Only one time in my career I had that feeling [that this is not gonna get made], it was for this movie [Life of Pi]. It was right before we started the physical pre-production. I pre-visualized the whole ocean part before we made the movie, I was that prepared. At one point they seemed to want to drop it because it was really risky. The budget we proposed was a lot higher than they expected, they wanted to [drop it]. After all, it's a philosophical book and a literature property, it's not Batman.

Ang Lee

Categorized in : Book Ocean Philosophical

We need storytelling. Otherwise life just goes on and on, like th... by Ang Lee

We need storytelling. Otherwise life just goes on and on, like the number Pi.

goes-on numbers needs

I see a movie as a way of learning about the world, about myself, and learning about my relationship with people and art.

people world art

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.

real views stories

At times I can't help going for visual comfort. Sometimes a picture fills up your head, and you try to move the actors around to make that visual statement.

comfort trying moving

These days I'm mostly familiar with two parts of L.A.: one is movie culture, and the other is Asian culture. The Westside is work, and the Eastside is Chinese - which means my friends.

movie two mean

So it [3D] is something I'm still learning, it's fresh, so if the budget allows I'll do it again and just see how far it goes because it's the frontier, it's more interesting. It's still expensive, the projection system can be annoying sometimes, it's not really regulated or perfected yet, so it's still expensive. If I do a lower budget I'll just do 2D, but if the budget allows I think I'll try 3D.

trying interesting thinking

Fighting for identity is something that is very much in my life. by Ang Lee

Fighting for identity is something that is very much in my life.

fighting identity

Every movie I make. That’s my hideout, the place I don’t quite understand, but feel most at home.

home feels

I feel like all of my characters now take this congested situation, they clash, and from there you purge yourself.

clash situation character

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.

elements tools needs

Making movies is a way of understanding myself and the world. by Ang Lee

Making movies is a way of understanding myself and the world.

movie actors understanding

Over the years Woodstock got glorified and romanticised and became the event that symbolised Utopia. It's the last page of our collective memory of the age of innocence. Then things turned ugly and would never be the same again.

birthday memories years

Sometimes, you have to get angry to get things done. by Ang Lee

Sometimes, you have to get angry to get things done.

things-done done sometimes

I did a women's movie, and I'm not a woman. I did a gay movie, and I'm not gay. I learned as I went along.

gay

Sensitivity and money are like parallel lines. They don't meet. by Ang Lee

Sensitivity and money are like parallel lines. They don't meet.

sensitivity parallels lines

It's not a pleasure torturing actors, although some of them enjoy... by Ang Lee

It's not a pleasure torturing actors, although some of them enjoy it.

enjoy pleasure actors

I think the American West really attracts me because it's romantic. The desert, the empty space, the drama.

romantic-love drama thinking

Now I'm kind of established as a director, I much prefer directin... by Ang Lee

Now I'm kind of established as a director, I much prefer directing to writing.

kind writing directors

As artists, we like night more than day sometimes. by Ang Lee

As artists, we like night more than day sometimes.

artist sometimes night

I think people are universal. by Ang Lee

I think people are universal.

universal people thinking