Ang Lee, a five-time Oscar nominee, previously won the trophy for his 2005 gay cowboys drama Brokeback Mountain. (Image: AP)
Highlights
- Taiwanese-American Ang Lee beat master directors like Steven Spielberg and Michael Haneke to take home the best director Oscar for Life of Pi, his visually stunning 3D tale of an Indian boy adrift in the ocean for months with a Bengal tiger.
- With his second Oscar win, Lee brings focus back to India, whose culture and ethos are an important part of the narrative and unlike previous Academy-winner Slumdog Millionaire which earned some brickbats for promoting slum porn, Lee has presented Pondicherry and Munnar beautifully through his 3D lenses.
- Ang Lee, 58, beat Spielberg (Lincoln), Haneke (Amour), David O Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) and indie filmmaker Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild) to win his second Academy in the directing category.
- "I really need to share this with everybody who worked in Life of Pi. I need to thank Yann Martel for writing this marvelous book...," Lee said in his speech before ending it with a 'Namaste'.
- The auteur, a five-time Oscar nominee, previously won the trophy for his 2005 gay cowboys drama Brokeback Mountain.
- Like Life of Pi, his Crouching Tiger, Hiden Dragon was nominated for best picture and directing honours.
- In the film, an adaptation of Yann Martel's Booker-prize winning novel, Lee took on the challenge of filming the movie, mostly set in the ocean, with an almost entirely Indian casts of newcomer Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Tabu and Adil Hussain.
- He spent four years translating the book to the screen that included building an enormous wave tank to shoot ocean scenes besides creating a terrifyingly believable tiger through the help of CGI.
- The movie narrates the story of Pi, a zookeeper's son in Pondicherry, who finds the world he knows swept away when his family is killed in a storm while on their way to Canada. Pi escapes, set adrift in a lifeboat that is also the refuge of an enormous Bengal tiger.
- Lee made several trips, including one to promote the film, to India to research and cast the movie. He chose the then 17-year-old newcomer Suraj Sharma to play the lead from 3000 hopefuls.
- In an interview to PTI during his trip to Mumbai, Lee had said that he felt a sense of belonging to Pi's journey, which somehow mirrored his own struggles to direct the technically superb spectacle.
- The filmmaker, who is behind genre-defying movies like Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hulk and Brokeback Mountain, also credited destiny for bringing the movie to him after it changed hands with many directors.
- "When I started doing the movie I felt like I had a sense of belonging. I started longing to be a part of it and the movie became mine," Lee had said.
Taiwanese-American Ang Lee beatmaster directors like Steven Spielberg and Michael Haneke totake home the best director Oscar for
Life of Pi, hisvisually stunning 3D tale of an Indian boy adrift in the oceanfor months with a Bengal tiger.
With his second Oscar win, Lee brings focus back toIndia, whose culture and ethos are an important part of thenarrative and unlike previous Academy-winner
SlumdogMillionaire which earned some brickbats for promoting slumporn, Lee has presented Pondicherry and Munnar beautifullythrough his 3D lenses.
Ang Lee, 58, beat Spielberg (
Lincoln), Haneke (
Amour),David O Russell (
Silver Linings Playbook) and indiefilmmaker Benh Zeitlin (
Beasts of the Southern Wild) to winhis second Academy in the directing category.
"I really need to share this with everybody who worked in
Life of Pi. I need to thank Yann Martel for writing thismarvelous book...," Lee said in his speech before ending itwith a 'Namaste'.
The auteur, a five-time Oscar nominee, previously won thetrophy for his 2005 gay cowboys drama
Brokeback Mountain.
Like
Life of Pi, his
Crouching Tiger, Hiden Dragon wasnominated for best picture and directing honours.
In the film, an adaptation of Yann Martel's Booker-prizewinning novel, Lee took on the challenge of filming the movie,mostly set in the ocean, with an almost entirely Indian castsof newcomer Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Tabu and Adil Hussain.
He spent four years translating the book to the screenthat included building an enormous wave tank to shoot oceanscenes besides creating a terrifyingly believable tigerthrough the help of CGI.
The movie narrates the story of Pi, a zookeeper's son inPondicherry, who finds the world he knows swept awaywhen his family is killed in a storm while on their way toCanada. Pi escapes, set adrift in a lifeboat that is also therefuge of an enormous Bengal tiger.
Lee made several trips, including one to promote thefilm, to India to research and cast the movie. He chose thethen 17-year-old newcomer Suraj Sharma to play the lead from 3000hopefuls.
In an interview to PTI during his trip to Mumbai, Lee hadsaid that he felt a sense of belonging to Pi's journey, whichsomehow mirrored his own struggles to direct the technicallysuperb spectacle.
The filmmaker, who is behind genre-defying movies like
Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,Hulk and
Brokeback Mountain, also credited destiny forbringing the movie to him after it changed hands with manydirectors.
"When I started doing the movie I felt like I had a senseof belonging. I started longing to be a part of it and themovie became mine," Lee had said.