Li Han Hsiang's 'Heaven's Gate'

[kenichiku]

Hey come on guys not to appear so abruptly & sounding all uppity but tsk! tsk! Howzabout doin' some homework!
http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=5159&display_set=eng
is NOT a Hong Kong production-it's a landmark Taiwanese title that became Li Han Hsiang's 'Heaven's Gate'. 'Four Moods' is widely known historically to Asian film fans at the time as THE prestige title that sent costs soaring & became one of the nails in the coffin for dtr/producer Li Han Hsiang's own private Indie studio. I believe the entire film community all rallied to work for free to complete this one as everyone feared that this albatross could of sunk the entire industry as they knew it in Taiwan (Govt cultural subsidies would be instituted to support talents like Hou Hsiao Hsien, Tsai Ming-liang & Ed Yang on the global stage later on). I think it got the rounds at Berlin & Cannes but 'Four Moods' ended up being a commercial flop except for die-hard curiosity by arthouse, fests, academically, intelligensia, etc. Taiwan wouldn't return to Europe triumphant again until co-dtr/colleague King Hu would wow Europe at Cannes with 'A Touch of Zen'.

After licking his own wounds, Li returned to HK knocking on Run Run Shaw's door again & commercially hit multiple home runs (starting with Cantonese star muscle in the form of a rising Michael Hui) with 'The Warlord' and beyond. I may have sounded like a separatist with my rants before but the two sister industries in Free-world China used to be more 'Siamese' joined at the hip then than it ever could be now. The special enterprising spirit of this place we're all drawn to called HK cinema was the key. Peace out.

[Brian Thibodeau]

Hey come on guys not to appear so abruptly & sounding all uppity but tsk! tsk! Howzabout doin' some homework!

Nice catch. Nice backgrounder. But when it comes to boo-boos like this one, there's always the possibility that the mistake originated with a previous regime, when things were (perhaps) a little too open 'round here. Of course, I could be wrong...

Location fixed.

[Gaijin84]

Having been focused on them for a few months, I've noticed this happens quite a bit on mainland films as well. A majority seem to be marked as Hong Kong productions.

[kenichiku]

Yeah well what's a database supposed to do if not to manage data.

Er BTW guys, hate to relent like gum to your shoes but back to this title: 1 anthology about the 4 Moods = 4 productions, 4 scripts, 4 casts by 4 pioneer Taiwanese directors. You guys only list 3. You're missing one named 'Li, Hsing/Li Xing' [李行], the one you guys call 'Lee Hang (2)': http://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=4010&display_set=eng

Thanx again.

[kenichiku]

I've noticed this happens quite a bit on mainland films as well. A majority seem to be marked as Hong Kong productions

It's still hard for any Chinese film these days to not have any connection with Hong Kong at some capacity but as far as direct non-passive production activity is concerned, it depends on the vintage of the title. It was pretty easy to ID the origin of a title back from the 50s up thru the mid 80s but careful with the assumptions when declaring a film's origin from say the late 80s up to the present especially where HK & Taiwan either jointly or separately cut corporate deals with Mainland concerns to produce a title where if all 3 industries are involved, makes them 'Siamese' triplets joined a the hip.

[j.crawford]

by 4 pioneer Taiwanese directors. You guys only list 3.

Added 4th director. Thank you.