My first instinct was to cast as close to the short story as possible, but then I realized that I needed actors who could go for it and that they had to function well as a couple in a love story. – Ang Lee
So many times you see beautiful lovemaking scenes with a lot of exposure or an awkward lovemaking scene, but I think it’s very rare that you see it private. – Ang Lee
In the past I’ve made movies that were pretty universally liked. You can’t really hate them. You can discard them, but you can’t really hate them. – Ang Lee
The thing we call critics are not really reviewers, they are not really critics. They don’t have the discipline to write what we would term as critique – it’s really just reviewers. They have a common man kind of taste. If you watch them overall, they are not different from the box-office. That’s my view. – Ang Lee
I think the American West really attracts me because it’s romantic. The desert, the empty space, the drama. – Ang Lee
When I have a full schedule like that, I don’t see myself sitting there for a couple of months, doing the research, going through a painful process, it’s just not my thing anymore. – Ang Lee
My mother loves me and everything goes well. I have no conflict with her, so that’s not dramatic. – Ang Lee
3D is quite a lot more advanced in animated movies; for live-action movies we’re just taking baby steps, we’re just in the beginning. – Ang Lee
I am not particularly religious. But I think we do face the question of where God is, why we are created and where does life go, why we exist. That sort of thing. And it is very hard to talk about it these days, because it cannot be proven. It is hard to discuss it rationally. – Ang Lee
I wanted to shoot straight, mainstream, somehow off-beat. Not only realistic West, which is quite unfamiliar to the world’s population – even to a lot of Americans. – Ang Lee
Many times when you make a movie, it feels like your biggest mistake. But even if a film isn’t a hit, you shouldn’t view it as a mistake. – Ang Lee
There’s a level of sophistication of filmmaking that’s mind-boggling. Anything you need for your movie, there’s an establishment that can make it happen really fast. – Ang Lee
I grew up pretty peacefully, in that Eastern way. You easily solve problems, believe in harmony. Reduce conflicts, take orders until one day you give orders. – Ang Lee
There’s only one movie in my career I’ve had regrets with cutting it shorter, and I think some scenes maybe I shouldn’t have cut. – Ang Lee
I did a women’s movie, and I’m not a woman. I did a gay movie, and I’m not gay. I learned as I went along. – Ang Lee
