Ang Lee’s best quotes: Hulk director says Jackie Chan and Jet Li films represent ‘the worst’ of Chinese culture, and why he may be too melodramatic

Arguably, though, none can match the accomplishments of Taiwanese director Ang Lee, the man behind modern classics including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Lust, Caution and The Wedding Banquet. He has won a clutch of awards in Asia at both the Hong Kong Film Awards and Golden Horse awards. In Europe, he twice won the top prize at both the Berlin and Venice film festivals, as well as two Bafta awards. Not even success in America has eluded him – his films have won a total of nine Golden Globes over the years. For years, Lee was tipped to become the first Chinese director to win best director at the Oscars and he duly delivered, not once but twice, winning for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Life of Pi (2012).

In celebration of Lee’s 66th birthday, STYLE looks back at some of the director’s most memorable quotes.

On Jackie Chan and Jet Li, in The Guardian

“I have two sons in America, and all they care about in Chinese culture is Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Those films present probably the worst, most raucous part of Chinese culture. I want to straighten that out. So my parental affection comes into the project.”

On his father’s disapproval, in Interview magazine

“The way I grew up, women didn’t matter as much, as you might guess. It was all about the father. My father was the centre of the family, and everyone tried to please him. After doing about three films about fathers and sons, I realised that there is a family tree in the Chinese tradition represented by this patriarch character. Everyone, even the women, work to preserve that social structure.

“My father never encouraged me. Even when I got the Oscar [for Brokeback Mountain], he never encouraged me. So even though I had gotten an Oscar and had made some films, now it was time to do something for real.”