Pushing Hands (1991)

Interesting facts

Pushing Hands is a 1991 comedy-drama film directed by Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee, his feature directorial debut. It stars Sihung Lung as a Chinese tai chi master living in New York, who struggles to find his place in the world. The film shows the contrast between traditional Chinese ideas of Confucian relationships within a family and the much more informal Western emphasis on the individual. Together with Ang Lee's two following films, The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), it forms his "Father Knows Best" trilogy, each of which deals with conflicts between an older and more traditional generation and their children as they confront a world of change.

Production

Taiwanese-born filmmaker Ang Lee had graduated from New York University Tisch School of the Arts in 1984, but had failed to find career opportunities since, working almost full-time as a house-father. During the intermediate six years, he became interested in martial arts, specifically tai chi, after reading the wuxia novel Jianghu qixia zhuan (The Story of an Extraordinary Gallant Errant).

The winning screenplays brought Lee to the attention of Hsu Li-kong, a recently promoted senior manager in a major studio who had a strong interest in Lee's unique style and freshness. Hsu, a first-time producer, invited Lee to direct Pushing Hands. The film was financed by the Taiwanese production company Central Motion Pictures, who also handled the film's domestic release.

The leading role of Mr. Chu was played by Sihung Lung, a veteran Taiwanese film, TV, and stage actor. At the time of his casting, he had already retired from acting, but enjoyed the script so much he came out of retirement to star in it. He would become one of Lee's frequent collaborators, subsequently starring in The Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman (where he also played a character named Chu), and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Good Machine initially estimated that the filming period of the film would be three weeks, but under Lee's insistence, Schamus and Hope changed the shooting period to four weeks. Before filming began, the crew spent two weeks setting and rehearsing. On the day of the shooting, the crew set up a table and incense, and held a gong ceremony, a practice Lee would continue into his future projects.

The film was shot entirely on-location in New York City, making it the first Taiwanese film to be shot entirely in the United States. The Chu residence was a house located in the North Riverdale sub-neighborhood of The Bronx. Ang requested that the house have very large windows in order to photograph the interior from the outside.

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