Ang Lee's New Work--Up the Mountain Once More

Taiwan director Ang Lee--a "fellow towns- man" of Wang Chien-ming (both get their IDs from the same regional office in Tainan)--won the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion Award for his film Lust, Caution on September 9. This is the second time he has won the award since 2005, when he won it for Brokeback Mountain. He is the first director ever to win this honor twice in three years.

Following his graduation from the National Taiwan Academy of Arts, Ang went to the US to study at NYU's Kanbar Institute of Film and Television. After graduation he went through six tough years of unemployment, taking care of the children at home. In Taiwan in 1991, with the support of Central Motion Picture Corporation, he shot Pushing Hands and made his name. Later as a Taiwan director he made a series of Western movies, including the English classic Pride and Prejudice; Hulk, based on the comic-book character of the same name; and Brokeback Mountain, a US film dealing with the "fringe" theme of homosexuality. All this demonstrated his masterful handling of both Eastern and Western cultural themes, making him one of the all-time top award winners in the history of international film.

Lust, Caution is based on a short story by Eileen Chang set in China of the 1930s, in which a female secret agent, Wang Jiazhi, assassinates a Mr. Yee, a Chinese collaborator. The depiction in the film of the erotic and sexually passionate relationship between the two is treated boldly and in exquisite detail. In both Taiwan and the US the film has been given a restricted rating (NC-17 in the US) and in China the film has been severely cut. This new film has completely stood Ang Lee's gentle and reserved image on its head. Even Ang Lee himself frankly confesses that the pressure on him was for a time almost crushing. Fortunately with the affirmation of the Venice award his dread of returning to Taiwan has been alleviated.

In addition to the erotic quality of the film that has raised eyebrows and the protests of the family of the film's real central female character (KMT agent Zheng Pingru), another element is the ongoing argument over which country--China, the US or Taiwan--is the film's country of origin. According to Lee, the story of Lust, Caution is Chinese, the actors and technical crew include people from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the US, thus the country of origin is not an issue and early next year the film will represent Taiwan in a bid for a US Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film. No matter what the result may turn out to be, Taiwanese are all hoping and wishing for the best.

Wang Chien-ming--Tougher in Adversity

(photo by Hsu Chen-hui, United Daily News)

Ever since Wang Chien-ming got into US Major League Baseball in 2005, his excellent performance has attracted wide attention. Last year, with a record of 19 wins, Wang became Major League's top pitcher (along with Johan Santana), and was the first Asian pitcher in the league to ever achieve this. Although so far this year Wang missed four starts due to injury and has had trouble controlling the ball, he has still turned in a remarkable performance, compiling 18 wins as of mid-September.

On September 16 Wang Chien-ming was pitching in a Yankee/Red Sox series against Red Sox throwing ace Joshua Beckett, who with 18 wins is this year's Cy Young award winner. This contest attracted millions of viewers in Taiwan who stayed up all night, staring at the screen and holding their breath. Too bad that Wang, in addition to poor ball control and three consecutive walks in the third inning, was hit hard in the fifth inning, giving up four straight runs, and sadly left the game. His compatriots were crestfallen.

For Taiwanese, Wang Chien-ming's win/loss record has become an indicator driving the national mood. But the ball is round, and ups and downs for athletes are all part of the game. Just like Johan Santana, with whom he shared the Cy Young top spot last year, to date Wang has only 15 wins. And Japan's baseball ace Daisuke Matsuzaka (Boston Red Sox), famously known as the "Heisei Monster," after his transition to Major League baseball saw his myth destroyed and suffered a good deal of humiliation. Since Wang has been identified by all MLB teams as a pitcher to be well prepared for, his pitching needs to be more flexible and varied. His stuff and his control have to be better than in the past for him to get the job done.

Although he has fallen behind in the race for top pitcher this year, given his serious and steadfast character Wang still has hopes of winning 20 games this season. Let's hope this Wang Chien-ming tornado is not a passing thing, that Wang will continue hardening and moving forward with each test he faces for a long time to come.

Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung

Also in the US, Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung, women's tennis double partners, followed their second-place win in January at the Australian Open by taking second place again on September 10 at the US Open, compiling the best record ever at Grand Slam tournaments for Taiwanese players.

At this year's US Open women's doubles, Chan and Chuang were fifth seeds and won five matches to reach the final. In the final on September 10 they played France's Nathalie Dechy and Russia's Dinara Safina. Facing their opponents, frequent players in Grand Slam events, Chan and Chuang seemed to lack experience and made a series of missteps. Chan's drives went frequently into the net while Chuang's top shot, her lob, was either too low or went sky high. Not only did both players lose their former smiles, Chan Yung-jan, angry at her own performance in the match, threw her racket down several times. The pair lost straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.

Although Chan, just 17, and Chuang, 22, lost the match, they could still be proud in defeat. Their backers also deserved a lot of credit. Chan Yung-jan is from a wealthy family and her path to tennis was actively prepared by her father. The Chan family suffered terribly in the September 21 earthquake of 1999, yet Chan seized every opportunity to play in tournaments just as she had before. Chuang Chia-jung, who comes from a well-to-do middle-class family, has parents who were willing to take on hundreds of thousands of NT dollars worth of credit-card debt to cover the enormous expense of training and participation in overseas tournaments, overcoming all obstacles to support their daughter. Now, in addition to government financial assistance, Four Pillars Enterprise Co., the OEC Group, and Lee Yuan-tseh, former president of Academia Sinica, are all helping out with their considerable resources.

Chan and Chuang's achievements have inspired the Taiwanese public. Will these two homegrown players be able to move up the ladder? It's a test not only for them, but for their countrymen as well.