Ang Lee Quotes
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Making this movie as a period piece about a period that was very recent in people's minds. I was in Taiwan [during the 1970s], so I hope I did all right. Otherwise, it could be the biggest embarrassment of my life. Also, the story is not linear, it's patchy, like a cubist painting, and there is always the possibility it will not hold together, it will fall apart. The tone is part satire, part serious drama, part tragedy, all mixed together, and it has to hit an emotional core. That's also very scary.
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Sometimes films ignore other points of view because it's simpler to tell the story that way, but the more genuine and sympathetic you are to different points of view and situations, the more real the story is.
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I don't have incredible knowledge about films or of filmmaking history; I'm not that kind of person.
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I'm not a master of films. I'm rather a slave.
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I'm aware of what's missing from my life.
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I don't care about writing really.
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I think a lot of people do big movies not because they are talented artists but because they can function in the circumstances.
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There's only one movie in my career I've had regrets with cutting it shorter, and I think some scenes maybe I shouldn't have cut.
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Everyone in the gay community doesn't think alike.
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It was nerve-wracking [to unleash 'Life of Pi' to the world]. The first show to the journalists, that was the first one, so I was very uptight. Then I felt okay about the reception because we did a press conference with good and friendly questions, although people looked serious. So really, after the show you went to - the premiere - that reception tells me I think the movie worked, so that was a relief. I started to feel deflated.
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Depending on the budget [whether to use 3D on future movies]. I think I prefer 3D to 2D now. Also, because of 3D I have to use a digital camera, which is the way it's going anyway. That still confuses me, a digital camera versus film.
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If you try to act, you're going to look like you're acting. So don't act.
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My mother loves me and everything goes well. I have no conflict with her, so that's not dramatic.
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I think a movie is a media that is evoking feelings.
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Emotions serve characters' purposes. That is their motivation.
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Many times when you make a movie, it feels like your biggest mistake. But even if a film isn't a hit, you shouldn't view it as a mistake.
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Usually with this genre the first thing that happens is a good fight sequence to show that you're in good hands. So we broke that rule. I think a lot of that comes from the western audience.
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3D is quite a lot more advanced in animated movies; for live-action movies we're just taking baby steps, we're just in the beginning.
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The fear factor actually brings the genuineness.
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As artists, we like night more than day sometimes.
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You have to know the rules, otherwise you have no tools to communicate to the audience, but to keep it fresh you have to break some. I don't choose genres as the element, but the material itself is the element, then I'll decide what genre I need. That's just how I work.
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I am not particularly religious. But I think we do face the question of where God is, why we are created and where does life go, why we exist. That sort of thing. And it is very hard to talk about it these days, because it cannot be proven. It is hard to discuss it rationally.
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There's a level of sophistication of filmmaking that's mind-boggling. Anything you need for your movie, there's an establishment that can make it happen really fast.
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I look at American movies, the big muscles, and try to apply that to Chinese film-making.