here are few events more iconic than Woodstock. An entire generation was defined by a single weekend of great music, naked bodies, and hallucinogenic drugs. Even though the event happened almost 40 years ago, it's still discussed in hushed tones as like totally one of the greatest parties ever, man. The concert was commemorated on film in the infamous Oscar-winning documentary Woodstock, which was edited by Martin Scorsese. However, there has yet to be a great fiction film made about the subject. Considering its importance in American history, Woodstock seems like an obvious choice for a film. Well, the project is finally happening, but oddly it won't be made by anyone old enough to have attended the event or even an American obsessed with the music and culture. No the film will be directed by Ang Lee.

Ang Lee is a filmmaker with a rather curious career. While the proud Taiwanese director is arguably best known for the Mandarin martial arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, most of his career has been spent exploring American culture. For someone speaking about an adopted homeland, Lee has done a remarkable job of capturing the facets of daily American life and commenting on specific moments in US history. His 1997 outing The Ice Storm offered a viscous satire of the American family in the Nixon era that was painfully true, while Brokeback Mountain explored homosexuality within the hyper-masculine world of the American West. Lee has proven himself capable of capturing the American psyche better than most filmmakers born and raised in the country, while also viewing the culture from the perspective of an outsider, which allows him to comment objectively without the burden of nostalgia or patriotism.