anderswolleck

Few filmmakers can make a movie about two cowboys falling in love in 1963, like Brokeback Mountain, and have it be considered Academy Award material. But certainly Ang Lee is in a class by himself. He first gained notice in America with his Father Knows Best trilogy of The Wedding Banquet, Pushing Hands and Eat Drink Man Woman. Later he gained monstrous international acclaim with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won four. After that he ventured into big budget studio films with The Hulk.

After that film didnt do as well as anticipated Lee went back to lower budgeted filmmaking with Brokeback Mountain. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as two ranchhands who have a passionate love affair over 20 years to the detriment of their families.

Check out the official website for Brokeback Mountain

Daniel Robert Epstein: Had you wanted to do something in the Western genre or was it just this script?

Ang Lee: The script hit me. But when that happens, usually I dont know why. It could be something I was not familiar with, but it hit core emotions for me. Ride with the Devil was a pre Western and this is kind of a post Western. But both happen in the part of America that most people, certainly a foreigner like myself, dont know. Its the other side of America that really was influential to the world and that strikes me as something interesting.

DRE: Did you relate to one character more than the other?

AL: Heaths character. Hes the anchor for the movie. Also he carries the theme I always carry in my movie, repression, self-denial, fish out of water. Hes playing it more as inner conflict. Also I relate to him more because he carried that Western theme. Hes more of a macho man prone to more confusion. Jake carried more of the romantic love story part of the movie. Jake is one of the real classic American leading men. He carried that part of the ingredients for me in the movie. But I dont feel that way. Im more repressed than outgoing.

DRE: Are they gay or are they just guys that happen to fall in love?

AL: To me, theyre gay. I think Jack Twist is more obvious about it. In the original short story, its very hard to tell if they are gay. But as actors who play them and filmmakers who make them, I think we need to know. Theyre attracted to each other even though a particular character denies it. Ennis is more innocent in that way but when it hits, its very strong. Intuitively you dont need a sex manual and he knows what to do so it was very dominant.

DRE: You think its the first time for both of them?

AL: I dont know if Jack is experienced, but hes more knowing from the beginning.

DRE: [co-screenwriter] Larry McMurtry has said that your main focus was on the casting, what was the process for this?

AL: Usually, if not all the time, I always seek good actors. I always want to work with actors that do dramatic type of movies, whether theyre a small movie or a big action. For cinema they have to carry certain things such as how Heath carried that Western thing. I want to make sure the audience can learn about who they are just from seeing them.

DRE: This is your second movie that you chose your main character to be a closeted gay man [after The Wedding Banquet]. What is it about that subject matter you find so interesting?

AL: I dont know. But for this one its mainly the short story that moved me so much. I wrote The Wedding Banquet myself. I used extreme examples to examine that change in my society. It was a tool for me to get into family drama. This is such a romantic love story, which Ive never seen. I just fell in love with it and I felt I had to do it. I dont choose to do a gay related subject matter because they are gay. I would do it again and again if theyre good.

DRE: Recently Jackie Chan that he said that an influence of American films is hurting Asian cinema. Having worked on both sides what do you think of that?

AL: Thats a big question. Thats a phenomenon throughout the world. You really have to struggle to make your movies. There are always cheaper movies to be made. Independent movies, festival type of movies, art films. But the main industry is being hurt a lot. Its easier for people to watch Hollywood movies. In the past, people who think they have class see American. If you were lower class, they didnt want to read subtitles.

Now Korea is picking up. But its very hard for Chinese film to survive. Is Hollywood to be blamed? I dont know. They have themselves to be blamed. Its very hard to compete with Hollywood.

DRE: Is there something that Hong Kong can do to reclaim where it was?

AL: They have to get into the Chinese market. Thats three times bigger than English speaking population. Its hard because its been communist for a long time. They block out the commercialism for a very long time. They dont have that genre. Now Hollywood is ready.

DRE: The range of material youve worked with is very broad, how do you choose what you do?

AL: Different material hits me. I think Im fortunate enough to have enough success to jump to different things. After the first three or four movies, I think I do have a need to break away from being stereotyped into a certain genre. Making movies is the best film school for me. I never get tired of it.

DRE: Youve said you rediscovered your love of filmmaking making Brokeback Mountain especially after The Hulk. Why is that?

AL: I know a lot about filmmaking and its hard to pretend that I was virginal with this new movie. But thats what I did because I was just exhausted after doing The Hulk. I got sick and tired of just about everything. Not so much filmmaking, but what comes along with filmmaking. To support the filmmaking part, theres a lot of social obligation and everything you have to deal with. Thats the part that drowned me. I deliberately wanted to make a smaller film. Movie by movie I can peel through layers and layers. Thats tiresome and quite abusive.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

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