Other Ang Lee Films

[Front-Ranger]

I would like to see a discussion of Lee's other films and the parallels with Brokeback Mountain.

Let's start with The Hulk! I was just thinking this morning that I need to view that movie once again because it was Ang Lee's movie prior to BBM, and in some ways he purged himself of the Hulk with BBM. As I recall, the Hulk's problems had to do with his father, no??

[Front-Ranger]

Tonight I watched "Ride With the Devil", Ang Lee's historical tale from the U.S. Civil War. I'll tell you more about it tomorrow. At the library, I checked out a book about the making of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

[Front-Ranger]

I started reading a book "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A Porttrait of the Ang Lee Film" and I'm looking forward to it. But I had a mind block early on, I kept thinking, why isn't there a book like this about Brokeback Mountain? The book has introductions from both Ang Lee and James Schamus. I'm reading the piece authored by Ang Lee, and it is very insightful.

[opinionista]

The only Ang Lee movie I relate somehow to Brokeback Mountain is The Wedding Banquet also known as Hsi yen, even though it is very different just like the others he has made.

For those who haven't seen it, be aware that there are spoilers below.


What I remember about it (I saw it a long time ago), it is about a gay couple, Simon and Wai Tung, who have been living together for sometime, when they receive the unexpected visit from Wai Tung's parents, who don't know their son is gay. The problem begins when they force him to marry a girl and give them a grandson. The entire plot is about Simon and Wai Tung trying to conceal their relationship for the sake of Wai Tung's dad, and going ahead with the wedding. I'm not going to spoil the ending, but this is a beautiful tale about accepting your gay son as he is. It has hilarious scenes and highly emotional ones. I remember I loved it. I highly recommend it.

[Lumière]

The only Ang Lee movie I relate somehow to Brokeback Mountain is The Wedding Banquet also known as Hsi yen, even though it is very different just like the others he has made.

Yes, I recommend it too!  It is a very good film, good story and good performances!

Another Ang Lee movie I've watched:  The Ice Storm
It is good but not on the same level as the WB or BBM.

[Shakesthecoffecan]

On these DVDs, does he do a version with commentary? I know he does on Hulk, which I have seen along with Crouching Tiger and Wedding Banquet, both of with I thought were great.

[Front-Ranger]

An interesting point in the book I'm reading is that Ang Lee "secured his early fame with the so-called 'Father Knows Best' trilogy (Pushing Hands, The Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman)" The father also played a pivotal role in The Hulk. This makes me want to reexamine the role of fathers in Brokeback Mountain. And we also know that Lee’s father died during the filming and he dedicated the film to him.

[belbbmfan]

I saw The Wedding Banquet a couple of years ago on TV and really liked it. And I have Sense and Sensibility on dvd. Both of these movies, and BBM, are about how circumstances, traditions or society can prevent people from finding love or being able to chose the person they love.

Sense and Sensibility has a happy ending, Mariane Dashwood in the end gets her hero, Edward Ferrars. And the commentary by Ang Lee and James Schamus on the dvd is very good.

[Front-Ranger]

There are indeed many parallels among his films and finding them is a lot of fun because at first it seems like they could not be more different than each other, being set in different times and locales and even different languages! However, The Hulk is considered a deviation but, I suspect, upon closer inspection many parallels could be found there too.

[Front-Ranger]

This book points out that the "Green Destiny" sword that is stolen early in the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is what Hitchcock called the McGuffin, the object that kick-starts the adventure and puts everyone in motion. What is the McGuffin of Brokeback Mountain?

[Front-Ranger]

Okay, I'll hazard a guess at answering my own question. Could it be the low-startle-point filly that "kick-starts" the action in Brokeback Mountain??

[shortfiction]

I'll mention Sense and Sensibility since no one else has yet.   
   Ang Lee directed it, swore he'd never work with sheep again, and had to break his own vows on that particular point.   
     

[shortfiction]

D'oh!  I forgot to mention The Ice Storm, which I really liked.  Lee did a lot with the brutal, icy winter of Connecticut in that film.   The weather seems to figure prominently in his films, at least the ones I've seen.

[Front-Ranger]

Lucise did bring up The Ice Storm earlier. That is one Ang Lee film I can't bring myself to see. I think it came out about the same time as American Beauty and it was a film that disturbed me because it hit so close to home. Maybe I should get up my courage to see The Ice Storm. Tell me more about it.

[Kd5000]

Sigorney Weaver's performance was top notch. It's too bad she will be remembered for the Aliens thing.  A great ensemble cash for THE ICE STORM.    Ang Lee does a great job of capturing  very affluent suburbia in the 1970's. I guess these decadent suburbanites had it all so they get bored and start having affairs.  I had never heard of KEY PARTIES before.
You grow up on the Connecticut gold coast, Frontranger.   

[Front-Ranger]

No, but I did used to be a "decadent suburbanite" before I got religion Brokeback got me good.

[shortfiction]

Lucise did bring up The Ice Storm earlier. That is one Ang Lee film I can't bring myself to see. I think it came out about the same time as American Beauty and it was a film that disturbed me because it hit so close to home. Maybe I should get up my courage to see The Ice Storm. Tell me more about it.

The Ice Storm is not anywhere near as disturbing as A.B.    It's set in the 1970s, in the era of swinging couples and key parties.  The main couple is dealing with infidelity, one kid who is still at home is a shoplifter and also just starting to experiment sexually with boys, and the older kid is mostly away at college, though we do see him as well.  There is some drug use and drinking though nothing explicit.  Also no violence that I can recall except for one accidental death, but it's not graphic.   The people in the film lead hollow lives in the midst of being well-off financially.   It's not until the end that the main family realizes how fortunate they are, comparatively speaking.

[Front-Ranger]

A lot of good stuff appearing about Ang Lee and his films with the release of Lust, Caution.

Here is a link to a recent article in Time that did a good job of explaining how Ang Lee's movie Hulk fits in with the rest of his oeuvre:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1668225,00.html

[Meryl]

Here's something interesting.  A new critical edition of "The Ice Storm" is due out on DVD in March, and they're including, among other things like new commentaries from some of the actors, the following:

Audio commentary featuring Lee and producer-screenwriter James Schamus

Footage from an event honoring Lee and Schamus at New York's Museum of the Moving Image

Deleted scenes


If Ang agreed to do this for "The Ice Storm," could there be some hope for an eventual critical editon of BBM?  *Hopes*