Born inPingtung County, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. He rose to prominence directing films such asPushing Hands (1991),The Wedding Banquet (1993), andEat Drink Man Woman (1994), which explored the relationships and conflicts between tradition and modernity, Eastern and Western; the three films are informally known as theFather Knows Best trilogy.[7] The films were critically successful both in Taiwan and internationally.
"the formation of an individual decides their world perception, especially the things that happen before one is 20, so since he did not go to the US until he was 23, "whatever I do, whatever I absorb outside [Taiwan], my nature remains very Taiwanese... The basic me was growing up here, mixed with a lot of other things. Taiwan is like this. Wherever I shoot my film, it is a Taiwanese film"
-Ang Lee, speaks of his attachment to Taiwan. Sabine Cheng & Lilian Wu, October 1, 2016[8]
Lee studied in the Provincial Tainan First Senior High School (nowNational Tainan First Senior High School) where his father was the principal. He was expected to pass the annual Joint College/University Entrance Examination, the only route to a university education in Republic of China. But after failing the exam twice, to the disappointment of his father, he entered a three-year college, the National Arts School (now reorganized and expanded asNational Taiwan University of Arts), and graduated in 1975. His father had wanted him to become a professor, but he had become interested in drama and the arts in college. This early frustration set his career on the path of performance art. SeeingIngmar Bergman's filmThe Virgin Spring (1960) was a formative experience for him.[12]
During graduate school, Lee finished a 16mm short film,Shades of the Lake (1982), which won the Best Drama Award in Short Film in Taiwan. His own thesis work, a 43-minute drama,Fine Line (1984), won NYU'sWasserman Award for Outstanding Direction and was also chosen for broadcast by thePublic Broadcasting Service.[14]
Life after graduation
In 1985, Lee's NYU thesis drew attention from theWilliam Morris Agency, the talent and literary agency that later represented Lee. At first, though, WMA found Lee few opportunities, and Lee remained unemployed for six years. During this time, he was a full-time house-husband, while his wife Jane Lin, amolecular biologist, was the sole breadwinner for the family of four. This arrangement put enormous pressure on the couple, but with Lin's support and understanding, Lee did not abandon his career in film but continued to generate new ideas from movies and performances. He also wrote several screenplays during this time.[15]
In 1990, Lee submitted two screenplays,Pushing Hands andThe Wedding Banquet, to a competition sponsored byGovernment Information Office of R.O.C., and they came in first and second, respectively. The winning screenplays brought Lee to the attention ofHsu Li-kong (Chinese:徐立功;pinyin:Xú Lìgōng), a recently promoted senior manager in a major studio who had a strong interest in Lee's unique style and freshness. Hsu, a first-time producer, invited Lee to directPushing Hands, a full-length feature that debuted in 1991.[citation needed]
Pushing Hands (1991) was a success in Taiwan both among critics and at the box office. It received eight nominations in theGolden Horse Film Festival, Taiwan's premier film festival. Inspired by the success, Hsu Li-kong collaborated with Lee in their second film,The Wedding Banquet (1993), which won theGolden Bear at the43rd Berlin International Film Festival[16] and was nominated as theBest Foreign Language Film[17] in both theGolden Globe and the Academy Awards. In all, this film collected eleven Taiwanese and international awards and made Lee a rising star. These first two movies were based on stories of Chinese Americans, and both were filmed in the US.
In 1994, Hsu invited Lee to return to Taiwan to makeEat Drink Man Woman, a film that depicts traditional values, modern relationships, and family conflicts inTaipei. The film was a box office hit and was critically acclaimed. For a second consecutive year, Lee's film received the Best Foreign Language Film nomination in both the Golden Globe and Academy Awards, as well as in theBritish Academy Awards (BAFTA)s.Eat Drink Man Woman won five awards in Taiwan and internationally, including the Best Director fromIndependent Spirit.
