Life of Pi is a fantasy adventure novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist, Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, explores issues of spirituality and practicality from an early age. He survives 227 days after a shipwreck, while stranded on a boat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger.

The novel was rejected by at least five London publishing houses^[1] before being accepted by Knopf Canada, which published it in September 2001. The UK edition won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction the following year.^[2][3][4] It was also chosen for CBC Radio's Canada Reads 2003, where it was championed by author Nancy Lee.^[5] The French translation, L'histoire de Pi, was chosen in the French version of the contest, Le combat des livres, where it was championed by Louise Forestier.^[6] The novel won the 2003 Boeke Prize, a South African novel award. In 2004, it won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in Best Adult Fiction for years 2001–2003.^[7]

Plot[link]

Life of Pi is divided into three sections. In the first, the main character, Pi, an adult, reminisces about his childhood. He was named Piscine Molitor Patel after a swimming pool in France. He changes his name to "Pi" when he begins secondary school, because he is tired of being taunted with the nickname "Pissing Patel." His father owns a zoo in Pondicherry, providing Pi with a relatively affluent lifestyle and some understanding of animal psychology.^[8]

Pi was born a Hindu, but as a fourteen-year-old he is introduced to Christianity and Islam, and starts to follow all three religions as he "just wants to love god."^[9][10] He tries to understand God through the lens of each religion and comes to recognize benefits in each one.

Eventually, his family decides to sell their animals and move to Canada due to political concerns in India. In the second part of the novel, Pi's family embark on a small Japanese freighter to Canada carrying some of the animals from their zoo, but a few days out of port the boat suddenly sinks. Pi ends up in a small lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, a spotted hyena, an injured zebra, and an orangutan. The other humans and animals on the boat all drown.

The hungry hyena tears off the zebra's leg, and spends the next several days eating the zebra bit by bit. The hyena also kills the orangutan. Richard Parker then kills and eats the hyena. Pi is left as the only other survivor. Pi finds food and water supplies on the boat, but as they grow scarce, Pi begins fishing. Pi feeds Richard Parker so that the tiger will not eat him; he also wants to keep the tiger alive to avoid total solitude on the ocean. Pi ensures that the tiger considers Pi the alpha animal and will therefore refrain from attacking him.

Pi recounts that after an indeterminate time at sea, the pair encountered a mysterious island, seemingly constructed of edible algae supporting a forest and a large population of meerkats. Following a period of recuperation, Pi becomes afraid of the island after discovering that the algae is carnivorous, and leaves with the tiger. In all, Pi survives 227 days in the lifeboat, often half delusional with thirst and hunger. The lifeboat reaches the coast of Mexico and Richard Parker escapes into the nearby jungle, so that rescuers find only Pi.

The third part of the novel is a conversation between two officials from the Japanese maritime department. They seek to ascertain why the ship sank, so they interview Pi, but they do not believe his story. Pi then tells a similar story, but this time without animals. Instead, he recounts a story of human brutality, being adrift on a lifeboat with his mother, a sailor with a broken leg, and the ship's cook, who killed the sailor and Pi's mother and cut them up to use as bait and food. Parallels to Pi's first story lead the Japanese officials to believe that the orangutan represents his mother, the zebra represents the sailor, the hyena represents the cook, and Richard Parker is Pi himself. Pi asks if this new story is acceptable, or if he should change any parts that are still too unbelievable; the officials change the subject back to the sinking of the ship. After giving all the relevant information, Pi asks which of the two stories they prefer. Since the officials cannot prove which story is true and neither is relevant to the reasons behind the shipwreck, they choose the story with the animals. Pi thanks them and says, "and so it goes with God".

Inspiration[link]

In a 2002 interview with PBS, Martel revealed his inspiration for his novel, "I was sort of looking for a story, not only with a small 's' but sort of with a capital 'S' – something that would direct my life."^[11] He spoke of being lonely and needing direction in his life. The novel became that direction and purpose for his life.^[12]

Characters[link]

Piscine Molitor Patel[link]

Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel is the narrator and protagonist of the novel. He was named after a swimming pool in Paris, despite the fact that neither his father nor his mother particularly liked swimming. The story is told as a narrative from the perspective of a middle-aged Pi, now married and with his own family, and living in Canada. At the time of main events of the story, he is sixteen years old. He recounts the story of his life and his 227-day journey on a lifeboat when his boat sinks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean during a voyage to Winnipeg.

