Marie
Joined: 30 Jul 2007
Posts: 143
Location: North Carolina, USA
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 Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 12:54 pm Post subject: Interview with Ang Lee |
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http://www.latinoreview.com/news.php?id=2871
| Quote: | Interview: Ang Lee On Lust, Caution
Date: September 17, 2007
By: Carolina Korth
Source: Latino Review
Very long, wonderfully acted and at times violently sexual, Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution explores the story of a young woman who calculatingly uses her sexuality to gain the trust of a high-powered Chinese official who is working for the Japanese government. The woman, played by newcomer Tang Wei, is part of an undercover resistance sect with the mission to kill the married object of her seduction, played by Asian screen legend Tony Leung. As an enforcer for the Japanese government occupying Shangai, he trusts no one, and his slow taking to her begins to make her lose sight of her original mission.
I had the chance to sit down with Mr. Lee to discuss the movie. Enjoy.
What is it like to take an Asian icon like Leung Chiu Wai (Tony Leung,) who’s like the Cary Grant of Asia, and put him in this very ugly character and mean role?
AL: Speaking of Cary Grant, I think the movie is the reverse side of Notorious. It’s challenging and very interesting. I had wanted to work with Tony for so long, so I’m very happy that at least I had a role that was in his age range, even though it was the opposite [of roles he usually does.] It’s a great honor for me to change direction at this part of his career.
Was there any hesitation in casting him?
AL: No. A great actor is a great actor. I’ve never seen anyone play a traitor so well in Chinese film history. He’s just a great actor. After a while, I said to him, “look you’re such a great actor, if I don’t torture you, then I don’t do you justice.” He was a director’s dream. If you’ve seen the movie, it’s something else of what he’s used to doing. I only allowed one shot where he does his old Tony-style, which is when she let him go. I said, “Okay, it’s only one shot. Let’s have the old Tony back.”
How did you get Tony and Tang Wei on board with the nudity in the movie?
AL: I see it as a process. How deep are we involved in the playing of those characters? How much are we willing to do for the ultimate performance, which in some ways is what the movie’s about. It sort of came naturally…. But still the first couple days were rough. It was torturous in a way more for me and Tony than for her since it’s her first movie. But then after a while we were in a zone. It’s like hell but the ultimate state of acting.
How and why did you come to select Tang for the role since it is her first movie role?
AL: You know I didn’t see anyone that was known who would fit the part. We got her over 10,000 actresses who tried out…. Tang Wei striked me as somebody who’s right for the part. I believed such a story could happen with her. She gave the best reading. She has a disposition that reminds me of my parents’ generation.
Had you known the short story [the original Lust,Caution] for a long time?
AL: When I was developing this I was already quite a ways into finishing Brokeback Mountain. I had known the material for years. At first I was shocked… this comes from a writer that is most revered and loved (Eileen Chang) but this wasn’t like her other stories. It’s obscure; not many people read about it. She took a female’s sexuality view to examine the most macho war against the Japanese. That’s pretty scary to me…. It’s a haunting material to me.
How did the success of Brokeback Mountain allow you more creative autonomy on Lust, Caution?
AL: I’ve always enjoyed creative freedom, even on The Hulk. But to make the movie this way is quite miraculous I have to say. It helped in a sense that this is a regime that was never allowed to be made into a movie, both by communist China and nationalist Taiwan, the Wang Jingwei government. It’s China’s patriotism that’s the big challenge, but this still happened.
Do you think you would have been able to pass the movie through with the NC-17 rating without resistance from the studio if you hadn’t had that success from Brokeback?
AL: It’s hard to say. James [Schamus, producer of Lust, Caution and CEO of Focus Features] is always supporting me. The studio, Good Machine (the production company)… when we started, [James Schamus and I,] it was kind of my backbone, since The Ice Storm…. I did two movies with this studio. So it’s like a family… it’s all very supportive. I think I’m very fortunate.
I read that you said that you read this story and thought “I could never make this into a movie.” But you felt haunted by it and kept going back to it and back to it, and that also happened with Brokeback Mountain.
AL: Yes the two were very similar and both short stories.
Why do you think that happened? Was it in part a frustration that at first read you didn’t see how you could make it a movie?
AL: It’s not making it into a movie that’s a challenge to me. Of course it’s difficult, but that never intimidated me. If it’s difficult then it’s more interesting to me, like The Ice Storm. That was like “no way can you make that into a movie,” which is why no one picked it up [but me.] But if I see something there, I’ll find ways to make movies. What frightens me is the subject matter. What are you really dealing with? With filmmakers, we can make movies, we can develop stories and characters, that’s our craft. But what you’re really dealing with is touching a part of society and yourself, that it’s a dare to do it, and you dare yourself to do it. That’s the thrill.
How would you say the story is being received in China or Taiwan?
AL: I didn’t care how Americans like it or not when I decided [to make the movie.] Because we… female sexuality is never talked about in our (Chinese) culture or history. We never know what women get from sex. Nothing. Zero. Even women themselves… And you’ve got our best writer (Eileen Chang) writing about it with the backdrop of something you don’t want to touch, the war against the Japanese. To me, as a Chinese, it’s more frightful for me than portraying gay cowboys.
I’m curious how the film is being received now in China. How do people feel about it (the story) now?
AL: The greater audience hasn’t seen it, but from the press, so far, it’s been tremendously positive.
It could open up a lot of healing.
AL: It hurts a lot to watch the movie. With our history, our upbringing, it really hurts. I think they’ll get a lot.
Your career has spanned a lot of genres. Is there anything that particularly fascinates you about a project?
AL: Human relationships. In this one it’s a man/woman relationship that is the ultimate occupy/being occupied. It’s hard to say who’s doing what to who, because of the nature of the relationship. There’s the obvious sexual, but it still involves love, and against the backdrop of China being occupied. So it’s human relationship, something in a constant change. |
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