Gemini Man the latest fruit of Ang Lee’s drastic left turn to 3D and digital cinema – ‘I began to question my faith’ after Life of Pi, he says
- Lee’s film stars Will Smith as a government assassin pursued by a younger version of himself – a character created by motion-capture technology
- Nothing looks like Gemini Man, its ultra sharp footage shot at a high frame rate. Critics don’t like it, but the Taiwanese director will keep pushing boundaries
Ang Lee’s conversion began with Life of Pi.
It was the director’s first movie in 3D, and he sweated anxiously over the implementation of the technology and the torturous process of adapting Yann Martel’s fanciful and allegorical book set principally in a raft containing a 450lb (204kg) Bengal tiger.
Lee was excited, though, to challenge himself with, as he says, a new dimension. But an early trial – a test shot with a dancing Indian girl – was disappointing.
“I realised I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t see her expression. There was so much jitter. I thought something was wrong with the cameras” recalls Lee. “I sort of freaked out. But I couldn’t back out. That started my journey.”
That journey has turned into one of the more unexpected and drastic left-hand turns of any filmmaker as highly regarded as Lee is.