Ang Lee
Ang Lee
Ang Lee is a Taiwanese filmmaker. His films are known for their emotional charge and exploration of repressed, hidden emotions. During his career, he has received international critical and popular acclaim and numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
"Its the first movie I feel really proud of. But I know its not a movie for everyone. Some people will embrace it, but some people will hate it, and Im not really sure how to deal with that. In the past Ive made movies that were pretty universally liked. You cant really hate them. You can discard them, but you cant really hate them."
"Mainstream films have occupied Hollywood but you can get bored very easily. It can be very repetitive and I think now we want something fresh and something inspiring and different, daring. The mainstream film is very expensive to make and it scares people. Its made for the worldwide audience, you have to please so many people, and the business men start running the movies rather than artists. This is back to the oldest way of Hollywood filmmaking, creating a fantasy, but it has been lost. It seems to take a foreign language film to recoup that ultimate movie viewing experience."
"Gradually I got tuned into the world — that happens on every movie. I did a womens movie, and Im not a woman. I did a gay movie, and Im not gay. I learned as I went along."
"The stern dad stuff doesnt work anymore. You have to be level with the kids, you have to be a nice guy... The authority thing just doesnt work anymore. Its like directing a Chinese film vs. directing an American film. On a Chinese film you just give orders, no one questions you. Here, you have to convince people, you have to tell them why you want to do it a certain way, and they argue with you. Democracy."
