Ang Lee OBS (Chinese: 李安; pinyin: Lǐ Ān; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. His films are known for their emotional charge and exploration of repressed, hidden emotions. During his career, he has received international critical and popular acclaim and numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. Born in Pingtung County, Lee gained fame in Taiwan for the Father Knows Best trilogy, including Pushing Hands (1991), The Wedding Banquet (1993), and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), which explored the relationships and conflicts between tradition and modernity, and between Eastern and Western cultures. His breakthrough in Hollywood came with Sense and Sensibility (1995), which was his first English-language film. His other notable films include The Ice Storm (1997), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Hulk (2003), Lust, Caution (2007), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Life of Pi (2012), Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016), Gemini Man (2019). Description above from the Wikipedia article Ang Lee, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- October 23, 1954 (72)
- Chaojhou, Pingtung, Taiwan
- Director, producer, actor and writer
- 15 on MovieCove · 34 credits in all
What are Ang Lee's films like?
Across their 16 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 16
A split, not a type: Light 5 · Serious 5 · Dark 6
A split, not a type: Grounded 8 · Stylized 6 · Heightened 2
Gentle 3 · Charged 7 · Intense 6
Steady 6 · Shifting 8 · Whiplash 2
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 10 · Some laughs 5 · Funny 1
Slow burn 9 · Even-paced 7 · Relentless 0
Casual 5 · Engaged 8 · Full focus 3
A split, not a type: Easy watch 3 · Affecting 5 · Heavy 8
Resolved 9 · Open-ended 4 · Ambiguous 3
Moods and endings
- Happy5
- Bittersweet9
- Tragic1
- Cyclical1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Ang Lee's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 8 of their 15 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (5).
Subscription and free streaming for Ang Lee's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
34 credits, 15 with a MovieCove page; 31 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
76 Days Adrift (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
The Wedding Banquet(2025)
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films
Gemini Man(2019)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all films
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A Retrospective (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
鲁豫有约一日行 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Thirteen Talks (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Grade One (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Life of Pi(2012)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Taking Woodstock(2009)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films
Lust, Caution(2007)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Be My Guest (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Brokeback Mountain(2005)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
The Colbert Report (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Hulk(2003)
Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all films
Tortilla Soup(2001)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films
The Hire (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
Chosen (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Ride with the Devil(1999)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
The Ice Storm(1997)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
Sense and Sensibility(1995)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Siao Yu (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1995)
Eat Drink Man Woman(1994)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
The Wedding Banquet(1993)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1992)
Pushing Hands (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1991)
Of East and West (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1989)
Fine Line (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1984)
Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1983)
I Wish I Was by That Dim Lake (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1982)
The South Bank Show (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1978)
Gold Mountain (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Untitled Bruce Lee Biopic (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 34 titles, 32 of them dated from 1978 to 2025.
Biggest box office
Life of Pi (2012)
