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Movie producer wows Calvin
By Becca Morrison
Staff Writer
FILE PHOTO
Lee was the producer of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.'
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“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” with its tree top sword fights, quick, intense body maneuvers and beautiful scenery, has become a big hit in America. It was excellently well made, some reviews said. Others said it was breathtakingly beautiful. The quality of that movie can be credited in large part to its distinguished producer, Philip Lee. On January 24, as interim was wrapping up, this producer came to Calvin to tell students about his life in the film business.
He gave two lectures that Friday, one in the afternoon and another in the evening, in order to appeal to two different audiences. They were held in the Bytwerk Video Theater.
“The turnout was wonderful,” Calvin senior Tiffany Leighton, coordinator of Lee’s coming, said. “About 150 students showed up for the events.” She said that she would have liked to see more come, but because it was Interim and because many students had afternoon classes, she could understand why they didn’t.
Leighton introduced Lee in glowing terms, describing his accomplishments over his 25 years of working with film. “He is well rounded, and he has a family,” she said.
Lee just finished his work on “Hero,” a new Chinese action flick that has made it very big in China and is awaiting its release in the United States. He is currently working on “Tomb Raider II.”
“A number of students have commented on how impressed they are by Philip,” Leighton said. “He is a kind, humble, down-to-earth person. For many students, he gave a human face to the film industry. He really encouraged students to pursue their dreams while also stating that it takes hard work, ambition, a willingness to fail and get up again and a little bit of luck.”
In his lecture, Lee started by giving people a rundown of his career background. His first working experience was in Beijing. In the first five years of his career, he had somewhere between 10 to 15 jobs, and couldn’t find anything he liked. Then he found one and stayed with it for over 15 years. He went from a Telex operator to the head of a production company, as well as assistant production manager on films and TV series from the west, such as “E.T.”
After that, Lee went to Japan to study film making at the one school there. He liked it, so he stayed and worked. As a producer, Lee said, his job was to keep the film budget below the maximum money allowance.
In 1992, Lee produced “Dragon: Bruce Lee’s Story,” after the director sent him the script. Around this time, he became a full range producer.
“Before, I didn’t have a lot of creative control,” Lee said. He now had that power.
Lee moved to San Francisco soon after that and set up his own company. In a very well-known move of today’s Hollywood world, he tried to make a movie out of a book. “I failed big time,” Lee said. He consequently lost a lot of money.
His biggest claim to fame so far, in America at least, is his production of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” a movie which did quite well in the West but which comparatively flopped in its China homeland. Even Lee had strong criticism for the movie. “I like the script a lot, but because of the acting of this cast, the movie sucks,” he said.
Originally, a different girl was cast for the role of the rebellious young warrior. But she couldn’t move, Lee said. And because the movie had so many intricate fighting scenes and portrayed extraordinarily talented and agile warriors, they chose Zhang Ziyi, who had a “very strong dancing background, but [who was] not a very good actor,” Lee said. “You have to make a choice.”
“Hero” is the last film he worked on, which was released in China before Christmas. It has been a box office hit there, already grossing over $30 million. He said it has not been released in the United States yet due to controversy between American companies. It has been sold to Miramax and is scheduled to be released in May.
During Lee’s lecture, he showed two trailers for “Hero,” both of which impressively displayed action sequences, scenery, intense drama and a host of other promising material for Hollywood lovers.
The special effects budget for this film was $30 million, much higher than the “Crouching Tiger” $12 million, but Lee said he had a “gut feeling that Crouching Tiger is better.”
Lee was asked to come to Calvin after Leighton met him at a cinematographer’s party in Beijing. At that time, Leighton was interning at a Chinese television production company through Calvin’s Asian Studies Internship Grant. “We talked about the production I was working on, his project ‘Hero,’ and talked in general,” Leighton said. “We kept in touch.”
In October, she asked Professors Lawrence Herzberg and Carl Plantinga, both involved in the new Film Forum at Calvin, if it would be possible to host filmmakers at Calvin for lectures.
“They thought it was a good idea and so I asked Philip if he would like to lecture at Calvin,” Leighton said. “He was thrilled to receive the invitation.”
Calvin paid for all his expenses within the United States, his transportation, lodging, and food, Leighton said. Lee left Grand Rapids airport with a smile on his face. “I think Calvin really hosted him well, and he just might come back.”
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