Renowned director Ang Lee recently participated in a film retrospective exhibition, expressing his sadness over the gradual decline of cinemas. Lee lamented that people are constantly switching to short videos on their phones every 3 minutes, stating that “short videos erode our sense of humanity” and emphasizing his concern that he does not want TikTok to take over the film industry.
The Asia Society in the United States recently held a retrospective exhibition of Ang Lee’s films, showcasing his 14 works over a period of 10 days. During the post-screening discussions of films like “Lust, Caution,” “Life of Pi,” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” Lee candidly admitted that “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” starring Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen, was the most challenging film he has ever made. Fusing Eastern and Western cultures in the film required him to make numerous revisions to the script, a process that proved to be extremely difficult.
Lee remarked, “Many of the lines were written just a week or a few days before filming, but we had two Mandarin-speaking actors (Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh) who were terrible. I didn’t have enough time to train them.” He humorously added, “I wanted to kill them, but that wouldn’t help.” During the filmmaking process, Lee specifically praised the emergence of Zhang Ziyi as a rising star, bringing a fresh perspective to the project. He noted that the international success of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” which won Oscars, Golden Globes, Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards, and Hong Kong’s Golden Bauhinia Awards, was a rewarding culmination of the team’s efforts.
Reflecting on the rise of short videos in today’s media landscape, Lee spoke passionately about the need for a revolution in filmmaking. He stressed, “We need to have a sense of fear and stop recycling and remaking existing content. We need to create something that people will watch in theaters.”
The declining presence of traditional cinemas also weighs heavily on Lee’s mind. He expressed concern that constant switching to short videos on phones every 3 minutes is turning individuals into AI-like creatures, diminishing our sense of humanity. Lee emphasized the importance of upgrading the film industry to attract audiences back to theaters, stating adamantly, “I don’t want it to disappear. We need to upgrade our films so that people will return to cinemas. I do not want TikTok to take over.”