'MOUNTAIN'S' TRAILBLAZER BEST DIRECTOR ANG LEE COULDN'T QUIT THINKING ABOUT 'BROKEBACK' STORY.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer Ang Lee has made a career of deciphering the hidden codes and strictures of various societies, so it isn't surprising that this Taiwan-born director revolutionized the big Hollywood weeper with his beautifully observed gay love story, ``Brokeback Mountain.'' The 51-year-old Lee, previously nominated nom·i·nate tr.v. nom·i·nat·ed, nom·i·nat·ing, nom·i·nates 1. To propose by name as a candidate, especially for election. 2. To designate or appoint to an office, responsibility, or honor. for 2000's ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Traditional Chinese: 臥虎藏龍; Simplified Chinese: 卧虎藏龙; Pinyin: ,'' became the first Taiwanese director to win the Oscar. His career began with movies taken from his own culture - ``The Wedding Banquet'' and ``Eat Drink Man Woman'' - with his American breakthrough coming in 1995 with his incisive incisive /in·ci·sive/ (-si´siv) 1. having the power or quality of cutting. 2. pertaining to the incisor teeth. in·ci·sive adj. 1. Having the power to cut. take on Jane Austen's ``Sense and Sensibility Sense and Sensibility is a novel by the English novelist Jane Austen, that was first published in 1811. It was the first of Austen's novels to be published, under the pseudonym "A Lady". .'' Cradling his Oscar, Lee repeated a key line from his film: ``I wish I knew how to quit you,'' before thanking the academy. In his career, Lee has also tackled '70s swingers (``The Ice Storm''), Civil War border life (``Ride With the Devil'') and the dark psychology of superheroes Superheroes are fictional heroes who possess abilities beyond those of normal human beings. Superheroes may also refer to:
Movies like ``Sense and Sensibility'' and ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' focused on women grappling with societal so·ci·e·tal adj. Of or relating to the structure, organization, or functioning of society. so·ci  e·tal·ly adv.Adj. limitations. ``Brokeback Mountain'' flipped that idea to gay men dealing with homophobia homophobia Psychology An irrationally negative attitude toward those with homosexual orientation, or toward becoming homosexual. See Closet, Gay-bashing, Heterosexism. Cf Gay, Homosexual, Phobia. in the postwar American West. ``It was about repression and a whole lot of things,'' Lee says. ``They're both gays, but one chooses to be more adventurous. The other has to go through self-denial and only accepts it when it's too late, when he missed him. That is true. Eventually we surpass the obstacles, and it's really a search for that obscure object of love.'' Lee initially passed on ``Brokeback'' so he could make ``The Hulk.'' (``I had big ambition back then,'' Lee said. ``Then after I got what I was wishing for, I provoked a lot of anger and was exhausted.'') When he finished ``The Hulk,'' which was something of a critical and commercial disappointment, ``Brokeback'' was still around, waiting for a director. ``I got lucky,'' Lee said. ``And I jumped back into it because the material haunted haunt v. haunt·ed, haunt·ing, haunts v.tr. 1. To inhabit, visit, or appear to in the form of a ghost or other supernatural being. 2. me.'' ``Brokeback,'' by the nature of its conventional love story format, is being credited by some for changing audiences' perceptions and acceptance of homosexuals. When asked if the film's cowboys would have an easier time of it today, Lee expresses uncertainty. ``I bet they would have more understanding,'' he says. ``They probably would have heard the word 'gay' and been aware of homosexuality, but I don't think it's a lot easier. It is changing very slowly.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Winning director Ang Lee initially passed on ``Brokeback Mountain'' to make ``The Hulk.'' Evan Yee/Staff Photographer |
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