One of my favourite things to do is read or hear about how other people create. How writers write, how film-makers visualise their films and then bring them to life. What drives and inspires them; how they see their own role in the creation process. It’s the creative equivalent of walking past a lovely house with its lights on and the curtains open.
As a result I’m really enjoying the publicity surrounding the film adaptation of Life of Pi, because its director, Ang Lee, is being interviewed everywhere and each interview gives me a new insight into his creative life. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, is a also special book to me. In my early twenties I went through a phase of not reading much, and it was this book, about a boy and a tiger trapped on a raft at sea, which drew me back to the world of books. Its story can be read on many levels: literal, philosophical, spiritual, or a combination of all three. It was always going to be a difficult one to bring to the screen, but if anyone could to it, Lee could.
Lee, from Taiwan, is that rare thing in Hollywood: a seemingly humble person, grateful for and in awe of his gift. I love to watch him being interviewed because no two discussions are ever the same; he doesn’t trot out the same, PR-packaged lines as some in his line of work do. He is gentle, philosophical, thoughtful, and seemingly lacks ego.
His path to success has not been easy; there were six years in the early nineties when he was unemployed and struggling. Though it must have been difficult, he stuck with his dream of becoming a film-maker, writing scripts while bringing up his children. It was The Wedding Banquet in 1993 which launched his career, which now lists such diverse and excellent films as Sense and Sensibility; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and one of my all-time favourites, Brokeback Mountain.
As Lee says in an interview on the Australian current affairs program 7.30, curiosity is what compels him to try such different projects; curiosity about how to make a particular genre of film but also “working with different types of people, reaching out to different parts of the audience’s heart”. Ah, that crucial word: audience. He cares about us. That shows in his body of work.
And even deeper, Lee sees a connection between himself and his characters: “I think in my movies, in my life, my characters and me, we always try to find something to believe in. I think that’s the kind of essence of my movies and my struggle in life.” Too true.
To watch the 7.30 interview, click here.
For more of Lee talking about Life of Pi, in particular to see him speak honestly about his anxieties as well as what inspired him while making it, watch this interview:
(Written by Julia)