Taiwanese filmmaker added a prestigious honor Tuesday to his already exceedingly decorated career in the arts. The three-time Oscar winner was presented with the Praemium Imperiale at a black-tie ceremony in Tokyo. Often described as ‘s version of the Nobel Prize, the award is handed out annually to artists working in various fields.
A mark of the prize’s prestige, past honorees in the film and theater category have included true icons of film history, such as Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, Jean-Luc Godard, Martin Scorsese and Catherine Deneuve. “I’d like to think that my career is a never-ending school where I learn about cinema and about myself and about the world. There is no end to that learning,” Lee said during a news conference in Tokyo ahead of the awards ceremony.
“As the first person from Taiwan to receive this award, I’m proud and deeply grateful.” Related Stories Lee’s singular career is undoubtedly deserving of the high commendation. His body of work is characterized as much by a questing artistic curiosity as it is expressive mastery.
As critics have been noting for years, few to no directors of his generation have generated a filmography of such high quality and relentless diversity. After earning two Oscar nominations from his early trilogy of Taiwanese family dramas — (1991), (1993) and (1994) — Lee ventured far from his comfort zone to direct his critically acclaimed adaptation of Jane Austen’s (1995). That success encouraged him d.