Member ShaolinMapache Posted June 4, 2020 Member Share Posted June 4, 2020 I could not find a thread already on Ann Hui who is a very prolific filmmaker. She did make several wuxia period films like The Romance of the Book and Sword and its sequel Princess Fragrance. She is probably best known for her films Boat People with Andy Lau which is notable the first HK film filmed entirely on the mainland, The Story of Woo Viet which featured a young Chow Yun Fat and The Swordsman. I am recently trying to watch more of the Hong Kong New Wave movies and wanted to start a thread to appreciate this important HK new wave director. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yihetuan Posted June 4, 2020 Member Share Posted June 4, 2020 I know those two wuxia films bombed both in Mainland China and HK box office and she never made another wuxia again. I believe both films did get a VCD release with English subs from Mei Ah but I would love to see those two films get a proper remastered release preferably on blu ray. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShaolinMapache Posted June 4, 2020 Author Member Share Posted June 4, 2020 2 hours ago, Yihetuan said: I know those two wuxia films bombed both in Mainland China and HK box office and she never made another wuxia again. I believe both films did get a VCD release with English subs from Mei Ah but I would love to see those two films get a proper remastered release preferably on blu ray. Yeah I was bummed they never even got DVD releases. I think the best way to see them would be the laserdisc since VCD is just terrible terrible quality. But the laserdisc was only released in Japan and is extremely rare. I've seen the VCD version and they were pretty enjoyable movies. Nothing too groundbreaking, but enjoyable. Maybe a high def television rip will surface at some point or some company will buy the rights and release a blu ray from the source. Here's hoping. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sheng Posted June 4, 2020 Member Share Posted June 4, 2020 12 hours ago, Yihetuan said: I know those two wuxia films bombed both in Mainland China and HK box office and she never made another wuxia again. I believe both films did get a VCD release with English subs from Mei Ah but I would love to see those two films get a proper remastered release preferably on blu ray. THE ROMANCE OF BOOK & SWORD did come out on DVD in 1998 on Yuki Video, HK manufactured and, as with all Yuki releases, it says "for Vietnam territory only" on the disc. Hardly more than VCD quality though, aspect ratio is 4:3, burnt-in subs. These are splendidl films, saw them when they were premiered at the Berlin Film Festival back in 1988 and managed to attend another screening of the same prints (I believe) in early 2018, again in Berlin, this time in the presence of director Hui. She told me that the AD for those two Mainland-shot films was none other than Ching Siu Tung (HKMDB lists someone else). Actually, I always thought the fight choreo looked like him. Many of Mrs Hui's films now made it to BD, would be swell if we see the THE ROMANCE OF BOOK & SWORD in this format soon! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator thekfc Posted June 4, 2020 Moderator Share Posted June 4, 2020 I love her movies. She seems to bring out the best in her actors: Jacky Cheung did an awesome job in July Rhapsody. Andy Lau was excellent in A Simple Life Josephine Siao in Summer Snow Maggie Cheung in Songs of the Exile. Also her movies ( Summer Snow & A Simple Life) are the only ones to win the Hong Kong Film Award Grand Slam - Best Director, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress & Best Screenplay. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sheng Posted June 4, 2020 Member Share Posted June 4, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, thekfc said: I love her movies. She seems to bring out the best in her actors: Jacky Cheung did an awesome job in July Rhapsody. Andy Lau was excellent in A Simple Life Josephine Siao in Summer Snow Maggie Cheung in Songs of the Exile. Also her movies ( Summer Snow & A Simple Life) are the only ones to win the Hong Kong Film Award Grand Slam - Best Director, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress & Best Screenplay. I concur with those choices. JULY RHAPSODY probably being my favourite (yes, Jacky Cheung was phenomenal... but what an introduction to Karena Lam's spellbinding acting skills this was!). Another film that cries out for a blu ray release! I would also include THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT amongst her top flicks; Chow Yun Fat stole the show here as a lonely opera singer. One of the man's best performances - ever! Also in my Hui On Wah Top 5: NIGHT AND FOG, an incredibly intense domestic drama based on a true story, that made me aware what an accomplished actress Zhang Jing Chu