Asia Society presents Water and Oil: The Movies of Ang Lee; a complete retrospective from February 14-23 with select appearances by the filmmaker and collaborators.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Ang Lee, US, 2016, DCP, 113 min.
Ang Lee’s most misunderstood movie—bafflingly advertised as exactly the kind of patriotic war spectacle it critiques and satirizes—is a brilliant psychological examination of the disconnect between violence and a culture that celebrates it. Joe Alwyn stars in his big-screen debut as the eponymous Billy Lynn, back from a tour of duty in Iraq after a “heroic” performance on the battlefield. He and his unit are feted at the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving home game and trailed by a fickle Hollywood agent who promises big paychecks for the rights to their story. Kristen Stewart plays Billy’s adoring younger sister, who was injured in a car crash caused by her guilt-ridden brother years earlier, and whose medical bills he joined the army to pay off.
Through traumatic flashbacks, originally filmed at 120 frames per second, Lee’s film conveys both the general horror of war and the particular moral dubiousness of America’s mission in Iraq, but it also suggests that ordinary Americans are even more implicated in their country’s bogus wars than the soldiers who choose to fight them, often as an alternative to poverty. Billy confronts the testosterone-fueled spectacle of American sports and media with the increasing knowledge that he’ll never close the gap in understanding between himself and his countryfolk. Having been lectured on the glory of the Alamo by a dunderheaded NFL executive trying to extract his unit’s life rights for a bargain, Billy belatedly claps back: “About the Alamo? Mexico kicked Texas’s ass.”
Note: This film was partially shot and meant to be exhibited at 120 frames per second in 3D. Due to prohibitive costs and unavailable materials, we are unable to show the film in its optimal intended format. The filmmaker has requested that it be shown in standard frame rate 2D rather than standard frame rate 3D.
Water and Oil: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
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Sat, Feb 22, 11:00 AM - 01:00 PM (EST)
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Asia Society presents Water and Oil: The Movies of Ang Lee; a complete retrospective from February 14-23 with select appearances by the filmmaker and collaborators.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Ang Lee, US, 2016, DCP, 113 min.
Ang Lee’s most misunderstood movie—bafflingly advertised as exactly the kind of patriotic war spectacle it critiques and satirizes—is a brilliant psychological examination of the disconnect between violence and a culture that celebrates it. Joe Alwyn stars in his big-screen debut as the eponymous Billy Lynn, back from a tour of duty in Iraq after a “heroic” performance on the battlefield. He and his unit are feted at the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving home game and trailed by a fickle Hollywood agent who promises big paychecks for the rights to their story. Kristen Stewart plays Billy’s adoring younger sister, who was injured in a car crash caused by her guilt-ridden brother years earlier, and whose medical bills he joined the army to pay off.
Through traumatic flashbacks, originally filmed at 120 frames per second, Lee’s film conveys both the general horror of war and the particular moral dubiousness of America’s mission in Iraq, but it also suggests that ordinary Americans are even more implicated in their country’s bogus wars than the soldiers who choose to fight them, often as an alternative to poverty. Billy confronts the testosterone-fueled spectacle of American sports and media with the increasing knowledge that he’ll never close the gap in understanding between himself and his countryfolk. Having been lectured on the glory of the Alamo by a dunderheaded NFL executive trying to extract his unit’s life rights for a bargain, Billy belatedly claps back: “About the Alamo? Mexico kicked Texas’s ass.”
Note: This film was partially shot and meant to be exhibited at 120 frames per second in 3D. Due to prohibitive costs and unavailable materials, we are unable to show the film in its optimal intended format. The filmmaker has requested that it be shown in standard frame rate 2D rather than standard frame rate 3D.