We were blessed with ‘mostly’ fantastic weather last week and a gloriously sunny weekend as I attended MSPIFF! Thank God for that, as there have been years where I had to cancel screening plans due to a snowstorm in April. My hubby and I even took a stroll by the Mississippi River in between screenings.
Films that I saw – first week of MSPIFF
I managed to see five films, 3 narratives and 2 documentaries (three of them directed by women), both at the Main Cinema in Minneapolis (pictured above) and at Edina Theater, one of this year’s MSPIFF’s satellite locations. I enjoyed all five of these films in varying degrees; my favorite of the five is Ai Weiwei’s Turandot, which showcases Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei as he makes his directorial debut in opera at the Rome Opera House. He uses Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot as a backdrop to explore various pressing issues facing humanity.
Expect to see my reviews of the films in the coming weeks, but I’ll release my review of A24’s The Legend of Ochi the week of its release, April 25.
A Conversation with Ang Lee
This is an event I had been anticipating for weeks! Before Mr. Lee showed up, though, we got a bonus guest, renowned Hollywood executive Donna Smith, who was originally from Minnesota. She was the President of Physical Production and Post Production at Universal Studios, and was the Completion Bonds Executive who helped green-light Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
She talked about meeting Ang Lee and how he convinced her to green light his martial arts epic. She ended up having two of her films competing for Best Picture Oscar, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic, and the latter won in 2000.
I was so thrilled that I got to listen to A Conversation with Ang Lee, moderated by Deirdre Haj, Vice President of Art House Convergence and MSPIFF Advisory Council Member. Ang Lee is one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers of this generation. He has won two Best Director Oscars (becoming the first filmmaker of Asian descent to win an Oscar for directing), plus a Lifetime Achievement Award from the DGA.
It’s truly inspiring to witness a respected and renowned filmmaker who stays humble, down-to-earth, and is always eager to continue honing his skills. Glad I got to sit three rows from the front as Mr. Lee is soft-spoken, and even with the mic, it was a bit tough to hear him at times. It was fascinating to hear him talk about some of his most famous films, including my personal favorite, Sense & Sensibility. He admitted that he still had broken English at the time and wasn’t sure how to work with big stars like Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson, and Hugh Grant. At times, he wasn’t sure what direction to give his actors.
In particular, he told the story with Alan Rickman that after he delivered a particularly long monologue, Lee kept telling him to do ‘less, less’ and after the third take, he didn’t have the heart to say ‘less’ so he said ‘more,’ to which Rickman bafflingly asked, ‘so do you want me to do less or more?’ and Lee answered, ‘well, more or less.’ Mwahahaha!!!
Ang Lee received MSPIFF’s Milgrom Tribute
The MSPIFF44 Milgrom Tribute, named after the founder of the MSP Film Society, Al Milgrom, highlights artists whose unique talents leave a mark on each of their films. These individuals have played a key role in elevating the appreciation of cinema and have consistently made significant impacts worldwide.
I can’t imagine anyone more deserving of this honor than Ang Lee!
See the video below when Ang Lee received the Al Milgrom tribute award from MSPIFF’s programming director Jesse Bishop:
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Nice to see that Ang Lee is still humbled. I remember he told a story in an interview about his early struggle when trying to break into filmmaking. His wife is a doctor or a scientist, so she was the bread winner and supported him before he became a big time director in Hollywood. I’m curious what he’ll tackle next for his next movie. I think The Gemini Man was has last ditch effort at convincing people that HFR should be the norm when it comes to movies.
Yeah I think I read about his wife as well, that’s super cool that she was supportive of her husband’s creative vision. I think Lee’s dad wasn’t fond of his career choice, though he did come around in the end. He shared a story about how he was planning to retire but his dad encouraged him to do another film, and he ended up doing Brokeback Mountain, but his dad passed away before he made the film.
Well, nobody asked him about HFR but they only had time for 3 questions 😦
Sounds like a great first week! I can’t wait to read your reviews.
Glad the weather got its act together after dumping snow on us a couple of weeks ago lol
I’m dropping my first MSPIFF tonight 🙂 Yeah, I’m thrilled about this long stretch of nice weather with sunshine and blue skies, finally!
It would be interesting to know what Ang Lee thinks of the remake of The Wedding Banquet that’s coming out soon. Ruth, I hope you asked for his number.
I wish I had thought of that question, Patrick! But there was sadly only time for 3 questions, somehow I thought the event would be longer. I personally think the original The Wedding Banquet is so perfect, there’s no need for a remake
Mwahaha, I don’t think I’d ever be allowed back if I were to ask for his number 😀
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Yes, I totally enjoyed this recap.
Love that Ang Lee was honoured.
What a time you are having, Ruth. Yahoo, and thank you for sharing all of this with us!
You are the best film reviewer I’ve ever encountered, because I feel your passion.
Awww… thank you Resa!! I am passionate about movies, that’s why I think AI cannot replace film criticism as we add our emotion into our writing, something a robot cannot do! Same with filmmaking, though some people argue AI can make good movies, that remains to be seen, ahah!
I think AI will make god movies when all real people who made real movies are gone, and the world is filed with people who grew up with AI, and don’t know anything else.
Where did we come from? Where are we going?
Hey Resa! Yeah maybe in post-apocalypse when all that’s left are robots and sentient beings, ahahaha! It’ll be interesting for the younger generations in terms of competing with AI, I’d long retired or dead by the time that happens!
Yeah, agree! … I’d like to see the future though, just like I’d like to time travel to the past.
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