Ang Lee (Chinese: 李安; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese film director, screenwriter and producer. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Sense and Sensibility (1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and Hulk (2003). He has won the Academy Award for Best Director twice, first for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and most recently for Life of Pi (2012). He is the first person of Asian descendant to win an Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA for Best Director, and the only director to win two Best Film Awards (Golden Bear) at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Ang Lee was born in the town of Chaochou in Pingtung, a southern agricultural county in Taiwan. After his secondary education and mandatory military service in Taiwan, Lee went to the U.S. in 1979 to study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he completed his bachelor's degree in theater in 1980. Thereupon, he enrolled at the Tisch School of the Arts of New York University, where he received his MFA in Film Production.
In 1990, Lee submitted two screenplays, Pushing Hands and The Wedding Banquet, to a competition sponsored by Taiwan's Government Information Office, and they came in first and second respectively. The winning screenplays brought Lee to the attention of Li-Kong Hsu, a first-time producer who had strong interests in Lee's unique style and soon invited Lee to direct Pushing Hands, a full-length feature that debuted in 1991.
Career: Debut from Taiwan:
The "Father Knows Best" trilogy (Pushing Hands, The Wedding Banquet and Eat Drink Man Woman)
The three films show the Confucian family at risk to form what has been called Lee's "Father Knows Best" trilogy.
Arrival in Hollywood:
The acclaimed trilogy of Lee opened the gate to Hollywood for him in 1995, With directing the British classic: Sense and Sensibility which made Lee a second-time winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, he started his bravura journey in Hollywood. In the following decade, Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) (nominated for Academy Award for Best Director) and Brokeback Mountain (2005) (which won the Academy Award for Best Director) made him even more globally sensational. The masterpiece, Life of Pi, representing another peak of his career, honored him with the second-time Academy Award for Best Director twice in 2013
The Scenes:
A. The Taipei Zoo:
The beginning of Life of Pi features some of the animals belong to the Taipei Zoo. Located in the southeastern part of Taipei City, the zoo receives about 6 million visitors every year and features crowd pleasers such as giant pandas and koalas. The zoo is also located near Maokong, a mountainous area dotted with teahouses where you can get relaxed over their fresh brew while enjoying views of the city.
B. White Bark Banyan Park:
The park served as the set for the sequence in the movie in which Pi explores an island that seems to be populated only by meerkats. The 0.35 hectare reserve is located with Kenting National Park at southern tip of Taiwan. In most cases, only researchers with permits to study the park’s tropical trees and birds are able to enter. That also explains why birdwatchers often gather outside the park’s boundary to see birds in flight. Near the park you can also visit the Hengchun Tropical Botanical Garden, one of the world’s major repositories of tropical species.
C. The wave tank in the defunct Shuinan Airport in Taichung City
Much of Life of Pi was filmed at a giant wave tank at the decommissioned airport in Taichung, central Taiwan. The tank now is managed by the city government which is promoting its facilities to foreign filmmakers.
Meanwhile, the airport and its surroundings are the site of a large redevelopment project called Taichung Gateway District which includes a business park for the movie industry, a film studio and a screening facility and so on. Taichung City’s other attractions range from national museums and well-know temples to shopping malls and night markets
The beginning of Life of Pi features some of the animals belong to the Taipei Zoo. Located in the southeastern part of Taipei City, the zoo receives about 6 million visitors every year and features crowd pleasers such as giant pandas and koalas. The zoo is also located near Maokong, a mountainous area dotted with teahouses where you can get relaxed over their fresh brew while enjoying views of the city.
B. White Bark Banyan Park:
The park served as the set for the sequence in the movie in which Pi explores an island that seems to be populated only by meerkats. The 0.35 hectare reserve is located with Kenting National Park at southern tip of Taiwan. In most cases, only researchers with permits to study the park’s tropical trees and birds are able to enter. That also explains why birdwatchers often gather outside the park’s boundary to see birds in flight. Near the park you can also visit the Hengchun Tropical Botanical Garden, one of the world’s major repositories of tropical species.
