Member DiP Posted November 8, 2011 Member Share Posted November 8, 2011 Other than Tsui Hark, John Woo, Ringo Lam, Wong Kar-Wai and Johnnie To who get way too much coverage everywhere, what other directors do you think lives up to their credibility as filmmakers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted November 8, 2011 Member Share Posted November 8, 2011 I don't think that most of those you mentioned get enough praise. While many of here are fanboys of those directors, talk to most people and they have no idea who you are talking about. Even critics are slow to taking in Johnnie To even though they are more likely to know Wong Kar-wai. Stanley Kwan: one of my top 50 HK films is Centre Stage (1992). Like Ann Hui I have liked what I have seen, but need to see more their films. Michael Hui: small output, but I love his comedies. One of the most important Cantonese comedic figures out of Hong Kong. Stephen Chow: love his comedies and his auteur sensibilities with various comedic modes. While he is always talked about as an actor, his directing abilities I feel is quite good. Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung: very underrated as directors. They both tend to be thought of as actors, but I feel that their directoral abilities are quite good (when giving to putting all of their effort into production). I'm both a Chang Cheh and Lau Kar-leung fan, but I think they both get talked about enough here . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted November 9, 2011 Author Member Share Posted November 9, 2011 Good point. However, I didn't generally mean directors with international recognition but more about known directors within Hong Kong film communities. I think the aforementioned are put very high in the list among great Hong Kong directors. Directors that get mentioned less imo would be: Alan Mak/Felix Chong - Often talked about as the co-makers of Infernal Affairs with Andrew Lau taking most of the credit. The Overheard films and The Lost Bladesman show that they are capable of much more. Wai Ka-Fai - Will get credit from time to time but is mostly in Johnnie To's shadow as either co-director, writer or producer. Lawrence Lau - Known for making films about humanistic problems in society. Gets very little credit and respect as he has done some of the realest HK films. Johnny Mak - Only directed one film which happens to be Long Arm Of The Law - one of the first crime films that were the forefront for "heroic" crime films made famous by John Woo. Ironically, he and his movie doesn't get mentioned alot. Terry Tong - Haven't seen his other works but Coolie Killer will always have a place in me as one of the most remarkable HK crime films made in the 80s. It was one of a kind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Grimmjow Posted November 9, 2011 Member Share Posted November 9, 2011 I'll add some of the recent ones who have caught my eye Soi cheang - directed the violent and gritty Dog Bite Dog which had a very distinct look and feel, followed that up with Shamo which was a manga adaption, didn't do well in cinema's but I really liked it and again it had a distinct look. He then did Accident which had an original premise and was very well done. Def a talent to watch. Wilson Yip - Well known for his work with Donnie Yen, together they've made some of the best recent HK movies, although I haven't seen his remake of A Chinese Ghost story yet so no idea if he does good without Yen. Dante Lam - His recent works have been amazing, especially Stool Pigeon which was fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted November 9, 2011 Member Share Posted November 9, 2011 A couple of notes: Johnny Mak is one of those great one and done directors like Charles Laughton with The Night of the Hunter. The HK/Taiwan critics are actually quite fond of this as it has been part of Hong Kong Film Awards' 103 Best Chinese Films and Asia Weekly's 100 Greatest Chinese Films of the 20th Century. Wilson Yip: Grimm watch Bio Zombie (1998) . I'm not sure how I feel about him as a director though I have also liked his collaborations with Donnie Yen. DY has complained before about Yip sometimes being filming with no script (or just an outline; funny that To does this but with better results) and that has hurt the finished product occasionally. Tony Liu Jun-Guk: I really like how his films look like. Yes he is completely unrealistic, but seriously the composition and cinematography of films like Bastard Swordsman and Holy Flame of the Martial World are excellent (of course a lot of credit does go to Ma Gam-Cheung as well). He is one director I'm looking forward to going over more of his works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted November 9, 2011 Author Member Share Posted November 9, 2011 Wilson Yip: Grimm watch Bio Zombie (1998) . I'm not sure how I feel about him as a director though I have also liked his collaborations with Donnie Yen. DY has complained before about Yip sometimes being filming with no script (or just an outline; funny that To does this but with better results) and that has hurt the finished product occasionally. Have you seen Bullets Over Summer? It's an early great gem. Juliet In Love is also supposedly very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted November 9, 2011 Member Share Posted November 9, 2011 Have you seen Bullets Over Summer? It's an early great gem. Juliet In Love is also supposedly very good. No, but I put it in my shopping list on Amazon right now (it is in print so that's cool; so many movies so little time). Our Morgoth was not too kind on it . Here is his review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sheng Posted November 11, 2011 Member Share Posted November 11, 2011 I step in here and shout Sylvia Chang !! For some reason her directorial work is seldomly discussed. Otherwise I concur with the choice of Messieurs D. Lam, W. Yip and in particular with the always underrated Laurence Lau Kwok-Cheong. Come to think of it, Lau’s GANGS (which I saw in ’88 or early ’89) remains one of those pivotal, mind (and taste-) changing movies that I give credit to make me addicted to HK cinema! Never seen a DVD release of this though... Originally Posted by Grimmjow Soi cheang - directed the violent and gritty Dog Bite Dog which had a very distinct look and feel, followed that up with Shamo which was a manga adaption, didn't do well in cinema's but I really liked it and again it had a distinct look. He then did Accident which had an original premise and was very well done. Def a talent to watch. D’accord, he’s definitely a talent to watch! But as much as I was enraptured by the creepy bleakness and the stunning cinematography of DOG BITE DOG, the tacked-on “Cambodian” ending brought down my rating a few notches! I remember Edison Chen and Bey Logan saying the same in their brilliant audio commentary for the DD disc. Same gripe I have with ACCIDENT – a cleverly constructed, quite remarkable film, but again the many forced “coincidences” (plus the lunar eclipse) in the final sequence were a real downer for me. Actually had to rewind the BD three or four times to fully grasp the ending… To me his most perfectly realized film remains LOVE BATTLEFIELD… even though the prolonged underwater scene towards the end was unnecessarily melodramatic and over the top. If the man finds ways to end his always engaging works more convincingly he’d be among the greats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted May 6, 2021 Member Share Posted May 6, 2021 Po-Chih Leong is one of HK's most overlooked directors. When I saw the HKL DVD of Hong Kong 1941, I expected him to eventually direct Oscar bait fare in Hollywood. Instead, he was directing straight-to-video action movies starring Wesley Snipes (The Detonator) and Steven Seagal (Out of Reach). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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