

[skylee]

See Gary Soup's post -> Ang Lee wins for Best Director ...

[semantic nuance]

wow! it's so exciting! He finally won! 真是了得!! 好棒!

[bhchao]

Good article from today's NYT on Ang Lee: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/25Rleenj.html?pagewanted=1&ref=nyregionspecial2

Some parts:

The director Ang Lee, whose films have won eight Oscars out of 27 nominations, does not have a screening room in his four-bedroom home in Larchmont, NY., and rarely uses a computer or a cellphone. And instead of a fancy swimming pool in his backyard, he has a chicken coop.

"I don't lead a Hollywood lifestyle," said Mr. Lee, 53, who bristled at the thought of living either in Los Angeles or his homeland of Taiwan. "In Taiwan, I'd be like Michael Jordan walking down the street," he said. "Here I can live a normal life, and still make movies in the city.".

He and his wife, Jane Lin, a microbiologist who drives a Mini Cooper, sent their sons to public school. Haan, 23, graduated from Mamaroneck High School in 2002; Mason, 17, is currently a senior there. "We're not private school types," Mr. Lee said. "We wanted to lead a very grounded, normal life. That's what Jane likes."

Mr. Lee and Ms. Lin speak Mandarin together at home, but converse with their children in English. Mr. Lee would also like to observe traditional Chinese festivals, but, he said, "Jane's not up to it."...

He still remembers his own flight from home. Mr. Lee was born and raised in Taiwan, one of four children. His mother, Se-Tsung, 82 and still living in Taiwan, taught elementary school. His father, Sheng Lee, who died three years ago at the age of 91, was the principal at the prestigious Tainan First Senior High School, which Mr. Lee attended. His stern father expected Mr. Lee to get his doctorate in America, and then “do something useful,” said Mr. Lee.

But Mr. Lee had other ideas. “I was very quiet, very shy and docile,” he said. “I loved watching movies and making up scenes in my head.” After failing the university entrance exam, he entered a three-year college to study drama. He said his father wasn’t happy. “My culture doesn’t regard acting highly,” Mr. Lee said. “It’s shameful to be an entertainer,” because of their perceived low morals, he explained. But, “once I acted on stage, I just knew that was my niche.”....

Mr. Lee considered retiring early, but found encouragement from an unlikely ally — his father. “He said, ‘You have to go on, you can’t quit,’ ” Mr. Lee recalled. “I finally got his blessing as a filmmaker — not because I got an Academy Award, but because I was leading a normal life.”....

"In the last four movies, I had to spill guts," he said. "I'm really beaten by film-making. It takes a lot out of you". Making "Lust, Caution," with its graphic sex scenes, along with his giving upward of 50 interviews daily, had been so exhausting, he said, that he didn't want to discuss the film. The intensity of directing the movie, he said, was "just so draining. And to get it done in China was a big effort. I want to take a break. I’m exhausted.”

While Mr. Lee is rumored to be working on “A Little Game,” a film with his longtime friend, the producer James Schamus, Mr. Lee said the project was still in its infancy. He has nothing lined up now, and he is looking forward to a break, he said. After he wraps up his tours for “Lust, Caution,” he said: “I’ll just crash. Catch up with my family. Help Mason with college applications.”

Screening room or not, “I’ll be a bag of potatoes,” he said, giving a visual twist to the familiar phrase.

After reading the article, I am impressed by the low key lifestyle and lack of snobbery from Ang Lee. No sign of elitism either. He lives like an ordinary citizen.

[sujisol]

My wife, son Jerry and I live in Tainan, Taiwan where Li Ang grew up. His father is the principal of the First Boys High School which he also attended. Quan Mei our local Western Cinema was the venue that opened his eyes to world cinema, and is also where my son saw his first movies.

.....After he became famous he was received at city hall, and also did publicity with Quan Mei Cinema. My wife Connie Huang, whose job is public relations with the city, met Ang Li, who signed a Brookback Mountain cowboy hat and took a photo with him. A big day for our family, who follow his film career devotedly.

[skylee]

This is old news. Ang Lee has got the best director oscar this year. The most interesting part in today's news is that Mainland media have not reported his thanks to Taiwan. I think this is incredibly 小家子氣 ... I mean Taiwan is his root and he shot the film there.

李安致謝時先後提到兩次「台灣」及一次「台中」，但新華網引述報道時卻全部刪去，並以華人導演稱呼李安。台灣總統馬英九則在社交網Facebook(FB)留言祝賀他，李安的母親及弟弟亦留在家中收看直播，聽見李安獲獎時，興奮地跳躍，拍掌歡呼，直言心裡好高興。(source)

[bhchao]

Yes, the entire film production was shot in Taiwan with the employment of thousands of local Taiwanese workers.

Such a creative film would never have advanced far on the Mainland. It would have been nipped in the bud before production ever began.

Ang Lee has the right to thank Taiwan with all his might.

I am so thrilled that Ang Lee competed with Steven Spielberg twice, and won the Best Director both times. Both are talented directors in their own right. Although Spielberg was the frontrunner this year to win the award, we cannot say that he was robbed because Lee did an incredible job directing a breakthrough film that was once deemed impossible to make.

[Kobo-Daishi]

Bhchao wrote:

Yes, the entire film production was shot in Taiwan with the employment of thousands of local Taiwanese workers.

Such a creative film would never have advanced far on the Mainland. It would have been nipped in the bud before production ever began.

Ang Lee has the right to thank Taiwan with all his might.

Maybe they can do the sequel in China.

Or at least the visual effects for the sequel.

I read that the Hollywood visual effects company that worked on Pi has filed for bankruptcy and laid off several hundred workers

http://www.denofgeek...-get-bankruptcy

http://www.geekosyst...x-controversey/

http://www.npr.org/b...difficult-times

According to Fox News, it's because more and more visual effects and animation work are going to China.

http://www.foxnews.c...ation-to-china/

It's a shame for our local economy, but, what can you do about it. :Kobo shrugging his shoulders smilie:

I don't think I've ever seen any of Lee's movies except for Crouching Tiger.

After the awards, Lee went to In-N-Out Burgers for a hamburger. It went viral.

In-N-Out is a western regional chain. It had its start out here in California.

At least Ang Lee is supporting our local economy.

[bhchao]

I doubt Ang Lee would want to film another movie on the Mainland considering his experience filming Lust Caution there (and what happened to Tang Wei).

[ZhangKaiRong]

@bhchao

Why, what happened to Tang Wei? I just heard about the censorship issues and the country of origin problem.