HK NEW WAVE DIRECTORS in the 80's

[eric draven]

I make a work on hk new wave directors but it's difficult for find a complete list for all directors. this is a list I made:

rachel zen
patrick tam
ann hui
clifford choi
cheuk pak tong
lau shing hon
yim ho
tsui hark
allen fong
kirk wong
johnny mak
david lai
alex cheung
terry tong
peter yung
dennis yu
tony au
leong po-chi
ronny yu
wong chi
Kam Ping-Hing
shu kei
alfred cheung
allan fung
lam kuen
ng siu wan
eddie fong
ging hoi lam

please tell me if some are missing (or to remove from the list). I get all their movies, only "the extra"(1978) and "the system"(1979) are missing. did somebody have them?

maybe I can add these directors to the new wave but they come on cinema industry after...
wong kar wai
mabel cheung
alex law
jacob cheung
fruit chan
stanley kwan
EDIT: yes, they came later, after the begining of the new wave. We cannot inclued them inside (maybe not alex law coz he was a scriptwriter for hk tv before 1980).

someone heard about director lee pui-kuen? I read on a book he made "ghost story" in 1981 but no information about it. somebody know about it?

please let me know if you know something about that...
thx a lot

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

I have been doing a little studying on this of late. The first is what is the most acceptable definition of what constitutes a Hong Kong New Wave director. Start with the definition and then work outward. This seems to be a bit more difficult than defining the French New Wave ( Cahiers du cinéma, technique though even its definition does not always work because some of its influence like Melville, Agnès Varda and others had already incorporated real life locations, independence, no artificial lighting etc...).

If I remember I have some books I'll bring to work that deal with this subject.

I don't think wong kar wai would be included as he is often talked about in the second wave form (plus his movies came too late).

[eric draven]

thx a lot for this answer

a quick definition of this new wave could be:
-begining of the 79-80
-young directors come from hong kong tv
-film training oversea
-current social developments and interesting ideas/themes
-strong style & images

if you have some informations with your book, please let me know.
if you have a complete list of all new wave directors, it will be great

I look for all their works. the extra and the system seems to be lost movies coz nobody have them (it's 5 years I look for them, same their own directors didn't have them). I found all the others.

all informations are welcome

[Brian Thibodeau]

maybe I can add these directors to the new wave but they come on cinema industry after...
wong kar wai
mabel cheung
alex law
jacob cheung
fruit chan
stanley kwan
EDIT: yes, they came later, after the begining of the new wave. We cannot inclued them inside (maybe not alex law coz he was a scriptwriter for hk tv before 1980).

This batch, or most of them, are actually considered part of the official "Second Wave" of Hong Kong cinema, so maybe there's room in your project for a preview of the "sequel"!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Second_Wave
http://books.google.ca/books?id=qOXoeye ... ve&f=false


.

[dleedlee]

Maybe, consider Cecille Tang Shu Shuen, a pre-wave director?

http://books.google.com/books?id=K7pw5x ... q=&f=false

[Brian Thibodeau]

Maybe, consider Cecille Tang Shu Shuen, a pre-wave director?

http://books.google.com/books?id=K7pw5x ... q=&f=false

Whoa, nice find.

Might it stand to reason that there could've been an uncredited "wave" before the "new wave", but perhaps it wasn't as readily definable as the crew that came later on?

Incidentally, I skimmed Cecille Tong's filmography here. We have her film CHINA BEHIND listed as a product of Mainland China. In 1974? With that cast? Is there any way to verify that?

Also, have any of her films ever been released on video or DVD?

[dleedlee]

Incidentally, I skimmed Cecille Tong's filmography here. We have her film CHINA BEHIND listed as a product of Mainland China. In 1974? With that cast? Is there any way to verify that?

Also, have any of her films ever been released on video or DVD?

I'm pretty sure Fung Bo-Bo's not in it, looks like a copy/paste error.
edit: Cast updated, HKFA lists as an HK production, which makes sense as the film is unflattering to the Chinese government.

I actually have this on LD, one of the last LDs I picked up on the used market.