Richard Parker[link]

A Bengal tiger much like the one that spent 227 days with Pi

Richard Parker is a 450 pound Bengal tiger that is stranded on the lifeboat with Pi when the ship sinks. The tiger lives on the lifeboat with Pi and is kept alive with the food and water Pi delivers. Richard Parker develops a relationship with Pi that allows them to coexist in their struggle.

Martel named the tiger after a character from Edgar Allan Poe's nautical adventure novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838). However, there were a number of other men named Richard Parker who are relevant to Martel's choice, and that are tied to tales of cannibalism by shipwrecked sailors. Such tales abounded in the 18th and 19th centuries. For instance, in December 1835, the ship Francis Spaight was wrecked in the north Atlantic. Survivors of the wreck were known to have practiced cannibalism in order to survive. In January 1846, a second ship named "Francis Spaight" sank, and took a man named Richard Parker down with it. Another man named Richard Parker was found to be the victim of cannibalism after being set adrift with two other men on a raft in 1884, after a yacht called The Mignonette sank, leaving the crew stranded and starving.^[14]

In 1884, 46 years after Poe's novel was published, a new shipwreck shared many similarities with that story: after the sinking of their yacht Mignonette on the way to Australia, Captain Tom Dudley and three sailors were stranded in a dinghy in the Pacific Ocean. They believed they had no choice but to eat one of the party to survive. The victim was a 17-year-old cabin boy named Richard Parker.^[15] A.W. Brian Simpson's book on the subject mentions the Francis Spaight and also refers to a boat called Tiger on which a youth was cannibalized in 1766. Having read about these events, Yann Martel thought, "So many victimized Richard Parkers had to mean something."^[16][17]

Setting[link]

The novel is a work of fiction set in the summer of 1977 that draws real places and events in India. The Patel household's discussions of the political situation refer to historical events. Pondicherry is a former French colony in India. It does have an Indian Coffee House and Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Garden has a toy train track. It does not have a working train, nor does the garden have a zoo, although it does have a small aquarium. Munnar, the destination for the Patel family's vacation, is a small but popular hill station in Kerala. The town has a church. Madurai, also referenced in the novel, is a popular tourist and pilgrimage site in Tamil Nadu.

Reception[link]

In a letter directly to Martel, Barack Obama described Life of Pi as "an elegant proof of God, and the power of storytelling".^[18]

Brian Bethune of Maclean's describes Life of Pi as "[a] head-scratching combination of dense religious allegory, zoological lore and enthralling adventure tale, written with warmth and grace".^[19] Master Plots suggested the "[c]entral themes of Life of Pi concern religion and human faith in God".^[20]

Adaptations[link]

Illustrated edition[link]

In October 2005, a worldwide competition was launched to find an artist to illustrate Life of Pi. The competition was run by Scottish publisher Canongate Books and UK newspaper The Times, as well as Australian newspaper The Age and Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. Croatian artist Tomislav Torjanac was chosen as the illustrator for the new edition, which was published in September 2007.^[21][22][23]

Film adaptation[link]

The upcoming film adaptation is directed by Ang Lee based on an adapted screenplay by David Magee. Suraj Sharma, who has no previous acting experience, will play Pi. Life of Pi is scheduled to be released on 21 November 2012.

Theatrical adaptations[link]

It has also been adapted as a play by Keith Robinson, artistic director of the youth-oriented Twisting Yarn Theatre Company. Andy Rashleigh wrote the adaptation, which was directed by Keith Robinson. The premier/original cast contained only six actors—Tony Hasnath (Pi), Taresh Solanki (Richard Parker), Melody Brown (Mother), Conor Alexander (Father), Sanjay Shalat (Brother) and Mark Pearce (Uncle).^[24] The play was produced at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford, England, in 2003.^[25] The company toured England and Ireland with the play in 2004 and 2007.

Keith Robinson also directed a second version of the play. He brought some of his company to work with students of the Ba Drama, Applied Theatre and Education Course at the Central School of Speech and Drama. The joint production was performed at the Minack Theatre, in Cornwall, England, in late June 2008.^[26] It was well received by the press and community.

Origin of premise[link]

Martel stated that his inspiration for the book's premise came from reading a book review of Brazilian author Moacyr Scliar's 1981 novella Max and the Cats, about a Jewish-German refugee who crossed the Atlantic Ocean while sharing his boat with a jaguar.^[27][28] Scliar said that he was perplexed that Martel "used the idea without consulting or even informing me," and indicated that he was reviewing the situation before deciding whether to take any action in response.^[29][30] After talking with Martel, Scliar elected not to pursue the matter.^[31] A dedication to Scliar "for the spark of life" appears in the author's note of Life of Pi.

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Busby, Brian (2003). Character Parts: Who's Really Who in CanLit. Toronto: Knopf. ISBN 0-676-97579-8. 
• Davies, Hugh (September 2002). "£50,000 Booker winner 'stole idea from Brazilian author'". London: Telegraph Group. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/1412682/50000-Booker-winner-stole-idea-from-Brazilian-author.html. 
• "'May Richard Parker be always at your side'". The Guardian (UK). November 2002. http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,6000,848131,00.html. 
• Fialkoff, Francine (December 2002). "Too Sensitized to Plagiarism?". Library Journal. http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA263159.html. 
• McMurtrie, John (October 2005). "French director swept away by 'Life of Pi'". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/13/DDGVAF6PQ733.DTL. 

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Life of Pi

General

• Jennie Renton Interview textualities.net "Life is a story. You can choose your story. A story with God is the better story."
• Guardian Q&A
• Interview on Radio Praha
• The story behind the Illustrated Life of Pi
• Life of Pi reading group questions and global read-along

Reviews

• The Guardian review by Justine Jordan
• Salon.com review by Suzy Hansen
• London Review of Books
• BBC News Entertainment
• Dan Schneider at Hack Writers

Mychael Danna (born September 20, 1958) is a Canadian film composer.

Life and career[link]

Mychael Danna is the brother of fellow composer Jeff Danna. He has been scoring films since his 1987 feature debut for Atom Egoyan's Family Viewing, a score which earned Danna the first of his thirteen Genie Award nominations. He has won five times for Achievement in Music - Original Score.^[1] Danna is recognized as one of the pioneers of combining non-Western sound sources with orchestral and electronic minimalism in the world of film music. This reputation has led him to work with such directors as Atom Egoyan, Deepa Mehta, Terry Gilliam, Scott Hicks, Ang Lee, Gillies MacKinnon, James Mangold, Mira Nair, Billy Ray, Joel Schumacher, and Denzel Washington.

He studied music composition at the University of Toronto, winning the Glenn Gould Composition Scholarship in 1985. Danna also served for five years as composer-in-residence at the McLaughlin Planetarium in Toronto (1987–1992). Works for dance include music for Dead Souls (Carbone Quatorze Dance Company, directed by Gilles Maheu 1996), and a score for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Gita Govinda (2001) based on the 1000-year-old classical Indian erotic poem, with choreographer Nina Menon.

Recent projects include Deepa Mehta's Water, Atom Egoyan's Where the Truth Lies, Terry Gilliam's Tideland, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' Little Miss Sunshine, Bennett Miller's Capote, and Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer.

Filmography[link]

• Moneyball (film) (2011)
• Camelot (series) (2011, with his brother Jeff)
• (500) Days of Summer (2009)
• Chloe (2009)
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009, with his brother Jeff))
• The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
• Lakeview Terrace (2008, with his brother Jeff)
• Surf's Up (2007)
• Breach (2007)
• The Nativity Story (2006)
• Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
• Lonely Hearts (2006)
• Sohni Sapna (2005)
• Eve and the Fire Horse (2005)
• Tideland (2005, with his brother Jeff))
• Water (2005)
• Capote (2005)
• Where the Truth Lies (2005)
• Aurora Borealis (2005)
• Being Julia (2004)
• Vanity Fair (2004)
• The Snow Walker (2003)
• Shattered Glass (2003)
• Hulk (2003) (additional cue "Mother")
• Antwone Fisher (2002)
• The Guys (2002)
• Ararat (2002)
• Hearts in Atlantis (2001)
• Monsoon Wedding (2001)
• The Hire: Chosen (2001)
• Green Dragon (2001, with his brother Jeff))
• Bounce (2000)
• The Boondock Saints (1999. with his brother Jeff))
• Girl, Interrupted (1999)
• Don't Think Twice (1999 short)
• Ride with the Devil (1999)
• Felicia's Journey (1999)
• 8MM (1999)
• The Confession (1999)
• At the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story (1998)
• Behind the Lines (1997)
• The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
• The Ice Storm (1997)
• Dangerous Offender: The Marlene Moore Story (1996 TV movie)
• Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996)
• Lilies (1996)
• Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
• Dance Me Outside (1995)
• Exotica (1994)
• The Darling Family (1994)
• Narmada: A Valley Rises (1994 documentary)
• Hush Little Baby (1993 TV movie)
• Gross Misconduct (1993 TV movie)
• Ordinary Magic (1993)
• The Adjuster (1991)
• Johann's Gift to Christmas (1991 TV short)
• Montréal vu par... (1991) - (segment "En passant")
• The Big Slice (1991)
• Still Life: The Fine Art of Murder (1990)
• Speaking Parts (1989)
• Road to Avonlea (1989 TV series)
• One Man Out (1989)
• Cold Comfort (1989)
• Without Work: Not by Choice (1989 short)
• Termini Station (1989)
• Murder One (1988)
• Blood Relations (1988)
• Caribe (1987)
• Family Viewing (1987)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Mychael Danna website
• Mychael Danna at the Internet Movie Database
• Danna talks about The Nativity Story

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Ang Lee 李安
Ang Lee, 2009
Chinese name	李安 (Traditional)
Chinese name	李安 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Lǐ Ān (Mandarin)
Born	(1954-10-23) October 23, 1954 (age 57) Chaochou, Pingtung, Taiwan
Years active	1992 – present
Spouse(s)	Jane Lin (1983–)
Children	Haan Lee (b.1984) Mason Lee (b.1990)
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director 2001 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Golden Bauhinia Awards Best Director 2001 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Golden Horse Awards Best Film 1993 The Wedding Banquet 2000 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Best Director 1993 The Wedding Banquet 2007 Lust, Caution Best Original Screenplay 1993 The Wedding Banquet

Ang Lee (Chinese: 李安; Pinyin: Lǐ Ān; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese-American film director.^[1] Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film), Hulk (2003), and Brokeback Mountain (2005), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director. He is the first person of Asian descent to win the Best Director Oscar.

Early life[link]

Education[link]

Ang Lee was born in the town of Chaochou in Pingtung,^[2] a southern agricultural county in Taiwan. He grew up in a household that put heavy emphasis on education and the Chinese classics. Both of Lee's parents moved to Taiwan from China following the Chinese Nationalists' defeat in the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Lee's father, a native of Jiangxi Province in southern China, imbued his children with studying Chinese culture and art, especially calligraphy.

Lee studied in the National Tainan First Senior High School where his father was the principal. He was expected to pass the annual Joint College/University Entrance Examination, the only route to a university education in Taiwan. But after failing the Exam twice, to the disappointment of his father, he entered a three-year college, National Arts School (now reorganized and expanded as National Taiwan University of Arts) and graduated in 1975. His father had wanted him to become a professor, but he had become interested in drama and the arts at college. This early frustration set his career on the path of performance art. Seeing Ingmar Bergman's film The Virgin Spring (1960) was a formative experience for him.^[3]

After finishing the Republic of China's mandatory military service, Lee went to the U.S. in 1979 to study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he completed his bachelor's degree in theater in 1980. Thereupon, he enrolled at the Tisch School of the Arts of New York University, where he received his MFA. He was a classmate of Spike Lee and worked on the crew of his thesis film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads.

During graduate school, Lee finished a 16mm short film, Shades of the Lake (1982), which won the Best Drama Award in Short Film in Taiwan. His own thesis work, a 43-minute drama, Fine Line (1984), won NYU's Wasserman Award for Outstanding Direction and was later selected for the Public Broadcasting Service.

Life after graduation[link]

Lee's NYU thesis drew attention from the William Morris Agency, the famous talent and literary agency that later represented Lee. At first, though, WMA found Lee few opportunities, and Lee remained unemployed for six years. During this time, he was a full-time house-husband, while his wife Jane Lin (Chinese: 林惠嘉; pinyin: Lín Huìjiā), a molecular biologist, was the sole breadwinner for the family of four. This arrangement, usually an embarrassment in Taiwanese culture, put enormous pressure on the couple, but with Lin's support and understanding, Lee did not abandon his career in films but continued to generate new ideas from movies and performances. He also wrote several screenplays during this time.^{[5][citation needed]}

In 1990, Lee submitted two screenplays, Pushing Hands and The Wedding Banquet, to a competition sponsored by the Republic of China's Government Information Office, and they came in first and second respectively. The winning screenplays brought Lee to the attention of Li-Kong Hsu (Chinese: 徐立功; pinyin: Xú Lìgōng), a recently promoted senior manager in a major studio who had strong interests in Lee's unique style and freshness. Hsu, a first-time producer, invited Lee to direct Pushing Hands, a full-length feature that debuted in 1991.

Career[link]

In the 2007 book The Cinema of Ang Lee: The Other Side of the Screen, Whitney Crothers Dilley has analyzed in detail the striking diversity of Lee's films, as well as Lee's recurring themes of alienation, marginalization, and repression.^[6] Many of Lee's films, particularly his early Chinese trilogy, have also focused on the interactions between modernity and tradition. Some of his films have also had a light-hearted comic tone which marks a break from the tragic historical realism which characterized Taiwanese filmmaking after the end of the martial law period in 1987. While The Wedding Banquet (1993) became a break-out hit for Lee as the most proportionately profitable film of 1993, it was Sense and Sensibility (1995) that brought Lee his first true international acclaim. Following that, both Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) (nominated for Academy Award for Best Director) and Brokeback Mountain (2005) (which won the Academy Award for Best Director) became cultural touchstones, sweeping awards ceremonies and, in the case of Brokeback Mountain, sparking intense critical debates. When asked by a TV interviewer how he found his films, Lee is said to have replied: "I don't find my films, my films find me."

Lee's film Brokeback Mountain (2005) won the Golden Lion (best film) award at the Venice International Film Festival and was named 2005's best film by the Los Angeles, New York, Boston, and London film critics. It also won best picture at the 2005 Broadcast Film Critics Association, Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America (Adapted Screenplay), Producers Guild of America and the Independent Spirit Awards as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, with Lee winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Brokeback also won Best Film and Best Director at the 2006 British Academy Awards (BAFTA). In January 2006, Brokeback scored a leading eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Director, which Lee won. He is the first Asian and non-Caucasian director to do so.

In 2007, Lee's film Lust, Caution earned him a second Golden Lion.

Debut from Taiwan[link]

Pushing Hands (1992) was a success in Taiwan both among critics and at the box office. It received eight nominations in the Golden Horse Film Festival, Taiwan's premier film festival. Inspired by the success, Hsu collaborated with Lee in their second film, The Wedding Banquet (1993), which won the Golden Bear at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival^[7] and was nominated as the Best Foreign Language Film in both the Golden Globe and the Academy Awards. In all, this film collected eleven Taiwanese and international awards and made Lee a rising star.

Lee's first two movies were based on stories of Chinese Americans, and both were filmed in the US. In 1995, Hsu invited Lee to return to Taiwan to make Eat Drink Man Woman, a film that depicts traditional values, modern relationships, and family conflicts in Taipei. The film was once again a box office hit and was critically acclaimed. For a second consecutive year, Lee's film received the Best Foreign Language Film nomination in both the Golden Globe and Academy Awards, as well as in the British Academy Award. Eat Drink Man Woman won five awards in Taiwan and internationally, including the Best Director from Independent Spirit. Hollywood optioned the film rights and remade it into Tortilla Soup (2001, dir. María Ripoll). This is one of the rare occasions in which a Taiwanese film was remade outside the country.

Arrival in Hollywood[link]

[edit] Sense and Sensibility

Lee's three acclaimed first dramas opened the door to Hollywood for him. In 1995, Lee directed Columbia TriStar's British classic Sense and Sensibility. The switch from Taiwanese to British films did not prevent Lee's work from garnering awards: Sense and Sensibility made Lee a second-time winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. It was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, and won Best Adapted Screenplay for screenwriter Emma Thompson, who also starred in the movie alongside Hugh Grant and Kate Winslet. Sense and Sensibility also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama.

After this, Lee directed two more Hollywood movies: The Ice Storm (1997), a drama set in 1970s suburban America, and Ride with the Devil, an American Civil War drama (1999). Although the critics still highly praised these latter two films, their box office was not impressive, and for a time this interrupted Lee's unbroken popularity – from both general audiences and arthouse aficionados – since his first full-length movie. However, in the late 1990s and 2000s, The Ice Storm has had high VHS and DVD sales and rentals and repeated screenings on cable television, which has increased the film's popularity among audiences.

1999 onward[link]

[edit] Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

In 1999, Li-Kong Hsu, Lee's old partner and supporter, invited him to make a movie based on the traditional Chinese “wuxia” (martial arts and chivalry) genre. Excited about the opportunity to fulfill his childhood dream, Lee assembled a team from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). The film was a surprising success worldwide. With Chinese dialogue and English subtitles, the film became the highest grossing foreign film in many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Director at the Academy Awards. It ended up winning Best Foreign Language Film and three technical awards. The success of Crouching Tiger demonstrated that Lee's artistry had a general appeal; it also inspired such established directors as Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige to explore wuxia films for Western audiences.

[edit] Hulk

In 2003, Lee returned to Hollywood to direct Hulk, his first big-budget movie. The film received mixed reviews and became a moderate success, grossing over $245 million at the box office. After the setback, Lee considered retiring early, but his father encouraged him to continue making movies.

[edit] Brokeback Mountain

Lee decided to take on a small-budget, low-profile independent film based on Annie Proulx's Pulitzer Prize-finalist short story, Brokeback Mountain. In a 2005 article^{[dead link]} by Robert K. Elder, Lee was quoted as saying, "What do I know about gay ranch hands in Wyoming?" In spite of the director's removal from the subject at hand, Brokeback Mountain showcased Lee's skills in probing depths of the human heart. The 2005 movie about the forbidden love between two Wyoming sheepherders immediately caught public attention and became a cultural phenomenon, initiating intense debates and becoming a box office hit.

The film was critically acclaimed at major international film festivals and won Lee numerous Best Director and Best Picture awards worldwide. Brokeback Mountain was the most acclaimed film of 2005, winning 71 awards and an additional 52 nominations. It was declared Best Picture by such organizations as the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, the Independent Spirit Awards, the 2005 Biennale Venice Film Festival, and the Producers Guild of America. Ang Lee also received his second Best Director award from the Directors Guild of America. Brokeback Mountain was nominated for a leading eight Oscars and was the front runner for Best Picture heading into the March 5 ceremony, but lost out to Crash, a story about race relations in Los Angeles, in a controversial upset. There was some speculation that Brokeback Mountain's homosexual theme was the reason for that upset. Lee said he was disappointed that his film did not win Best Picture,^[8] but was honored to win an Academy Award for Best Director, becoming the first person of Asian heritage and the first non-white to ever win the award.

[edit] Lust, Caution

After Brokeback Mountain, Lee returned to a Chinese topic. His next film was Lust, Caution, which was adapted from a short novel by the Chinese author Eileen Chang. The story was written in 1950, and was loosely based on an actual event that took place in 1939–1940 in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, China, during World War II. Similar to Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee adapted and expanded a short, simple story into a feature film in a way that allows individual figures to develop sophisticated layers of reserved emotions, without being sidetracked by complicated plots or overstuffed material.

Lust, Caution is distributed by Focus Features and premiered at international film festivals in the summer and early fall of 2007. In the US, the movie received a NC-17 rating (no one 17 and under admitted) from the MPAA mainly due to several strongly explicit sex scenes. This was a challenge to the film's distribution because many theater chains in the United States refuse to show NC-17 films. The director and film studio have decided not to appeal the decision. In order to be permitted to show Lust, Caution in mainland China, however, Lee removed 9 minutes from the film to make the content suitable for minor audiences.^[9]

Lust, Caution captured the Golden Lion from the 2007 Biennale Venice Film Festival, making Lee the winner of the highest prize for the second time in three years. The critics in the United States, however, were not all positive. When Lust, Caution was played in Lee's native Taiwan in its original full-length edition, it was very well received. Staying in Taiwan to promote the film and to participate in a traditional Chinese holiday, Lee got emotional when he found that his work was widely applauded by fellow Taiwanese. Lee admitted that he had low expectations for this film from the U.S. audience since "its pace, its film language – it's all very Chinese."^[10]

Lee has been chosen as president of the jury for the 2009 edition of the Venice Film Festival, set to take place from September 2 to 12, 2009.^[11]

Collaborations with James Schamus[link]

Ang Lee has had a career-long collaboration with producer and screenwriter James Schamus.^[12]

Schamus produced or co-produced the following Ang Lee movies:

Schamus co-wrote the following Ang Lee movies:

Personal life[link]

Lee lives in Larchmont, New York with his wife Jane Lin, a microbiologist, whom he married in 1983. They have two sons, Haan Lee (born 1984), and Mason Lee(born 1990).^[13] Lee is a naturalized U.S. citizen.^{[14][15][16][17][18]}

Filmography[link]

Lee has been involved in the process of filmmaking in various capacities, though the highlight of his career and legacy is his directorial work. The following are Lee's various credits.

As Director:

See also: Films directed by Ang Lee

As Writer:

• Pushing Hands (1992)
• The Wedding Banquet (1993)
• Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
• Siao Yu (1995)

As Actor:

• The Wedding Banquet (1993)
• Hulk (2003)
• Hollywood Chinese (2007) – himself

As Editor:

• Pushing Hands (1992)
• Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)

As Producer:

• Siao Yu (1995)
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Accolades[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Dilley, Whitney Crothers. The Cinema of Ang Lee: The Other Side of the Screen. London: Wallflower Press, 2007.
• "Taking Stock of 'Taking Woodstock'" Rushprnews October 5, 2008
• "Ang Lee's movie has a backstory of pure serendipity" by Dan Bloom, Taipei Times. October 11, 2008

• Cheshire, Ellen. Ang Lee. London: Pocket Essentials, 2001.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ang Lee

• Ang Lee at the Internet Movie Database
• Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
• Ang Lee^{[dead link]} (Chinese)
• Ang Lee 64th Venice Film Festival press conference
• DGA Quarterly interview

Bombay Jayashri
Bombay Jayashri
Background information
Genres	Carnatic Music
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocal Music
Years active	1982–present
Website	bombayjayashri.com

Bombay Jayashri Ramnath is an Indian Carnatic music vocalist. She is a disciple of violin maestro Shri. Lalgudi G Jayaraman. She is one of the most sought after contemporary musicians. Jayashri is also a music composer and a teacher, with excellence as an underlying thread in all her activities.

Early Life and Training[link]

Jayashri was born into a family of music connoisseurs and musicians. While growing up in Bombay, she started training in Carnatic music under the guidance of her parents Smt Seetha and Shri N.N. Subramaniam. In a few years, she went on to learn with Smt T. R. Balamani, a very well-respected teacher in Bombay.^[1] Jayashri was also initiated into Hindustani music and trained under Shri Mahavir Jaipurvale and Shri Ajay Pohankar for about six years.
When she moved to Chennai, her musical training took a huge turn, under the guidance and mentorship of her Guru, the legendary violin maestro Shri. Lalgudi G Jayaraman.^[2] Around the same time, she also learnt the veena from Shri G.N. Dhandapani Iyer.^[3]

Performances[link]

Jayashri began her concert career in 1982. She has performed at prestigious festivals and venues all across India and in over twenty different countries. She has the rare privilege of being the first Carnatic vocal performer in the Royal Opera House at Durban and the Russian Opera House at Helsinki, Finland. She has also represented the Carnatic Music tradition at Lausanne, Switzerland; Porto, Portugal and Santiago, Spain and the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. Besides her musical performances, she continues to deliver workshops all over the world on the subject of World Music.

Musical Collaboration[link]

Musical Exchanges and Dialogues[link]

Jayashri's jugalbandis with Ronu Majumdar^[4] and Shubha Mudgal have been very well received.^[5] She has dialogued with artistes in dance like Leela Samson and Priyadarsini Govind.^[6] Jayashri has sung Thirukkural and an Annamacharya verse in the prestigious audio autobiography - Wings of Fire of former President Shri Abdul Kalam.

Cross Cultural Collaboration[link]

Her quest to interact and experiment with various forms of music has resulted in collaborations with various eminent artistes from around the world. She has sung with Egyptian singer Hisham Abbas and Senegalese singer Thione Seck. She was part of an Indo-Finnish venture ‘Red Earth and Pouring Rain’, where she sang Kuṟuntokai  — ancient poems from Sangam literature - with Avanti, a Philharmonic Orchestra from Finland and set to music by Eero_Hämeenniemi. ^[7]

Film Music[link]

Jayashri is also a much sought after playback singer and her limited foray into film music has won her the Filmfare award for the popular number 'Vaseegara', thus drawing a new class of listeners into the world of classical music. Jayashri has also composed music for actor Revathi's telefilm 'Verukku Neer'. ^[8]

Passing on an inheritance[link]

In addition to her musical achievements, she has co-authored the book ‘Voices Within’,^[9] a one-of-a-kind book that captures the pioneering spirit of 7 of the greatest Carnatic masters of the previous generations. Jayashri featured in the first full length Carnatic music film ‘Margazhi Ragam’ along with TM Krishna, which was a ground breaking venture that showed Carnatic music in a whole different light. In her quest to reach music to the next generation, she along with TM Krishna and YACM initiated Svanubhava — a week-long Music Festival, exclusively for students of music, which continues to be conducted annually. ^[10]

Giving back[link]

Another dimension of music which Jayashri is focused on is in exploring the therapeutic and healing value that music can generate. She has been working closely with institutions like Kilikili in Karnataka and Sankalp in Tamil Nadu which care for autistic children. This domain is a matter of serious engagement for Jayashri and her students. Some other institutions that Jayashri has worked with include: The Banyan Chennai (rehabilitation of homeless/mentally challenged women), Vasantha Memorial Trust (cancer patients),^[11] Stepping Stones Orphanage Home, Malaysia , Multiple Sclerosis Society of India, Bangalore^[12] and more.

Awards and Recognition[link]

• Honorary Doctorate - Degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa), awarded by Mother Theresa Women's University, Kodaikkanal, October 2009
• "Sangeetha Saraswathi" from the South Indian Cultural Association (SICA), during its Golden Jubilee Year, 2009.
• "Sangeetha Kalasarathy" award from the Vanamamalai Mutt pontiff Kalian Ramanuja Swamigal on behalf of Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Chennai, 2007.
• Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer in 2005.
• "Kalaimamani Virudhu" from the Government of Tamil Nadu, 2007.
• "Shanmukha Sangeetha Shiromani" from Shanmukhananda Sabha, Bombay, 2006.
• "M S Subbulakshmi Puraskar" from Vishaka Music Academy, Vishakapatnam. Conferred By Shri Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, 2006.
• Received the prestigious 'Sangeetha Choodamani Award' from Dr. A C Muthiah from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai in the presence of her Guru Lalgudi Jayaraman, 2005 ^[13]
• Conferred "Atma Vanishri" from Poojya Shri Shantananda Swami of the Temple of Fine Arts at Varanasi, in the presence Tabla Maestro, Pt. Kishan Maharaj, 2003
• 'Mani Makudam' by Rajalakshmi Fine Arts, Coimbatore, 2002.
• Received the 'Kalki Award' from Cine Director K Balachander, on behalf of the Kalki Krishnamoorthy Trust, 2002.
• Filmfare award for the song 'Vaseegara' from the movie Minnale, 2002.
• 'Naadabhooshanam' by Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha, New Delhi, 2001.
• 'Asthana Vidhushi' of the Shringeri Mutt, 2001.
• Conferred the title of 'Isai Peroli' by Dr. P Chidambaram, Union Minister of Finance, on behalf of the Karthik Fine Arts, in the presence of Music Maestro Balamurali Krishna, 1997.
• "Yuvakala Bharati" conferred by Bharat Kalachar, Chennai, 1992.

Discography[link]

• Smaranam: Song of the Soul (2010, Inreco )
• WindSong - Classical Jugalbandi by Pandit Ronu Majumdar & Bombay Jayashri (2010, Kosmik)
• Confluence of Elements (2007, Saregama)
• Kannamma (2007, Rajalakshmi Audio)
• Azhaga (2006, Rajalakshmi Audio)
• Salokyam (2005, Charsur Digital Workstation)
• Margam (2004, Rajalakshmi Audio)
• Kashi (2003, Charsur Digital Workstation)
• Panchabhutams (2003, Music Today)
• Shyama (2003, Music Today)
• Vatsalyam (2001, Charsur Digital Workstation)
• Shravanam: Music for Meditative Listening (2001, Charsur Digital Workstation 018)
• Atma: Soul (2000, Charsur Digital Workstation 6235)

Jayashri's complete discography can be found on her website. ^[14]

Film Playback Singing[link]

Jayashri has sung several film songs for movies in different languages and predominantly in Tamil. Her first song was for Ilayaraja. She shot to fame after singing the classical duet song "Narumugaye" for the film Iruvar along with Unnikrishnan and composed by A. R. Rahman. Her other playback career highlighting song was "Vaseegara" for the film Minnale in 2001, composed by Harris Jayaraj.

Notable Film discography[link]