Ang Lee (b.1954) is a Taiwanese-American film director, producer, and writer who has earned critical acclaim for his treatment of sensitive subjects. His Chinese and English language films have gained both local and international success.
Born in Chaozhou, Taiwan, Lee failed his college entrance exams and decided to study drama at the National Arts School, much to the embarrassment of his family. He moved to the United States and studied theater at the University of Illinois. After graduate school in film production from New York University, Lee moved back to Taiwan and made his first movies with support from the Taiwanese government.
In the space of only five years, Lee’s four films catapulted him from an art-house phenomenon to a major studio director. His first three films were a trilogy of charming family dramas that explored the conflicts between tradition and modernity, and Eastern and Western cultures: Pushing Hands (Tuī Shǒu, 1992,) The Wedding Banquet (Xǐyàn, 1993,) and Eat Drink Man Woman (Yǐn shí nán nǚ, 1994.) Lee’s fourth film, his first Hollywood movie, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (1995,) marked his emergence from relative anonymity into the film world spotlight.
Lee has since directed many films that handle repressed and hidden emotions, including the Oscar award-winning movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hucang long, 2000,) Brokeback Mountain (2005,) and Life of Pi (2012.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Ang Lee
I didn’t know there were so many gay people out there. Everywhere, they turn up. More importantly, I think I’m amazed how people everywhere have had the sensitivity to want to get into the complexity of the issue, the probability of love, the illusion of love, all those things. It’s not simple things you can categorize as right or wrong.
—Ang Lee
Topics: Illusion
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