The Arch, I believe, was screened a few years back at an HKIFF retrospective.

Might it stand to reason that there could've been an uncredited "wave" before the "new wave", but perhaps it wasn't as readily definable as the crew that came later on?

There was a genre of 'troubled youth' films in the sixties. Some were just light-hearted affairs catering to the new and growing teen audience. But more serious fare such as Patrick Lung Kong's Teddy Girls comes to mind. His Story of a Discharged Prisoner (the model for Woo's A Better Tomorrow) highlights the issue of prisoner rehabilitation/social reintegration. Young Girl Dares Not Homeward (schoolgirls by day, bar girls by night) is another example.

[eric draven]

thx Brian for your link. But they only speak about the "popular director" we know very well (Tsui Hark, Ann Hui ...).

it's really difficult to get informations and make a complete list of this new wave. I think for example to directors who made 1 movie or 2 like Wong Chi (his 2 movies are very good and not well know: krazy kops and my beloved) Kam Ping Hing or same Peter Yung.

I don't know if we can inclued ronny yu, ging hoi lam, johnny mak, david lai, leong po-chi, tony au, allan fung but they are close to the new wave. what do you think?

[Brian Thibodeau]

thx Brian for your link. But they only speak about the "popular director" we know very well (Tsui Hark, Ann Hui ...).

Actually, the link was just to confirm the "Second Wave" status of the other group of directors you mentioned (Mabel Cheung, Stanley Kwan, et. al.). There must be plenty of material written on the original "New Wave" although there does seem to be a core group that gets the majority of the credit and acclaim, maybe even rightfully so, as there will always be key figures surrounded by lesser lights who just happen to be in the right place at the right time, but less highly regarded because the groundwork has already been laid in broader strokes by their peers (thus making them more "influenced" than "influential"). I can't say for sure, but perhaps some of your other candidates ultimately played too small a role in the movement to merit anything other than a passing reference in most scholarly studies (which is a shame, really).

[eric draven]

[/quote]There must be plenty of material written on the original "New Wave" although there does seem to be a core group that gets the majority of the credit and acclaim, maybe even rightfully so, as there will always be key figures surrounded by lesser lights who just happen to be in the right place at the right time, but less highly regarded because the groundwork has already been laid in broader strokes by their peers (thus making them more "influenced" than "influential"). I can't say for sure, but perhaps some of your other candidates ultimately played too small a role in the movement to merit anything other than a passing reference in most scholarly studies (which is a shame, really).[/quote]

yes Brian, you are right. it's these others candidates ("ultimately played too small a role in the movement" )who interest me
if someone have informations...

it's really not easy to find now

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

I think an important aspect to look at is not only directors but what works make up the Hong Kong New Wave (this is normally the same approach taken with the French New Wave).

One essay on this subject I like quite a lot is Law Kar's "An Overview of Hong Kong's New Wave Cinema" in At Full Speed (Edited by Esther Yau). There are two essays on the subject with Hector Rodriquez's "The Emergence of the Hong Kong New Wave" as the second.

A couple of interesting points:

"Jumping Ash [Josephine Siao Fong-Fong, Leung Po-Chi]... was regarded by some as the first actual feature exhibiting the New Wave spirit."

talks about
Extras (1978: Yim Ho)
The Secret (Ann Hui)
The Butterfly Murders (Tsui Hak)
Cops and Robbers (Alex Cheung)
The System (Peter Yung Wai-chun)
See-bar (Dennis Yu)
The Beasts (Dennis Yu)
House of the Lute (Lau Shing-hon)
Encore (Clifford Choi Kai-kwong)
The Sword (Patrick Tam)
The Happenings (Yim Ho)
No Big Deal (Selina Chow, Leong Po-chih)
The Spooky Bunch (Ann Hui)
We Are Going To Eat You (Tsui Hark)
Dangerous Encounter -- 1st Kind (Tsui Hark)
Love Massacre (Patrick Tam)
Man on the Brink (ALex Cheung)
The Story of Woo Viet (Ann Hui)
Boat People (Ann Hui)
Father And Son (Allen Fong)
Ah Ying (Allen Yong)

I might be off on some of the above because I'm typing quickly .

A couple of interesting quotes:
"...the new films, when compared to those of the French New Wave, neither were aesthetically new, nor did they open new doors to cinema."
"...the term New Wave is not inappropriate if by this one refers to the use of innovative techniques, an urban sensibility, interest in new visual styles and more personal means of expression."
"In 1978 a short article in Close Up titled 'Hong Kong Cinema New Wave: Revolutionaries That Challenge Tradtion?' ..."

[eric draven]

yes all these movies are the most importants in the new wave (I'm not sure for see-bar, it's not a great movie).

we can add these movies also:
the pure & the evil
home at hong kong
krazy kops
my beloved
pale passion
the security
nomad
hong kong hong kong
the head hunter (original cut)
the club
health warning
long arm of the law
lonely fifteen
crimson street
coolie killer
twinkle twinkle little star
life after life
soul of the wind
double decker
the imp
he lives by night
super fool
foxbat
hong kong 1941
the servant
the saviour
a grand statement
sealed by a kiss
on the wrong track (new wave???)
monkey business (new wave ????)

someone have movies to add for this list?

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

A film does not have to be good to be considered part of a movement .

If you want to organize it put the year and the director(s) with the movies in a post. First put a definition of what you consider the new wave (which you have above).

[eric draven]

yes but I prefer good movies for this movement

for this list, I took all movies I find very good in the new wave directors list I write in the first post. I would like someone complete this list if possible.
I can make a list with all movies for all new wave directors also.

[eric draven]

here is a list with all new wave directors and their own movies:

-rachel zen: Cream Soda and Milk
Life goes on
Love bittersweet

-patrick tam: The Sword (1980)
Love Massacre (1981)
Nomad (1982)
Cherie (1984)
Final Victory (1987)
Burning Snow (1988)
My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (1989)
After This Our Exile (2006)

-ann hui: The Secret (1979)
The Spooky Bunch (1980)
The Story of Woo Viet (1981)
Boat People (1982)
Love in a Fallen City (1984)
Princess Fragrance (1987)
The Romance of Book and Sword (1987)
Starry Is the Night (1988)
Swordsman (1990)
Song of the Exile (1990)
My American Grandson (1991)
Zodiac Killers (1991)
Boy and His Hero (1994)
Summer Snow (1995)
Ah Kam (1996)
Eighteen Springs (1997)
Ordinary Heroes (1999)
July Rhapsody (2001)
Visible Secret (2001)
Goddess of Mercy (2003)
The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (2006)
The Way We Are (2008)

-clifford choi: Encore (1980)
No U-Turn (1981)
Teenage Dreamers (1982)
Hong Kong, Hong Kong (1983)
North South West East (1984)
Grow Up in Anger (1986)
Amnesty Decree (1987)
Big Brother (1990)
Naughty Couple (1994)

-cheuk pak tong: The Security (1981)
Marianna (1982)

-lau shing hon: House of the Lute (1980)
The Head Hunter (1982)

-yim ho: The Extras (1978)
The Happenings (1980)
Wedding Bells, Wedding Belles (1981)
Homecoming (1984)
Buddha's Lock (1987)
Red Dust (1990)
King of Chess (1991)
The Day the Sun Turned Cold (1994)
The Sun Has Ears (1995)
Kitchen (1997)
Pavilion of Women (2000)
West Lake Moment (2005)

-tsui hark: The Butterfly Murders (1979)
Dangerous Encounter - 1st Kind (1980)
We're Going to Eat You (1980)
All the Wrong Clues (1981)
Zu: The Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983)
Shanghai Blues (1984)
Aces Go Places - Our Man from Bond Street (1984)
Working Class (1985)
Peking Opera Blues (1986)
A Better Tomorrow II (1987)
A Better Tomorrow III (1989)
Swordsman (1990)
King of Chess (1991)
The Banquet (1991)
Once Upon a Time in China (1991)
The Raid (1991)
The Master (1992)
The Twin Dragons (1992)
Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)
Once Upon a Time in China III (1993)
Green Snake (1993)
The Lovers (1994)
Once Upon a Time in China V (1994)
Love in the Time of Twilight (1995)
The Blade (1995)
The Chinese Feast (1995)
Tri-Star (1996)
Knock Off (1998)
Time and Tide (2000)
The Legend of Zu (2001)
Black Mask II (2002)
1:99 Shorts (2003)
Seven Swords (2005)
Triangle (2007)
Missing (2008)
Not All Women Are Bad (2008)

-allen fong: Father and Son (1981)
Ah Ying (1983)
Just Like Weather (1986)
Dancing Bull (1990)
A Little Life-Opera (1997)

-kirk wong: The Club (1981)
Health Warning (1983)
Lifeline Express (1984)
True Colours (1986)
Gunmen (1988)
Taking Manhattan (1992)
Crime Story (1993)
Organized Crime & Triad Bureau (1994)
Rock N'Roll Cop (1994)

-johnny mak: Long Arm of the Law (1984)

-david lai: Lonely Fifteen (1982)
Crimson Street (1982)
Possessed (1983)
The Body Is Willing (1983)
Possessed II (1984)
Midnight Girls (1986)
Merry-Go-Round (1986)
Spiritual Love (1987)
Sworn Brothers (1987)
Midnight Whispers (1988)
Runaway Blues (1989)
Lost Souls (1989)
Saviour of the Soul (1991)
Saviour of the Soul II (1992)
Operation Scorpio (1992)
Women on the Run (1993)
Tian Di (1994)
Mahjong Dragon (1997)
Timeless Romance (1998)

-alex cheung: Cops and Robbers (1979)
Man on the Brink (1981)
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (1983)
Danger Has Two Faces (1985)
Chatter Street Killer (1988)
Framed (1989)
Made in Heaven (1997)

-terry tong: Coolie Killer (1982)
Yellow Peril (1984)
Hong Kong Graffiti (1985)
Seven Warriors (1989)
A Woman And Seven Husbands (1990)
Gigolo and Whore (1991)
Cash on Delivery (1992)
All Over the World (1993)

-peter yung: The System (1979)
Life After Life (1981)
Soul of the Wind (1982)
Double Decker (1984)
Warlords of the Golden Triangle (1987)

-dennis yu: The Beasts (1980)
See-Bar (1980)
The Imp (1981)
Comedy (1984)
City Hero (1985)
Musical Singer (1985)
Evil Cat (1987)

-tony au: Last Affair (1983)
Dream Lovers (1986)
Profiles of Pleasure (1988)
I Am Sorry (1989)
Au Revoir, Mon Amour (1991)
A Roof With A View (1993)
The Christ of Nanjing (1995)
Touch of Evil (1995)

-leong po-chi: Jumping Ash (1976)
Foxbat (1977)
Itchy Fingers (1979)
No Big Deal (1980)
Super Fool (1981)
He Lives by Night (1982)
Hong Kong 1941 (1984)
Banana Cop (1984)
The Island (1985)
Welcome (1985)
Keep on Dancing (1988)
Ping Pong (1988)
Fatal Love (1988)

-ronny yu: The Servant (1979)
The Saviour (1980)
Postman Strikes Back (1982)
The Trail (1983)
The Occupant (1984)
Mummy Dearest (1985)
Legacy of Rage (1986)
Bless This House (1988)
China White (1989)
The Great Pretenders (1991)
Shogun And Little Kitchen (1992)
The Bride with White Hair (1993)
The Phantom Lover (1995)
Fearless (2006)

-wong chi: Krazy Kops
My Beloved
Sketch
Girl without Tomorrow

-Kam Ping-Hing: Pale Passion

-shu kei: Sealed With a Kiss
Soul
Sunless Days
Hu-Du-Men
Love, Amoeba Style
A Queer Story
Coffee or Tea

-allan fung: A Grand Statment
Caper
Crazy Games
In between Loves
Freedon Run Q

-ng siu wan: Once Upon a Rainbow

-Ging Hoi Lam: The Pure & The Evil
Home at Hong-Kong