Taiwanese film fans were waiting anxiously yesterday morning to find out whether the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would award its directing prize to an Asian filmmaker for the first time in its 78-year history.
And the long wait paid off as Ang Lee (
At a press conference after the award, Lee said his accomplishment was the collective achievement of Chinese-language cinema.
He also said that it was essential for an artist to look to his or her cultural roots. Even though he usually directs English-language films, he said his vision and thinking has been, and always will be, in Chinese.
"Working on big-budget films in Hollywood gives me the freedom and resources to do anything I want, but I need to come back again and again to make Chinese-language movies for artistic rejuvenation," Lee said in a TV interview with Kevin Tsai (
Aside from winning an Oscar, the cowboy romance Brokeback Mountain also brought Lee top honors at the Venice International Film Festival, the Golden Globes, as well as from the Directors Guild of America, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards.
Lee's career, however, has not always been a smooth ride.
Born in Chaojhou Township (
When Lee discovered his true vocation for performing arts and cinema, he blossomed. With his family's support, Lee went on to earn a bachelor's degree in theater at the University of Illinois and an masters in film production at New York University.
Lee has often attributed his success to his wife and family, saying that he would not have become a filmmaker if it had not been for his wife Jane Lin's (
Lin, a microbiologist, supported the family in the US for six years while Lee stayed at home taking care of their children.
A close friend of Lee's, The Wedding Banquet screenwriter Neil Peng (馮光遠), said the artist has a tempo of his own and the six-year break gave Lee a chance to prepare himself for his directing career.
"During those six years, Lee never gave up his film dreams. He kept a huge movie database in his brain and would work on dozens of scripts at the same time," Peng said.
At the age of 37, Lee made his first acclaimed feature film Pushing Hands. The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) won applause from international film circles and brought him to Hollywood's attention.
Since then Lee has roamed freely among different genres, from costume romances like Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Ride With The Devil (1999) to The Ice Storm (1997) and science fiction flicks like the Hulk (2003). But it was his martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) that pushed him to the top of the ladder as a world-class filmmaker.
Lee has said that growing up in an authoritarian environment in Taiwan and living as an outsider in the US made him into a quiet person with low self-esteem. Filmmaking, he said, gave him the opportunity to achieve something that could be shared and appreciated by others.
Filmmaker Khan Lee (
He said the success of Brokeback lies in the fact that it is an honest film which offers a reflective look at social issues and our collective mentality, yet leaves space for the audience to think for itself.
Khan Lee told Taipei Times in a telephone interview that he believed that Brokeback Mountain deserved both the Best Director and Best Pictures awards and he thought that the former was a delayed concession from the Academy Awards.
He said the costume romance Sense and Sensibility and stark drama The Ice Storm should have earned his brother and his film crews their rightful recognition at the exclusive Academy.
Khan Lee also said that the top honors given by the Directors Guild of America for Brokeback Mountain means a lot more to his brother since it was a important recognition from his film peers and colleagues.
Years of hard work have earned Ang Lee international fame. But, perhaps, the ultimate validation came from his father, who, on his death bed, told his son to keep on doing what he loves without fear.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS