Ang Lee is a storied director whose body of work includes the acclaimed Brokeback Mountain, Life of Pi, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Universally considered an expert of the medium, it may come as some surprise that Lee has harsh words about recent cinematic format trends.
In an interview with IndieWire, Lee says that he has no plans to ever utilize 3D or HFR formats again. This comes after his two most recent films, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and Gemini Man were shot at 120 fps and were shown in 3D in some theaters. Coincidentally, both films were critical disappointments, with the former not even recouping its budget. Chief among Lee’s complaints is that the industry is not ready for 3D and HFR because there is no ecosystem to support it.
“3D in general … (is) so bad,” says Lee. “The filmmakers are bad. The theaters are bad. The whole ecosystem is bad. It’s not made for (3D). I refuse to complain, to blame it on the medium… it’s the audience, and the industry, (who) were not prepared.”
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The director goes on to comment on the camera techniques he developed to try to make up for the newer format’s shortcomings.
“That’s why I developed new projectors. It’s four times brighter. It’s a new language a filmmaker has to pick up, audience has to get used to it, it just takes time. There are bad filmmakers, it’s that simple. Audiences only see what they see. It’s dark, and they get a headache. Filmmakers don’t know what they’re doing with the images. It’s just the beginning.”
Lee’s stated that his next film will be a Bruce Lee biopic, and its no surprise that he says it will not be shot in HFR or for 3D.