The three films show the Confucian family at risk and star the Taiwanese actorSihung Lung to form what has been called Lee's "Father Knows Best" trilogy.[7]
In 1995, Lee directedColumbiaTriStar's British classicSense and Sensibility based on theJane Austennovel of the same name. This made Lee a second-time winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, and wonBest Adapted Screenplay for screenwriterEmma Thompson, who also starred in the movie alongsideAlan Rickman,Hugh Grant andKate Winslet.Sense and Sensibility also won theGolden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama. Thompson has described the experience of working with Lee in his first English language film, noting how taken aback Lee was when the actors asked questions or provided suggestions, something Thompson notes as uncommon in Chinese culture. Once this disjuncture was bridged, Thompson remembered having "the most wonderful time because his notes were so brutal and funny."[18]Janet Maslin ofThe New York Times praised Lee's adaptation writing, "Mr. Lee is after something more broadly accessible, a sparkling, colorful and utterly contemporary comedy of manners. He achieves this so pleasantly thatSense and Sensibility matches the Austen-basedClueless for sheer fun".[19]
Lee made another film, therevisionist Western dramaRide with the Devil (1999), set during theAmerican Civil War. The film which starredTobey Maguire,Skeet Ulrich, andJeffrey Wright received mixed reviews and was a box office bomb.Entertainment Weekly described it as "oddly unengaging" and the "waxy yellow buildup of earnest tastefulness seals off every character from our access. These Americans aren't action figures; they're collectible figurines."[21] For a time this interrupted Lee's unbroken popularity – from both general audiences and arthouse aficionados – since his first full-length movie. However, in the late 1990s and 2000s,The Ice Storm had high VHS and DVD sales and rentals and repeated screenings on cable television, which has increased the film's popularity among audiences.
In 1999, Hsu Li-kong, Lee's old partner and supporter, invited him to make a movie based on the traditional "wuxia" genre concerning the adventures ofmartial artists in ancient China. Excited about the opportunity to fulfill his childhood dream, Lee assembled a team from the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Mainland China forCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). The film starredChow Yun-fat,Michelle Yeoh, andZhang Ziyi and had surprising success worldwide. With Chinese dialogue and English subtitles, the film became the highest grossing foreign film in many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Critics praised the film. Michael Rechtshaffen ofThe Hollywood Reporter praised Lee writing, "for his first Chinese-language assignment since 1994’sEat Drink Man Woman, Lee tries a little martial arts on for size – with jaw-droppingly exhilarating results". He added "A sweeping romantic epic with a strong feminist backbone, the thoroughly entertaining [film] also happens to boast a generous offering of seriously kick-ass action sequences that make The Matrix seem downright quaint by comparison."[22] The film was nominated in 10Academy Awards includingBest Picture, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Director. It ended up winningBest Foreign Language Film and three technical awards.
In 2003, Lee returned to Hollywood to direct thesuperheroblockbusterHulk, his second big-budget movie after the disappointment ofRide with the Devil's restricted release. The film was produced byUniversal Pictures in collaboration withMarvel Entertainment. It starredEric Bana asBruce Banner / The Hulk with supporting performances fromJennifer Connelly,Sam Elliot andNick Nolte. The film received mixed reviews while being a financial success, grossing over $245 million at the box office. After the setback, Lee considered retiring early, but his father encouraged him to continue making movies.Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, writing, "Lee is trying to actually deal with the issues in the story of the Hulk, instead of simply cutting to brainlessvisual effects."
Lee took on a small-budget, low-profile independent film based onAnnie Proulx'sPulitzer Prize-finalist short story,Brokeback Mountain. In a 2005 article[23] byRobert K. Elder, Lee was quoted as saying, "What do I know about gay ranch hands in Wyoming?" In spite of the director's distance from the subject at hand,Brokeback Mountain showcased Lee's skills in probing the depths of the human heart. The 2005 movie about the forbidden love between twoWyoming sheepherders immediately caught public attention and became a cultural phenomenon, initiating intense debates andbecoming a box office hit.