C. The wave tank in the defunct Shuinan Airport in Taichung City
Much of Life of Pi was filmed at a giant wave tank at the decommissioned airport in Taichung, central Taiwan. The tank now is managed by the city government which is promoting its facilities to foreign filmmakers.
Meanwhile, the airport and its surroundings are the site of a large redevelopment project called Taichung Gateway District which includes a business park for the movie industry, a film studio and a screening facility and so on. Taichung City’s other attractions range from national museums and well-know temples to shopping malls and night markets
D. Baisha Bay in Kenting National Park:
Baisha bay, southern Taiwan is known for its beautiful beaches. Dir. Lee chose Baisha Bay as the set for the sequence near the end of the film in which the protagonist and the tiger reach “the coast of Mexico”. In real life, the bay’s just located about a two-and-half-hour drive from Kaohsiung City to the south and a major attraction for sunbathers and lovers of water activities where we highly recommend you to visit.
The Legacy of Pi:
Describing the 3-D film as the most conceptually and technically challenging he has worked on, the Taiwan-born director said he drew great comfort from the fact that every member of his crew from 24 countries considered their time in country substantial and a delight. But more importantly, these professionals imparted invaluable knowledge and experience to their local counterparts, giving Taiwan’s film industry a welcome injection of know-how, confidence and energy.
Baisha bay, southern Taiwan is known for its beautiful beaches. Dir. Lee chose Baisha Bay as the set for the sequence near the end of the film in which the protagonist and the tiger reach “the coast of Mexico”. In real life, the bay’s just located about a two-and-half-hour drive from Kaohsiung City to the south and a major attraction for sunbathers and lovers of water activities where we highly recommend you to visit.
The Legacy of Pi:
Describing the 3-D film as the most conceptually and technically challenging he has worked on, the Taiwan-born director said he drew great comfort from the fact that every member of his crew from 24 countries considered their time in country substantial and a delight. But more importantly, these professionals imparted invaluable knowledge and experience to their local counterparts, giving Taiwan’s film industry a welcome injection of know-how, confidence and energy.
The bulk of scenes featuring actor Suraj Sharma in a Kaohsiung City-made lifeboat were captured at a massive wave tank in central Taiwan’s shuttered Taichung Shuinan Airport. His animal co-stars were later added by Hollywood’s leading animation and visual effects company Rhythm & Hues Studios at its Kaohsiung Pier-2 Art Center facility.R&H’s involvement in the project did not occur by chance. Lee has long urged the ROC government and studio to explore the possibility of a tie-up, which both parties formalized in December 2011 with a memorandum of understanding on digital content cooperation in Taiwan. Under the agreement, R&H set up a Kaohsiung visual effects studio, began training the first of its locally sourced workforce and established venture fund East Grand Films, which was backed to the tune of US$21 million by the government-administered National Development Fund. Since its launch, East Grand has introduced state-of-the-art visual effects technology to Taiwanand promoted collaboration between the local and Hollywood film sectors. Its commitment to financing and producing at least 10 headline projects with major U.S. studios within the next six years is also helping position the country in the supply chain of U.S. filmmaking for the worldwide audience.
Another essential plank in the plan is a cloud animation visual effects center being set up in Taipei City by Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd. and R&H. Agreed in a memorandum of understanding inked November 2012, the center is expected to create 300 jobs and turn out 1,000 special effects professionals by 2016. This development will play a key role in delivering customized digital content solutions for the global market.
The government has worked steadily to build Taiwan’s film infrastructure to the point where it can handle large-scale projects like “Life of Pi” with aplomb. While this move has thrust the country firmly into the Hollywood spotlight, it is just one step of many on the road to attracting major productions and adding more cinematic kudos to the nation’s CV.
Taiwan Movie Night-Life of Pi
Time: Kl.17:00, 5th March 2013Venue: Saga Kino (Hall 5) Stortingsgata 28, 0161 Oslo
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