is. When I told Mrs. Hui that NIGHT AND FOG was an absolute favourite of mine she winced, looked somewhat amused at me and asked "why...?" The only thing in this movie that didn't work for me was the tepid, all-too-brief, anti-climactic murder scene. But being a master of understatement, I'm sure Mrs Hui didn't want it any other way. A minor point here, coz the acting was spot-on and the emotional impact of the story was overwhelming. Just like Johnnie To, the lady always gets the very best out of her actors. Edited June 4, 2020 by Sheng 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator thekfc Posted June 4, 2020 Moderator Share Posted June 4, 2020 52 minutes ago, Sheng said: but what an introduction to Karena Lam's spellbinding acting skills this was! She won the best supporting actress for a few different ceremonies and that was a deserving win. 57 minutes ago, Sheng said: I would also include THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT amongst her top flicks; Chow Yun Fat stole the show here as a lonely opera singer. One of the man's best performances - ever! That was a great performance. What do you think of his performance in Love Unto Waste? 1 hour ago, Sheng said: Also in my Hui On Wah Top 5: NIGHT AND FOG, I will have to did this one out, I think I got it when the stores were closing down in Chinatown but have yet to give it a watch. I remember reading somewhere that she also worked (uncredited) on The Swordsman after King Hu left. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sheng Posted June 4, 2020 Member Share Posted June 4, 2020 1 hour ago, thekfc said: What do you think of his performance in Love Unto Waste? That was the Stanley Kwan film, right? I remember ROUGE and CENTRE STAGE, but I have no memory of this one... don't think I ever got around watching my DVD. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yihetuan Posted June 5, 2020 Member Share Posted June 5, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, Sheng said: THE ROMANCE OF BOOK & SWORD did come out on DVD in 1998 on Yuki Video, HK manufactured and, as with all Yuki releases, it says "for Vietnam territory only" on the disc. Hardly more than VCD quality though, aspect ratio is 4:3, burnt-in subs. These are splendidl films, saw them when they were premiered at the Berlin Film Festival back in 1988 and managed to attend another screening of the same prints (I believe) in early 2018, again in Berlin, this time in the presence of director Hui. She told me that the AD for those two Mainland-shot films was none other than Ching Siu Tung (HKMDB lists someone else). Actually, I always thought the fight choreo looked like him. Many of Mrs Hui's films now made it to BD, would be swell if we see the THE ROMANCE OF BOOK & SWORD in this format soon! I didn't think the quality of ROBAS was that terrible considering it's VCD and it was letterboxed at least and not 4:3. But perhaps my standards aren't that high since I regularly watch low budget bashers and shapes movies in even worse quality. For sure, I will seek out the laserdisc version if I can track down a copy. Edited June 5, 2020 by Yihetuan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted May 6, 2021 Member Share Posted May 6, 2021 She's a very good director. She directed the lesbian subtext scenes in Corey Yuen's Fong Sai Yuk. She is credited on HKMDB as "planning" the film. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yihetuan Posted July 11 Member Share Posted July 11 On 6/4/2020 at 1:41 PM, Sheng said: I concur with those choices. JULY RHAPSODY probably being my favourite (yes, Jacky Cheung was phenomenal... but what an introduction to Karena Lam's spellbinding acting skills this was!). Another film that cries out for a blu ray release! I would also include THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT amongst her top flicks; Chow Yun Fat stole the show here as a lonely opera singer. One of the man's best performances - ever! Also in my Hui On Wah Top 5: NIGHT AND FOG, an incredibly intense domestic drama based on a true story, that made me aware what an accomplished actress Zhang Jing Chu is. When I told Mrs. Hui that NIGHT AND FOG was an absolute favourite of mine she winced, looked somewhat amused at me and asked "why...?" The only thing in this movie that didn't work for me was the tepid, all-too-brief, anti-climactic murder scene. But being a master of understatement, I'm sure Mrs Hui didn't want it any other way. A minor point here, coz the acting was spot-on and the emotional impact of the story was overwhelming. Just like Johnnie To, the lady always gets the very best out of her actors. There's a new 4K restoration of JULY RHAPSODY being shown at NYC's CineCina festival next week. https://filmforum.org/film/july-rhapsody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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