Yesterday, Today: Ang Lee

Success came late in life for director, Ang Lee. It was worth the wait though. In 2005, he was the first Asian to be awarded a Best Director Oscar for his work on Brokeback Mountain. He followed this up in 2012 with another Best Director award for Life of Pi. It was clear that the audiences around the world agreed with the judge’s decisions with Worldwide films having earned a combined amount of $1,457.6 million at the box office.

Lee has said it took 35 years for his creative energy to emerge. The moment which allowed him to nurture this gift, came when together with his wife, he decided to pursue his passion of filmmaking and not a more traditional career. 

After completing a course in film production, Lee found it hard to find that first movie job. For six years, his wife, Jane Lin, worked as a molecular biologist supporting her husband and their four children on a meagre wage. Lee on the other hand, learnt to cook, looked after the kids and wrote screenplays.

Coming from a traditional Chinese family, Lee’s decision to pursue a non-traditional career was a difficult one. His father was an authoritative figure pushing for his son to take on a respectable profession like teaching. Regardless, Lee, supported by Jane, stayed committed to his art and together they forged a life that allowed him to follow his dream.

This wasn’t the best of times for Lee’s family, with the occasional fast food takeaway being their biggest luxury. At one point in time, help came in the form of Jane’s parents offering the family some money to help Lee start up a Chinese restaurant as he had become quite the cook.  However, his wife declined the offer.

Lee felt guilty. Unable to support himself or his family, he was convinced his film ambitions were nothing but a fantasy. Unhappily, he enrolled in a computer course - anything to make him employable. Noticing her husband was not his usual self, she said: “There are so many people studying computers already, they don’t need an Ang Lee to do that.” Encouraged by this, Lee tore up the course timetable and never looked back since.

After six years of cooking, cleaning, picking the kids up and perfecting his art, the decision of reversing familial roles finally paid off. In 1992, he wrote and directed his first feature, Pushing Hands which explored the relationship between a traditional Chinese father and his son living in America. The critics loved it and it received very good reviews across the world. With renewed confidence, Lee released what would become the year’s most profitable film, the Wedding Banquet, in 1993, costing only US$750,000 but taking in a grand total of US$32 million.

Encouraged by his wife, and more importantly, given the opportunity to realise his artistic dream, Lee’s success grew. His 2000 hit, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, introduced the Chinese martial arts film to the mainstream Western audience and earned global acclaim. Academy Awards for Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi soon followed.

It was a vision and a success that can be traced back to the day Lee and his wife decided that dreams are worth chasing.

Yesterday, Ang Lee's film ambitions were fantasy for him. Today, he’s an acclaimed movie director known around the globe.  

There are days and moments that change everything that happens next. If you're about to have one of those days, talk to us.

Bahasa

Kejayaan datang lewat bagi pengarah terkenal, Ang Lee. Namun kejayaan tersebut sangat berbaloi ditunggu. Pada tahun 2005, Lee merupakan orang Asia pertama yang meraih anugerah Oscar bagi Pengarah Terbaik untuk Brokeback Mountain. Kemudian pada tahun 2012 sekali lagi meraih anugerah Oscar bagi Pengarah Terbaik untuk Life of Pi.   Jelaslah bahawa penonton di seluruh dunia setuju dengan keputusan juri, dibuktikan oleh keuntungan box office yang diraih oleh Worldwide Film sebesar USS1,457.6 juta.

Lee mengatakan bahawa aspirasi kreatifnya itu memerlukan 35 tahun untuk dicapai. Saat itu tiba semasa dia dan isterinya membuat keputusan untuk memenuhi impiannya dalam membuat filem dan tidak mengikuti karier yang lebih konvensional.

Setelah selesai kursus produksi filem, Lee mengalami kesulitan untuk mendapat kerja di industri perfileman. Selama enam tahun, isterinya, Jane Lin, yang bekerja sebagai saintis biologi molekul, menjadi penyara rumah tangga menanggung suami dan empat anak mereka dengan gaji yang kecil. Sementara Lee, tinggal di rumah, belajar memasak dan menjaga anak-anak mereka sambil menulis senario filem.

Berasal dari keluarga Cina yang kolot, keputusan Lee untuk mengejar cita-cita yang luar biasa itu adalah sukar.  Ayahnya seorang tukang jahit yang autoritarian dan memaksa anaknya untuk mencari kerja yang lebih terjamin seperti guru.  Namun Lee, disokong oleh isterinya, tetap pada pendiriannya dan mereka bersama-sama menempuh cabaran dalam mengejar cita-cita.

Ini bukan masa yang baik bagi keluarga Lee. Pada masa itu, makanan segera pun kelihatan mewah. Suatu ketika mereka pernah ditawarkan oleh ibu bapa Jane untuk membuka restoran Cina kerana mereka melihat Lee cukup pandai memasak. Namun isteri Lee menolak tawaran itu.

Lee rasa bersalah. Dia hampir putus asa kerana tidak mampu menanggung keluarganya. Dia semakin merasakan bahawa impiannya tidak mungkin dapat dicapai dan hanya sekadar angan-angan. Dengan berat hati Lee kemudian membuat keputusan untuk mengikuti kursus komputer. Dia nekad untuk melakukan apa sahaja untuk mendapat kerja. Melihat kelakuan suaminya tidak seperti biasa, isteri Lee berkata, "Sudah ramai orang belajar komputer, mereka tidak perlu Ang Lee untuk buat benda yang sama”. Tersedar dengan kata-kata isterinya, Lee kemudian membuang jadual kursusnya dan setelah itu tidak pernah lagi merasa ragu.

Setelah enam tahun menguruskan rumah tangga, memasak, membersihkan rumah, menjemput anak-anak sambil mengasah bakat seniya, akhirnya semua itu membuahkan hasil.  Pada tahun 1992, Lee menulis lakon layar serta mengarahkan filem pertamanya iaitu, Pushing Hands. Filem ini mengisahkan hubungan seorang ayah kolot berketurunan Cina dengan anaknya yang tinggal di Amerika. Filem tersebut mendapat pujian dari para pengkritik dan mendapat ulasan yang sangat baik di seluruh dunia.  Keyakinan Lee muncul kembali, dia kemudian mengeluarkan filem yang menjadi filem paling menguntungkan pada tahun 1993, iaitu the Wedding Banquet.  Filem yang menelan belanja US$750,000 ini mendapat keuntungan sebesar US$32 juta.

Dengan sokongan isterinya, dan peluang untuk merealisasikan cita-citanya, kejayaan Lee terus meningkat. Filem terkenalnya, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, memperkenalkan seni filem kungfu kepada penonton barat dan mendapat sambutan hangat.  Kejayaan Lee terus berkembang dengan penerimaan anugerah Academy Awards untuk filem-filem berikutnya, Brokeback Mountain dan Life of Pi.

Impian ini menjadi kenyataan kerana Lee dan isterinya bertekad untuk mengejar mimpi mereka.

Kelmarin, impian Ang Lee untuk membuat filem hanya angan-angan.  Hari ini, dia adalah pengarah terkenal di dunia. 

Jika anda mengalami suatu saat penting yang dapat mengubah keadaan seterusnya, datanglah dan berbincang dengan kami.