Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 14:02:50 -0500
From: Ryan Krivoshey <ryan-AT-frif.com>
Subject: Re: lost dawg



Rina,

I tried to track down where I read about this, but so far I've had no luck. 
I know it was an interview with James Schamus (the scriptwriter), but I 
don't remember where it appeared. In the interview he goes on to say that 
the first draft of the script was written from an Asian point of view, and 
was subsequently turned down by Ang Lee as not being 
realistic.  Ironically, the second draft, the one drawn from his own 
experiences, was enthusiastically accepted by Lee, for its, according to 
him, perfectly realistic representation of the Asian characters. If I find 
the article, I'll let you know.

As a final note, in the course of my search I stumbled upon this interview 
with Schamus in MovieMaker Magazine, that included this very interesting 
(and relevant to our discussion) question and answer exchange. For the full 
interview: http://www.moviemaker.com/hop/01/scrn-schamus.html

Ryan

MM: Is It true that the script was tailored to an American sensibility 
rather than a Chinese one?
JS: I wouldn't put it that way. We wanted to make a quintessentially 
Chinese film that could speak to worldwide audiences in much the same way 
that Hollywood makes quintessentially American films that speak to 
worldwide audiences. The film embraces its international audiences, I hope, 
with the same amount of generosity that Hollywood films often have toward 
worldwide audiences. So, rather than making a kind of Hollywood version of 
a Chinese movie, I think we ended up making a Chinese version of an 
international blockbuster.

At 03:25 PM 1/25/01 +0000, you wrote:
>Have you a
>source for your sentence below? The scripwriter ....
> >> U.S. distribution company Good Machine, and has himself said that he
> >> modeled the characters in the film on his own Jewish family members and
> >> friends.

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