Director Ang Lee Discusses Fame, Film

Ang Lee says he doesn't need to make Hollywood movies to be successful, but appreciates the recognition of the U.S. film industry.

"To me, Hollywood is not essential, but I admit there's an attachment," the Xinwen Chenbao newspaper quoted Lee as saying at the Shanghai International Film Festival. "It's like Yao Ming playing in the NBA — only when you reach such a big league do you feel the whole world pays attention."

The 51-year-old studied theater direction at the University of Illinois and got his masters degree in film production at New York University, where he was a classmate of another famous Lee — acclaimed director Spike Lee.

Ang Lee started his career directing Chinese-language films, including the acclaimed "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." The film won four Oscars, and Lee received a Best Director nomination. He then moved on to English-language movies, including "Sense and Sensibility," "The Ice Storm" and "Hulk."

He won an Oscar this year for "Brokeback Mountain," the film adaptation of Annie Proulx's Pulitzer prize-winning short story.

Lee, who is originally from Taiwan but now lives in the United States, said Hollywood can be restrictive.

"The world's least free place for making movies is the U.S. because it has a fixed model," he said.

The director added that he thinks Hollywood movies have influenced Chinese films, and vice versa.

"You can't say we are under the influence of Hollywood. We are influencing it, too. It's an interaction, not a matter of our death or their death,'' he said.

Lee is due to start filming the spy thriller "Lust, Caution" in the fall, marking his first Chinese-language film since 2000's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."