作者AlmaBeers (艾瑪)
看板Ang_Lee
標題[舊聞]Legendary director Ang Lee beats the odds and finds peace
時間Tue Mar 21 16:32:07 2006
加減看...
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Climbing a mountain
Legendary director Ang Lee beats the odds and finds peace
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
STARRING Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway
DIRECTED BY Ang Lee
Opens Friday, December 23
Check Listings
Watching famed director Ang Lee hurry from interview to interview in the
lobby of the Palliser Hotel, it’s clear he’s a man on a mission. He has
been busy since the early morning promoting his latest film, Brokeback
Mountain, and there appears to be no end in sight as various media wait for
their turn to speak with the Oscar winner.
At the urging of a local television anchor, he slips on a Flames jacket,
punches the air and shouts, "Go Flames go!" (His affection for the Flames has
been well documented and his schedule is being strictly adhered to so he can
have dinner with the team’s president, Ken King.) He then slithers out of
the jacket, hands it to his assistant and moves on to his next appointment.
Amid the glare of the television cameras and probing questions, he appears
centred and focused, as though this is the most natural place in the world
for him to be.
It’s just after 3 p.m. and he has yet to eat lunch. His assistant arranges
for a clubhouse sandwich that sits ignored as he perches at our table,
wearing faded jeans, a navy blue pullover and white tube socks with patent
leather oxfords.
"I fell in love with this story," he says of the short work by Annie Proulx.
Lee first read it seven years ago. He says while working on The Hulk,
something was haunting him, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He
later realized he had to make the tale into a film.
"I think a movie finds me and enslaves me. I don’t feel like the master of a
movie, but the slave to a movie," he says softly, a hint of his native
Mandarin still present in his voice. Lee says the same thing about love, that
it’s not a choice.
"Love, it finds you. I do believe that. I also found love sometimes can be
elusive. It’s very hard to solidify, it’s whimsical. It’s like the wind."
The movie is visually stunning, poetic and ultimately, heartbreaking. Proulx’
s story was adapted for the big screen by Pulitzer Prize-winner Larry
McMurtry and his partner Dianna Ossana. The result is a dialogue that is
achingly simple and ripe with raw truth.
It follows the lives of two ranch hands who first meet herding sheep up
Brokeback Mountain, a remote, rugged region of Wyoming. Jack is the more
outgoing and open of the two, and he soon has Ennis talking about very
personal details of his life. The bond that forms between them evolves into
something physical and they struggle with what that means in a world not
ready to accept gay men.
At the heart of the story is also what appears on the promotional posters
that are stacked neatly on a nearby table, waiting to be signed by Lee.
"Love is a force of nature."
Clearly, it’s not a choice for the two men in the movie as 20 years pass and
they each struggle to understand the depth of their emotions.
Lee says it presented a big challenge to show Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath
Ledger aging believably over the course of the movie.
"Thank God I’m more experienced at this point in my career so I saw that
coming and I was very careful about carrying it out. Scene by scene, the way
they carried themselves, their voices get deeper, the way they carried
themselves changed."
Surprisingly, the love scene didn’t present a problem as Lee originally
anticipated.
"We imagined it would be a challenge, but once we did it, it was fine."
The backdrop to the story of Brokeback Mountain is the breathtaking locations
surrounding Calgary and the Rockies. Lee says that the area cast a kind of
spell on him and that he developed a connection with the area.
"The mountains, the people, for me it’s been quite an experience making a
movie here. Some people keep coming back for the oil or natural gas, I don’t
know. But for me, it’s the experience I had with the movie. That’s my
Brokeback. Fighting the weather, the sheep and it was something I didn’t
quite understand. Personally, I don’t think I could find anything that’s
further away from me than gay ranch hands in Wyoming," he says, adding, "Why
did I come here? Why did I feel this material belongs to me?"
"I found it here, not in Wyoming. That’s mystical."
Lee says one of the biggest logistical difficulties during filming was
managing the sheep.
"The sheep," he says, shifting for effect in his chair. "It took awhile to
figure out. They’re not cattle, they move differently. They’re not the
smartest animals in the world."
Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto creates beautiful images of the animals moving
up the mountain. The effect is striking, they appear to pulsate, much like
the way blood surges and pulses pound in the presence of a loved one.
Lee smiles as he jokes about how he pursued Annie Proulx in Wyoming and over
dinner, persuading her to allow him to make her story into a movie by taking
part in a regional delicacy.
"I was very afraid of her," he says. "She’s very authoritative and serious.
We were having dinner and she ordered some Rocky Mountain oysters and started
smiling. I could tell what it was. I know there are no oysters in the Rocky
Mountains," he continues, adding that the mood at the table became friendlier
as the night wore on.
"She said women are not supposed to eat them, and started smiling again.
After a couple of drinks, she really loosened up," he says, laughing.
"I guess she thought I was all right as the director of the movie."
Lee says he was pleasantly surprised by the flavour of the bull’s fried
former pride.
"They’re pretty good. Lots of protein, I’m sure."
Since the subject matter of the film is bound to raise a few eyebrows, Lee
feels the need to address that and he does so tactfully.
"I think it’s easy to categorize people for social or moral purposes. Inside
of our consciousness – what we can guard, what we can communicate, it’s
complicated. It’s rich."
He also points out that emotion transcends gender and that this movie is
meant to show the complexity of the human experience.
"Hopefully, they will come and see the movie and let it sink in. Everybody
has a right to feel the sensitive part of humanity."
Lee’s biggest hope is for the characters to resonate.
"I hope they’re real enough for you to care."
He says he believes the role of art is to educate and enlighten in a way no
formal education can.
"It takes sensitivity to look for truth and morally, politically, we cannot
always get in there," he says. "We have to live with each other. We need
patterns. We need laws. That’s why we need art, to fill that gap. To
understand each other. To understand ourselves to each other. I think that’s
the beauty of Annie’s writing – I tried to deliver that on screen."
So, with the movie set to open December 23, how does he feel?
"I’m very fulfilled. I just hope other people are like myself and share the
experience," he pauses, then adds. "The human experience."
· Brokeback Mountain (2005) – Filmed in the Rocky Mountains west of
Calgary, this film explores the exquisitely painful, highly textured
relationship between two ranch hands who meet while herding sheep and
ultimately fall in love. Nominated for eight Golden Globe awards.
· The Hulk (2003) – Don’t make me angry. You won’t like me when I’m
angry. Lee’s take on the scientist-turned-public menace offered a sensitive
view of the comic book’s green behemoth, but garnered mixed reviews.
· Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)– A love story, fable, and martial
arts masterpiece, it made it easy to believe warriors could fly and skim
across water. An instant smash hit, it is the highest grossing foreign film
of all time.
· Ride with the Devil: Civil War (1999)– An epic that took a closer look at
the murky areas of the conflict between America’s North and South.
· The Ice Storm (1997) – A razor sharp take on suburban angst and ennui.
Lee had yet to learn English, but nailed the era of narcissism and flare
bottoms in a way that attracted generous praise from the critics.
· Sense and Sensibility (1995) – Adapted from the Jane Austen novel, the
power of love and importance of family bonds is celebrated in gorgeous period
attire with breathtaking cinematography.
· Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) –Three headstrong, independent daughters with
a brilliant chef for a father struggle with their relationships with men and
each other.
· The Wedding Banquet (1993)– A marriage of convenience between a gay
landlord and one of his tenants becomes messy when the groom’s parents stop
in for a visit.
· Pushing Hands (1992) – A sensitive portrayal of the complex relationship
between a former Tai Chi master and his author son, who is struggling with
writer’s block.
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