Ang Lee is director of wide range of films, and each of them provokes controversy and interest among the audience and critiques. In every taken film the sequences are combined in a unique narrative with its questions and much less answers. Lee is a representative of so called independent genre, meanwhile it should be noted that his films could hardly be titled by any kind of clichés (Siraganian 1). Nevertheless, having in mind the alternative, not common point of view and the craft of directing, all his films are definitely independent. The core essence of Ang’s style and, as a result, of his films has always been the issue of discussion. His Chinese origin and American lifestyle are considered among the factors, influencing his creativity (Smith 241). Ang Lee has a multicultural treatment of the world and this attitude reflects in the films that he shoots. This paper is a try of critical writing of his work, observing it from the angle of this viewpoint. There is an attempt to understand pros and cons of this approach and the limits of it. Two films of this director are under consideration: The Wedding Banquet and Brokeback Mountain.
THE WEDDING BANQUET
This is a film with the elements of comedy and its narrative is about life of a gay couple. The young men live in Manhattan and one of the partners whose name is Wai Tung Gao came from Taiwan many years ago (Lee). He has an American citizenship now and he managed to gain a comparative success in life. His parents are very traditional; they want their son to get married and have babies. Wai Tung and his lover Simon draw the plan, according to which, Wai Tung will marry one of his tenants Wei-Wei. She is a penniless artist who is in need of green card. This marriage will, presumably calm the parents and let two men live as they used to (Lee). The film is treated as absolutely multicultural. This attitude appears not just because the main characters of the film are representatives of different nationalities (Hayward 134). The film shows two cultures, Chinese and American and their peculiarities. Wai Tang is a Chinese by origin, but he is American at the same time. He used to the American style of living and to the kind of relations between people in New York. In a way, he is similar to his future wife Wei-Wei who came from China and looks very natural in this big city. Ang Lee has come from Taiwan to America and, according to his own words he can speak English and Chinese almost simultaneously, according to the person he speaks with (Smith 241). This is something similar that unites the director of the film and its main character. Mr. and Mrs. Gao who come to see their son from Taiwan, are the people of different kind. They are very keen on respecting traditions, they have the traditional view on the family and, naturally they want to have a grandchild. Two different worlds, different attitudes to living seem to coexist in the own nature of Ang Lee (Parkinson 121). The wedding and especially banquet are shown very meticulously. These sequences can make an impression of traditional China movie about the customs and traditions of the country. At the same time, Lee has chosen the theme of gay couple as the core of the plot. This is something that is not very typical for the traditional China film, to say the least. This theme was not typical at that time for the American films either. It may be said that American cultural side of the director’s character comes to the fore. He wanted not just a trivial plot, but something that would be interesting for the audience right from the start. By the end of the film the parents accept their son’s homosexuality. This happens partly because they love him and wish him only the best and partly because they get what they want, a grandchild. As long as Wai Tang’s homosexuality is not known in their home place in Taiwan, they reluctantly agree with it (Siraganian 44). According to the Hollywood traditions the film has happy ending. It would be better to say that the ending is not as tragic, as it might have been. The Wedding Banquet is an example of multicultural approach in its directing, it shows the conflict between tradition and modernity (Smith 246). The film would hardly be so true-to- life, if Ang Lee were not the representative of both cultures which are shown here.
THE BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Once again, Ang Lee has chosen the love story of two men, but this time it is not the narrative about homosexual relation in a big American city. The film is about two cowboys, their life, environment they live in and love. The close intimate relations of the main characters Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist begins in 1963 (Lee). The subject of the film is very unusual in terms of seeming inconsistency of its features. On the one hand, there is a very conservative and traditional style of cowboys’ living. The cowboys, in a way are a symbol of America. They have the reputation of tough guys who are always occupied with the work of real men. On the other hand, there is love and devotion between two cowboys. Most likely, the audience did not expect to combine two notions – men of that kind and their homosexual relations. The film was the adaptation of the story of the same name by Annie Proulx (Ebert 135). Ang Lee was the director who became interested in the story and decided to make the film out of it. His intuition and, most likely his American side of the character let him feel the interest of the audience to his future film (Ebert 134). Of course, the plot is only a part of the merits of this wonderful movie. Another merits are depend on the shooting style and Lee’s extraordinary talent. The film shows the life of two cowboys who suddenly reveals their homosexuality and the deepest love to each other. They have to hide their feelings from public eye. Each of them even starts a family. Jack and Ennis had been dated secretly for almost twenty years. They have the warmest and their best feeling about Brokeback Mountain, a very picturesque place where they had their best moment in life. After Jack’s death it was revealed that he wanted to scatter his ashes exactly in this place. The Brokeback Mountain is a story of tragic love; it is a portrait of the loneliness and sufferings. (Smith 244). But, this film is not only the drama of Ennis and Jack. In one of the interviews Lee noticed that in Chinese culture there was a tradition. When you have hard and overwhelming situation and do not know what to do, the best way is to put yourself in a woman’s shoes. This is what unites The Brokeback Mountain and The Wedding Banquet, apart from the character of relations of the main heroes. Lee describes women, they hope for family and happy life. He is in the woman’s shoes. The films are also themes of women’s desperation and tragedy; the men, who they want to be with, do not love them. There is no hope left, only broken dreams and a few memories (Smith 244). In a way, it may be observed that Ang Lee’s special, warm attitude to women stems from his Chinese roots. Once again the issue of multicultural approach in the works of this director is the topic of discussion.
CONSLUSION
Ang Lee is undoubtedly extremely talented master, with his unique style, vision of life, warm and sincere attitude to people. Persons of this kind of talent are always discussed and there are always attempts to find the explanation of their craft and individuality. Lee’s multicultural identity is one of the explanations of the quality of his unique works. It is important to consider this approach, analysing them. He is always tolerant to every cultural peculiarity (Siraganian 25). Maybe, it is true that in his films he reflects his own relationship with a lost homeland (Siraganian 15). On the other hand, there is always a risk to restrict his talent by some kind of scopes. His Chinese-American identity is an important question to observe and Lee admits it himself (Smith 243). But this is only one side of his diverse talent that has a lot of fringes. Each fringe reveals the other one and restricts it at the same time. Considering only the approach of his multicultural identity during the analysis of his works, would be really superficial. There are natural limits in every approach to identify this talent. Maybe, Ang Lee doesn’t know them himself. He is an artist, a creator and he is led by his emotions, wisdom and craft. Assumedly, it is just impossible to fully analyse the talent. Talent itself is a gift of God and if it is so, talent is always a bit of enigma. The Wedding Banquet and The Brokeback Mountain are the examples of fascinating and intriguing mosaic of American family life (Smith 248). These films have common characteristics and at the same time a lot of differences, the thing that could be said about Ang Lee’s other films. The enormous talent of the director is the only full explanation of this phenomenon.
Works Cited
Lee, A. The Wedding Banquet, 1993.
Lee, A. Brokeback Mountain, 2005.
Siraganian, L. Ang Lee and James Schamus’s NeoIndies: The Ultimate Movie Machine. Choosing a Good, 2011. Print.
Smith, I. Ang Lee. London: Taylor and Francies, 2010. Print.
Parkinson, D. Cinema. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Print.
Ebert, R. The Great Movies. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2003. Print.
Hayward. S. Cinema Studies. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.