The film was critically acclaimed at major international film festivals and won Lee numerous Best Director and Best Picture awards worldwide.Brokeback Mountain was the most acclaimed film of 2005, winning 71 awards and an additional 52 nominations. It won theGolden Lion (best film) award at theVenice International Film Festival and was named 2005's best film by the Los Angeles, New York, Boston, and London film critics. It also won best picture at the 2005Broadcast Film Critics Association,Directors Guild of America,Writers Guild of America (Adapted Screenplay),Producers Guild of America and theIndependent Spirit Awards as well as theGolden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, with Lee winning theGolden Globe Award for Best Director.Brokeback Mountain also won Best Film and Best Director at the 2006 BAFTAs. It was nominated for a leading eight Oscars and was the front runner for Best Picture heading into March 5 ceremony, but lost out toCrash, a story about race relations in Los Angeles, in a controversial upset. He became the first non-white person to win the Best Director at the Academy Awards (which he won again forLife of Pi). In 2006, following his Best Director Oscar, Lee was bestowed the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon, the second highest civilian award, by the R.O.C. government.[24]
Lee in Taiwan in 2009
His next film wasLust, Caution, which was adapted froma novella by the Chinese authorEileen Chang. The story was written in 1950, and was loosely based on an actual event that took place in 1939–1940 in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, China, during World War II.Lust, Caution was distributed byFocus Features and premiered at international film festivals in the summer and early fall of 2007. In the U.S., the movie received aNC-17 rating (no children 17 and under admitted) from theMPAA mainly due to several strongly explicit sex scenes. This was a challenge to the film's distribution because many theater chains in the United States refuse to show NC-17 films. The director and film studio decided not to appeal the decision. Lee removed 9 minutes from the film to make the content suitable for minor audiences in order to be permitted to showLust, Caution in mainland China.[25]
Lust, Caution captured the Golden Lion from the 2007 BiennaleVenice Film Festival, making Lee the winner of the highest prize for the second time in three years (Lee is one of only four filmmakers to have won the Golden Lion twice). WhenLust, Caution was played in Lee's native Taiwan in its original full-length edition, it was very well received.[citation needed] Staying in Taiwan to promote the film and to participate in a traditional holiday, Lee got emotional[citation needed] when he found that his work was widely applauded by fellow Taiwanese. Lee admitted that he had low expectations for this film from the U.S. audience since "its pace, its film language;– it's all very Chinese."[26] The film was submitted by Taiwan for consideration in theBest Foreign Language Film category at theAcademy Awards, but the Academy ruled that an insufficient number of Taiwanese nationals had participated in the production, thus disqualifying it from further consideration; it was not nominated for any other category.
Lee was chosen to be president of the jury for the 2009Venice Film Festival.[27] Lee's next film after 2009'sTaking Woodstock wasLife of Pi, which was adapted from thenovel of the same name written byYann Martel. The story was a retrospective first-person narrative from Pi, a then 16-year-old boy from India, who is the only human to survive the sinking of a freighter on the way fromIndia to Canada. He finds himself on a lifeboat with an orangutan, ahyena, a wounded zebra and a Bengal tiger.[28] During this unlikely journey, young Pi questions his belief in God and the meaning of life. The novel was once considered impossible to make into a movie, but Lee persuaded20th Century Fox to invest $120 million and heavily relied on 3D special effects in post-production. Unlike most other sci-fi precedents, Lee explores the artistic horizon of applying 3D effects and pushes the boundary of how this technology can serve the movie's artistic vision. The movie made its commercial premiere during Thanksgiving weekend of 2012 in the US and worldwide, and became a critical and box office success. In January 2013,Life of Pi earned 11 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Visual Effects.[29] He went on to win theAcademy Award for Best Director.
