Ang Lee

Birthday: 23 October 1954, Pingtung, Taiwan

Height: 170 cm

Born in 1954 in Pingtung, Taiwan, Ang Lee has become one of today's greatest contemporary filmmakers. Ang graduated from the National Taiwan College of Arts in 1975 and then came to the U.S. to receive a B.F.A. Degree in Theatre/Theater Direction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Masters Degree in Film Production at New York University. At NYU, he served as Assistant Director on Spike Lee's student film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983). After Lee wrote a couple of screenplays, he eventually appeared on the film scene with Tui shou (1992) (aka Pushing Hands), a dramatic-comedy reflecting on generational conflicts and cultural adaptation, centering on the metaphor of the grandfather's Tai-Chi technique of "Pushing Hands". Xi yan (1993) (aka The Wedding Banquet) was Lee's next film, an exploration of cultural and generational conflicts through a homosexual Taiwanese man who feigns a marriage in order to satisfy the traditional demands of his Taiwanese parents. It garnered Golden Globe and Oscar nominations, and won a Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. The third movie in his trilogy of Taiwanese-Culture/Generation films, all of them featuring his patriarch figure Sihung Lung, was Yin shi nan nu (1994) (aka Eat Drink Man Woman), which received a Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination. Lee followed this with Sense and Sensibility (1995), his first Hollywood-mainstream movie. It acquired a Best Picture Oscar nomination, and won Best Adapted Screenplay, for the film's screenwriter and lead actress, Emma Thompson. Lee was also voted the year's Best Director by the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle. Lee and frequent collaborator James Schamus next filmed The Ice Storm (1997), an adaptation of Rick Moody's novel involving 1970s New England suburbia. The movie acquired the 1997 Best Screenplay at Cannes for screenwriter James Schamus, among other accolades. The Civil War drama Ride with the Devil (1999) soon followed and received critical praise, but it was Lee's Wo hu cang long (2000) (aka Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) that is considered one of his greatest works, a sprawling period film and martial-arts epic that dealt with love, loyalty and loss. It swept the Oscar nominations, eventually winning Best Foreign Language Film, as well as Best Director at the Golden Globes, and became the highest grossing foreign-language film ever released in America. Lee then filmed the comic-book adaptation, Hulk (2003) - an elegantly and skillfully made film with nice action scenes. Lee has also shot a short film - Chosen (2001) (aka Hire, The Chosen) - and most recently won the 2005 Best Director Academy Award for Brokeback Mountain (2005), a film based on a short story by Annie Proulx. In 2012 Lee directed Life of Pi which earned 11 Academy Award nominations and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Director. In 2013 Ang Lee was selected as a member of the main competition jury at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Hide

I think I find something new in each culture after being away for a bit, and that's creatively impor Show more I think I find something new in each culture after being away for a bit, and that's creatively important. You can't move forward without changing, and that's why I try to stay open to new perspectives. I want to keep learning. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you can never learn enough. Hide

I am not particularly religious. But I think we do face the questions of where God is, why we are cr Show more I am not particularly religious. But I think we do face the questions of where God is, why we are created. where does life go, and why we exist. That sort of thing. Call it illusion or call it faith. Whatever you call it we have attachment to the unknown. Hide

Everywhere can be home and everywhere is not really home and you have to deal with loneliness and al Show more Everywhere can be home and everywhere is not really home and you have to deal with loneliness and alienation. I'm old enough to realize that eventually you have to deal with loneliness, anyway. I'm happily married, I love my children, but eventually you have to deal with yourself. I trust the elusive world created by movies more than anything else. I'm very happy when I'm making a movie. Hide

[on casting Winston Chao in Xi yan (1993)]: It's hard to find a good actor who is charming, speaks E Show more [on casting Winston Chao in Xi yan (1993)]: It's hard to find a good actor who is charming, speaks English and Mandarin Chinese, and doesn't mind portraying a gay character. - (New York Magazine, August 2, 1993) Hide

"Making a martial arts film in English to me is the same as John Wayne speaking Chinese in a western Show more "Making a martial arts film in English to me is the same as John Wayne speaking Chinese in a western". Hide

My father's family were liquidated during the Cultural Revolution in China because they were landown Show more My father's family were liquidated during the Cultural Revolution in China because they were landowners. He was the only one to escape. I was born and brought up in Taiwan. But you absorb the trauma. My parents had no sense of security. It was as if the world could turn against them at any moment. Hide

Nothing stands still. That's important in my movies. People want to believe in something, want to ha Show more Nothing stands still. That's important in my movies. People want to believe in something, want to hang on to something to get security and want to trust each other. But things change. Given enough time, nothing stands still. I think seeking for security and lack of security is another thing in my movies. Hide

I think you look like a fool as a director when you talk too much about what the actors are doing. Y Show more I think you look like a fool as a director when you talk too much about what the actors are doing. You want them to listen to you, but personally speaking, I don't want them to just follow everything I say without processing it. This is a problem for Asian actors. They are so polite, and they've been trained to smile and nod and agree with everything someone in power tells them. I'm not looking for conflict, but I'm not happy if someone is repressing their feelings either. Hide

On the receiving side, I think the whole world is more ready, with the Internet, with film festivals Show more On the receiving side, I think the whole world is more ready, with the Internet, with film festivals and DVDs. It used to be a one-way street from West to East: we were receiving and the West was producing. I think we're getting closer and closer. The gap between cultures is getting erased every day. Hide

Every movie I make. That's my hideout, the place I don't quite understand, but feel most at home. Every movie I make. That's my hideout, the place I don't quite understand, but feel most at home.

Sometimes I feel illusions are more of life's essence. I can trust them more that real life that is Show more Sometimes I feel illusions are more of life's essence. I can trust them more that real life that is full of deceit and covering-up. Hide

American films are less American every day, because you have to please a world audience. There's les Show more American films are less American every day, because you have to please a world audience. There's less authenticity, so it's more accessible. Hide

It could be the hidden side of you; I think making movies is a great way to release that. I think it Show more It could be the hidden side of you; I think making movies is a great way to release that. I think it is important to be honest with that, and have fun with it. Hide

I'm experienced enough to know that the hardest thing to tell is an epic short story; slices of life Show more I'm experienced enough to know that the hardest thing to tell is an epic short story; slices of life that add up to an epic feeling. Hide

There's a private feeling to the movie, an intimate feeling. I think eventually everybody has a Brok Show more There's a private feeling to the movie, an intimate feeling. I think eventually everybody has a Brokeback Mountain (2005) in them. Someone you want to come back to. And, of course, some people don't come back. Hide

Working with Heath was one of the purest joys of my life. He brought to the role of Ennis more than Show more Working with Heath was one of the purest joys of my life. He brought to the role of Ennis more than any of us could have imagined - a thirst for life, for love, and for truth, and a vulnerability that made everyone who knew him love him. His death is heartbreaking. - Mourning actor Heath Ledger. Hide

I was never romantic in real life. That is why I have to make movies about it. I was never romantic in real life. That is why I have to make movies about it.

I'm a drifter and an outsider. There's not one single environment I can totally belong to. My cultur Show more I'm a drifter and an outsider. There's not one single environment I can totally belong to. My cultural roots are something illusive. Hide

[on Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016)] Our head is still in the film world. Not to put down fil Show more [on Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016)] Our head is still in the film world. Not to put down film in the past, because it's brilliant, I love it. But if we do digital, we ought to do something different, it shouldn't be imitating something else. [2016] Hide

Ang Lee's FILMOGRAPHY

All as Actor (5) as Director (8) as Creator (2)

I Am Heath Ledger

American Masters - Season 37

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Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound

The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan)