March 26, 2003 Director fing Lee—Al Career of Success Sven Bellamy Features Editor Ang Lee was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1954. After graduating from the National Taiwan College of Arts in 1975, he moved to the US where he pursued studies in the- ater directing at the University of Illinois, and film production at New York University. While working as a student in New York, Lee won awards for two of his short movies, Dim Lake (1983), which won Taiwan's Golden Harvest award for best narrative film, and, Fine Line, which won Lee awards for best director and best film. After graduating from New York University, Lee spent six years at home writing screenplays. His first feature, Pushing Hands (1992), a dramatic comedy that explores cultural and generational differences, shares the experiences of an old Tai-Chi master who immigrates to the US with his family. It premiered at the 1992 Berlin Film Festival and later won the Best Film award at the Asian-Pacific Film Festival in Hong Kong. In 1993, Pushing Hands won three Golden Horse awards, the Taiwanese equivalents of the Academy Awards. Lee’s second feature, The Wedding Banquet (1993), continued to explore cul- tural and generational differences. This film tells the story of a gay New Yorker, who stages a marriage of convenience to please his visiting Taiwanese parents. The film won the Berlin Film Festival’s top prize, the Golden Bear award, the Best Director award at the Seattle Film Festival, as well as Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. Lee went on to make Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), his third movie to focus on the theme of generational differences in what Lee calls his “Father knows best trilogy.” It is a movie about the relation- ship shared between aging master chef Tao Chu and his three daughters, all who have radically different personalities. This fea- ture won an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film, and an Independent Spirit Award, and was voted best foreign lan- guage film by the American National Board of Review. Following these successes, Lee was gain- ing notoriety for being able to keep film production costs low. In 1995 he moved into Hollywood’s mainstream filmmak- ing. Lee worked with Emma Thompson, who wrote the screenplay and took the lead role in an adaptation of Jane Austen's novel, Sense and Sensibility (1995). The picture was another success for Lee, receiving honours, including a Best Picture nomination, a Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, and several British film honours. Lee was also voted 1995’s Best Director by the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle. Features http://otherpress.douglas.bc.ca Lee then adapted Rick Moody's novel The Ice Storm (1997) to film. The story revolves around familial dysfunction in Watergate-era Connecticut. Jce Storm attracted an all-star cast, sporting Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Allen, and Christina Ricci. Lee brought a sober, painterly touch to the production, which once again won him international critical acclaim and established him on Hollywood's roster of A-list directors. Lee turned to action film, producing the American Civil War drama, Ride With the Devil (1999), which demonstrated Lee’s ability to bring an interesting twist to a genre. Where most movies about the Civil War are told from the perspective of the Union Armies of the North, Ride With the Devil focuses on a pair of youth who join. up with the Confederate Successionist Armies of the South. After Ride, Lee produced Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), a romantic drama set in ancient China, the movie fol- lows two powerful females, one who lives a life of wuxia pian, or martial chivalry, and another, who desires to break free of her arranged marriage. Crouching Tiger won four Oscars out of 14 Oscar nomina- tions, including Best Foreign Language Film. It also won Best Director at the Golden Globe awards, and four British Academy awards. Lee's career is now taking another twist. His next movie, which is slated to come out in time for summer 2003, is The Hulk, based on the comic book hero the Incredible Hulk (1968). Critics of super- hero movies claim that another genre movie so soon after the blockbuster suc- cess of SpiderMan is a movie flop waiting to happen. Given the determination and energy that Ang Lee puts into his movies, I for one, won't be surprised if this pas- sionate director proves the critics wrong. In an interview with British newspaper The Guardian, Ang Lee claimed, “I’m growing up. I’m an established film- maker, known for making family dramas about personal relationships. I cannot go all the way and make a purely genre film. I’ve got to throw everything I know into making such a movie—like a combination platter. The key is to keep the balance.” Lee has definitely proven with each of his movies that he can maintain that bal- ance, especially when tackling a new proj- ect. Ride With the Devil was his first action film, and he was able to offer a perspective that even some of the top US Civil War historians have not been able to manage— Lee tells ths story from the perspective of two young friends who decide to fight on the side of the confederate seccessionists, and does so with such beautiful detail that the actors manage to maintain the jargon of the time through their speech. Lee also manages to portray the wide division that separated the Americans of the time, as many people identified themselves as being loyal to their own cultural heritage, rather than being “American.” In the same interview with The Guardian, Lee states that it was necessary to take on a difficult action movie like Ride With the Devil prior to producing Crouching Tiger—in order to prepare him- self mentally for the challenge. Lee also admits that receiving such high honours for Crouching Tiger from a Western audience was an unexpected sur- prise, especially because the entire movie Director An: is filmed in Mandarin. Lee explains t was a childhood dream to produd Chinese martial arts film, but he ha find the right story. What attracted him to Crouching was the strength of the two women c acters who dominate the story—Yu Lien, the expert female warrior, and young character, Jen, beautiful daug of a powerful governor. Both charaq long for lives they cannot have. Yu Lien shares strong feelings with Li Bai, another warrior, but the pair ca express their true feelings because Lien was once engaged to Mu Bai’s friend, who was killed in battle. Jen, fe love with a young desert-nomad rai Lo. Unfortunately for this young cou Jen’s parents have already arranged for to be married. The story is woven bea fully with classic Chinese culture, martial arts fantasy, as warriors fly acrq sleeping city and fight amongst the top trees. Lee says that many aspects of Crouc Tiger are present in all Chinese ma arts movies, but for his Chinese audiq he broke some traditions. Most movie this genre begin with a fight scene, w Crouching Tiger begins with a dialo between friends. The first fight sq doesn’t happen until 15 minutes into film, establishing a pace that is diffe from the expectations of a Chinese a ence. Lee thinks that this is why the m« didn’t do as well in Asian countries was breaking the rules. Regardless, for Ang Lee, when it co to making movies, he has a strong tt record. I only hope he can maintain momentum. Event Planning Merchandising Display Design Rea Geiger 604.523.1490 manifestproductions@shaw.ca © page 14