Americans Are Hidden Dragons To Me.

I Think The American West Really Attracts Me Because It's Romantic. The Desert, The Empty Space, The Drama.

I Think Great Romance Needs Great Obstacles And Textures.

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.

The Fear Factor Actually Brings The Genuineness.

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.