In 2013, he was selected as a member of the main competition jury at the2013 Cannes Film Festival.[30] In March 2013, it was announced that Lee would direct a television pilot for the drama seriesTyrant, created byGideon Raff and developed byHoward Gordon andCraig Wright. Production was scheduled for the summer of 2013 for theFX series.[31] However, Lee decided to quit the project to take a break from his hectic schedule.[32]
In April 2017, Lee began discussions withSkydance Media to helm an action thriller film,Gemini Man, that follows a seniorDIA official being hunted by a young clone of himself right as he is about to retire from the agency.[34]Will Smith was cast in the lead role.[35] In January 2018,Clive Owen andMary Elizabeth Winstead had been cast as the antagonist and female lead respectively. The film was released on October 11, 2019 to negative reviews and flopped at the box office. Alissa Wilkinson ofVox wrote, "IfGemini Man is the future of big-budget filmmaking, I hope someone in Hollywood is getting worried."[36] Peter Debruge ofVariety wrote, "it was the script that never lived up to the promise of its premise."[37]
In 2013, Lee began development on a film dramatisingJoe Frazier andMuhammad Ali's heavyweight title fight, known as theThrilla in Manila. The film was to be produced by Universal with a screenplay written byPeter Morgan, but Lee later put it on hold in 2014 in order to makeBilly Lynn's Long Halftime Walk.[38][39][40] In December 2015, it was announced that the project, tentatively titledThrilla in Manila, now with Studio 8, would be his next film afterGemini Man.[41]David Oyelowo andRay Fisher were reportedly Lee's top choices for the leading roles of Frazier and Ali, respectively, and he hoped to film in 3D.[42]Lee announced in November 2022 that he is working on a biopic on the life ofBruce Lee starring his son,Mason Lee.[43]
Lee has been involved in the process of filmmaking in various capacities, though the highlight of his career and legacy is his directorial work. The following are Lee's various credits.
In 2003, Lee was ranked 27th inThe Guardian's 40 best directors.[6] In August 2007, Lee was named the 41st greatest director of all time in a poll byTotal Film magazine.[51] Lee has also received awards from the French Government including becoming a Knight of the FrenchOrdre des Arts et des Lettres (2012).[52] and a Knight of the FrenchLegion of Honor (2021)[53][54] In 2020 he received aBAFTA Fellowship for his Outstanding Contributions to British Cinema.
On November 30, 2021, Lee received the Presidential Culture Award in the arts and culture category from Taiwan's presidentTsai Ing-wen.[56] Lee received Japan'sPraemium Imperiale in 2024.[57]
^Mychael Danna was originally hired to scoreHulk, but he was removed from the project, apparently at the request of the studio, and another composer completed the final score. Ang Lee spoke publicly about this in 2012 at a director's roundtable, calling it the moment he regretted most in his career. Danna subsequently received his first Oscar nomination and went on to win that award for scoringLife of Pi, his first reunion with Lee since that time.
^王, 篤若 (July 29, 2007)."李安對威尼斯不滿：「色戒」代表中華民國".tw.aboluowang.com (in Chinese). RetrievedMarch 9, 2021.李良山 (李安的特助)表示: "「色，戒」雖有美國資金，並是在大陸拍攝，但歐洲三大影展坎城、威尼斯、與柏林都是依導演的國籍來確定這部電影的出處，而李安至今仍是拿中華民國護照，從未申請入美國籍，所以「色，戒」當然是屬於中華民國、台灣的電影"... 據了解，李安旅美多年只持有美國綠卡，並未申請入美國籍 [...Ang Lee's personal assistant stated:"ThoughLust, Caution had received fund from the US, and been filming in mainland China, but three major film festivals in Europe including Cannes, Venice, and Berlin, all decide the origin of the cinemas according to the nationality of the film director. As of now, Ang Lee still holdsROC passport, and he never apply to naturalize himself as American citizen. SurelyLust, Caution is originated in Taiwan"... It was learned that Ang Lee has been a US permanent resident for years without a citizenship by naturalization]
^Williams, Sarah (February 20, 2013)."'Life of Pi's Ang Lee Conquers Anti-Asian Bias".Voice of America. RetrievedFebruary 20, 2013.Like many Asian-Americans in Hollywood's film industry, Chinese-born American film director Ang Lee struggled for acceptance early in his career.
^Corliss, Richard (November 20, 2012)."Ang Lee's Life of Pi: Storm and Fang, Water and Wonder".Time. RetrievedNovember 20, 2012.The Chinese-born American director mastered the nuances of 19th-century English manners inSense and Sensibility, set martial-artist adversaries to dancing on tree tops inCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and sold the mainstream audience on the love story of two cowboys inBrokeback Mountain.
^Dilley, Whitney Crothers (December 23, 2014).The Cinema of Ang Lee: The Other Side of the Screen 2nd Edition. Wallflower Press. p. 29.ISBN978-0231167734.
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