Highest rated
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
Most popular right now
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
2 Oscars, 2 Golden Globes, 5 BAFTA Awards and 11 other major awards from 45 major nominations, 1993–2025.
- Directors Guild Award, won
- BAFTA Award, won · Film
- Oscar, won · Best Achievement in Directing
- Oscar, nominated · Best Motion Picture of the Year
- Golden Globe, nominated · Best Director - Motion Picture
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Director
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Film
+3 other major bodies · 3 nominations
- Directors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
- Producers Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Director
- Cannes award, nominated
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Film Not in the English Language
- Venice award, won · Best Film
- Oscar, won · Best Achievement in Directing
- Golden Globe, won · Best Director - Motion Picture
- BAFTA Award, won
+3 other major bodies · 3 wins
- Directors Guild Award, won · Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
- Critics Choice Award, won · Best Director
- Independent Spirit Award, won · Best Director
- Venice award, won · Best Film
Show 6 earlier yearsShow fewer
- Oscar, nominated · Best Director
- Oscar, nominated · Best Picture
- Golden Globe, won · Best Director - Motion Picture
- BAFTA Award, won · Best Film not in the English Language
- BAFTA Award, won
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Film
+3 other major bodies · 3 wins and 1 nomination
- Directors Guild Award, won · Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
- Producers Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures
- Independent Spirit Award, won · Best Director
- Independent Spirit Award, won · Best Feature
- Cannes award, nominated
- Golden Globe, nominated · Best Director - Motion Picture
- BAFTA Award, won · Best Film
- BAFTA Award, nominated
+2 other major bodies · 1 win and 2 nominations
- Berlinale award, won
- Berlinale award, nominated
- Directors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Film not in the English Language
+1 other major body · 2 nominations
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Director
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Screenplay
- Cannes award, nominated · Directors' Fortnight
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Director
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Feature
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Screenplay
- Berlinale award, won
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Ang Lee's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 89th percentile, the median of all 15; across their 16 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 89th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up8
- 50th to 74th4
- 25th to 49th3
Shape of the crowd
7 of their 15 titles are Universally Loved.
- Universally Loved7
- Crowd Pleaser5
- Broadly Agreed2
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the atmosphere 80/100 and the pacing 54/100 in their films, across 16 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Ang Lee's work okay for kids?
Across up to 14 MovieCove titles with content scores, every category sits near the median of all films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Ang Lee work with?
People who share at least 2 of Ang Lee's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Tim Squyres shares the most, 12.
Writers
- James SchamusShared titles: Taking Woodstock (2009), Lust, Caution (2007), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Hulk (2003), Tortilla Soup (2001), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Ride with the Devil (1999), The Ice Storm (1997), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), The Wedding Banquet (1993)See all 11 shared titles with James Schamus
- Hui-Ling WangShared titles: Lust, Caution (2007), Tortilla Soup (2001), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)See all 4 shared titles with Hui-Ling Wang
Actors
- Sihung LungShared titles: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), The Wedding Banquet (1993)See all 3 shared titles with Sihung Lung
- Joan ChenShared titles: Hollywood Chinese (2007), Lust, Caution (2007)See all 2 shared titles with Joan Chen
- Tobey MaguireShared titles: Ride with the Devil (1999), The Ice Storm (1997)See all 2 shared titles with Tobey Maguire
- Ah-Lei GuaShared titles: Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), The Wedding Banquet (1993)See all 2 shared titles with Ah-Lei Gua
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Tim SquyresShared titles: Gemini Man (2019), Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016), Life of Pi (2012), Taking Woodstock (2009), Lust, Caution (2007), Hulk (2003), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Ride with the Devil (1999), The Ice Storm (1997), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), The Wedding Banquet (1993)See all 12 shared titles with Tim Squyres
- Mychael DannaShared titles: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016), Life of Pi (2012), Ride with the Devil (1999), The Ice Storm (1997)See all 4 shared titles with Mychael Danna
- Frederick ElmesShared titles: Hulk (2003), Ride with the Devil (1999), The Ice Storm (1997)See all 3 shared titles with Frederick Elmes
- Danny ElfmanShared titles: Taking Woodstock (2009), Hulk (2003)See all 2 shared titles with Danny Elfman
Producers
- David LeeShared titles: Gemini Man (2019), Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016), Life of Pi (2012), Taking Woodstock (2009), Lust, Caution (2007)See all 5 shared titles with David Lee
- Ted HopeShared titles: Ride with the Devil (1999), The Ice Storm (1997), Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), The Wedding Banquet (1993)See all 4 shared titles with Ted Hope
- Li-Kong HsuShared titles: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), The Wedding Banquet (1993)See all 3 shared titles with Li-Kong Hsu
- Brian BellShared titles: Gemini Man (2019), Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Brian Bell
Mixed roles
- Jean-Christophe CastelliShared titles: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016), Life of Pi (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Jean-Christophe Castelli