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Making This Movie As A Period Piece About A Period That Was Very Recent In People's Minds. I Was In Taiwan [during The 1970s], So I Hope I Did All Right. Otherwise, It Could Be The Biggest Embarrassment Of My Life. Also, The Story Is Not Linear, It's Patchy, Like A Cubist Painting, And There Is Always The Possibility It Will Not Hold Together, It Will Fall Apart. The Tone Is Part Satire, Part Serious Drama, Part Tragedy, All Mixed Together, And It Has To Hit An Emotional Core. That's Also Very Scary.

Every Movie I Make. That’s My Hideout, The Place I Don’t Quite Understand, But Feel Most At Home.

The Fear Factor Actually Brings The Genuineness.

Even The Favorite Reviews, The Audience Response Is The Movie Is Too Slow, Deliberately Slow. But For The Chinese Audience, The Biggest Complaint Is It Happens Too Quick. I Think The Historical Background That Build Into Our Genes Is Different. American People Has Never Been Occupied. The Deep Sadness And Sentimentality, The Cultural Background That Relates To Melodrama That We Relate To And Grow Up With, The Propaganda, I Didn't Imagine The Difference Is So Big. It's A Very Interesting Cultural Phenomenon.

Meanwhile, The Ice Storm Was Still In Development, And That Was Something I Really Wanted To Do, And Frankly I Don't Think I Was Ready To Do A Big Production Like This.