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Tsui Hark (Chinese: 徐克, Vietnamese: Từ Khắc, born 15 February 1950), born Tsui Man-kong (Vietnamese: Từ Văn Quang), is a Hong Kong filmmaker. Tsui has directed several influential Hong Kong films such as Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983), the Once Upon a Time in China film series (1991–1997) and The Blade (1995). Tsui also has been a prolific writer and producer;[1] his productions include A Better Tomorrow (1986), A Better Tomorrow II (1987), A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), The Killer (1989), The Legend of the Swordsman (1992), The Wicked City (1992), Iron Monkey (1993) and Black Mask (1996). He is viewed as a major figure in the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema and is regarded by critics as "one of the masters of Asian cinematography".[2]
Tsui Hark | |||||||||||||
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徐克 | |||||||||||||
.jpg) Tsui Hark at the New York Asian Film Festival, 10 July 2011 | |||||||||||||
| Born | Tsui Man-kong (徐文光) 15 February 1950 | ||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Film director, producer, presenter, screenwriter, actor | ||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 徐文光 | ||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 徐克 | ||||||||||||
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In the late 1990s, Tsui had a short-lived career in the United States, directing the Jean-Claude Van Damme–led films Double Team (1997) and Knock Off (1998). He returned to Hong Kong to continue his career, where he found commercial and critical success with blockbusters such as the Detective Dee film series, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011), and The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014).
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Tsui was born and raised in Saigon, Vietnam, to a large Chinese (Hoa) family with sixteen siblings.[3] Tsui showed an early interest in show business and films; when he was 10, he and some friends rented an 8 mm camera to film a magic show they put on at school. He also drew comic books, an interest that would influence his cinematic style. By the age of 13, he and his family immigrated to Hong Kong.[4]
Tsui started his secondary education in Hong Kong in 1966. He proceeded to study film in Texas, first at Southern Methodist University and then at the University of Texas at Austin, graduating in 1975. He claims to have told his parents he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps as a pharmacist, and that it was here he changed his given name to Hark ("overcoming").
After graduation, Tsui moved to New York City, where he worked on From Spikes to Spindles (1976), a noted documentary film by Christine Choy on the history of the city's Chinatown. He also worked as an editor for a Chinese newspaper, developed a community theatre group and worked in a Chinese cable TV station. He returned to Hong Kong in 1977.
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1977-1981: New Wave period
Tsui returned to Hong Kong in 1977 and worked for TVB,[5] the dominant local television station, then moved to its rival, CTV, lured by its general manager Selina Chow. Viewed as having an eye for talent (numerous future New Wave directors got their first directing gigs under Chow)[6] she put Tsui in charge of the martial arts drama, The Gold Dagger Romance, which marked him as a talent to watch.[7]
Producer Ng See-yuen saw Gold Dagger Romance and hired Tsui to direct his first feature, The Butterfly Murders (1979),[8] a technically challenging blend of wuxia, murder mystery and science fiction / fantasy elements. His second film, We're Going to Eat You (1980), was a blend of cannibal horror, black comedy and martial arts. He was quickly typed as a member of Hong Kong's "New Wave" of directors.
Tsui's third film, Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (1980), was a nihilistic thriller about delinquent youths on a bombing spree. Heavily censored by the British colonial government, it was released in 1981 in a drastically altered version titled Dangerous Encounter – 1st Kind (or alternatively, Don't Play with Fire). The movie out-grossed Tsui's previous two films, however and made him a darling of film critics with writers describing it as "one of those very rare films in the history of Hong Kong cinema that brims with accusation and subversion" and saying that it described "man as trapped animals — this is the popular theme of the New Wave and the one enduring image in their narratives."[9]
1980s-2000s: Golden era
In 1981, Tsui joined Cinema City & Films Co., a production company founded by comedians Raymond Wong, Karl Maka and Dean Shek. Cinema City & Films Co. was instrumental in codifying the slick Hong Kong blockbuster films of the 1980s.[citation needed] Tsui played his part in the process with pictures like the crime farce All the Wrong Clues (1981), his first hit, and Aces Go Places 3 (1984), part of the studio's long-running spy spoof series.
In 1983, Tsui directed the wuxia fantasy film Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) for the studio Golden Harvest. Tsui imported Hollywood technicians to help create special effects whose number and complexity were unprecedented in Chinese-language cinema.[citation needed]
In 1984, Tsui formed the production company Film Workshop with Nansun Shi. He also developed a reputation as a hands-on and even intrusive producer of other directors' work, fuelled by public breaks with major filmmakers like John Woo and King Hu. His most longstanding and fruitful collaboration has probably been with Ching Siu-tung.[citation needed] As action choreographer and/or director on many Film Workshop productions, Ching made a major contribution to the well-known Tsui style.
Film Workshop releases became consistent box office hits in Hong Kong and around Asia, drawing audiences with their visual adventurousness, their broad commercial appeal, and hectic camerawork and pace. With Tsui having been called the 'Steven Spielberg of Asia', Film Workshop became the 'Amblin of Hong Kong'.[10] He produced John Woo's A Better Tomorrow (1986), which launched a craze for Heroic bloodshed movies, and Ching Siu-tung's A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), which did the same for period ghost fantasies. Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain and The Swordsman (1990) birthed the modern-day special effects industry in Hong Kong.
In fact, Tsui's "movie brat" nostalgia is one of the main ingredients in his work. He often resurrects and revises classic films and genres: the murder mystery in The Butterfly Murders (1979); the Shanghai musical comedy in Shanghai Blues (1985). Peking Opera Blues (1986) plays with and pays tribute to the traditions of the Peking opera that his mother took him to see as a small boy and which had such a strong influence on Hong Kong action cinema. The Lovers (1994) adapts a retold, cross-dressing period romance, best known from Li Han-hsiang's 1963 opera film The Love Eterne. A Chinese Ghost Story remakes Li's supernatural romance The Enchanting Shadow (1959) as a special effects action movie.
The pattern is also seen in perhaps Tsui's most successful work to date, the Once Upon a Time in China film series (1991–97). Jet Li played the role of Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung in the first three films and the sixth, Once Upon a Time in China and America. This series is the clearest expression in his oeuvre of Tsui's Chinese nationalism and his passionate engagement with the upheavals of Chinese history, particularly in the face of Western power and influence.
Tsui also dabbled in acting, mostly for other directors. Notable roles include one-third of the comic relief trio in Corey Yuen's film Yes, Madam! (1985) and a villain in Patrick Tam's darkly comic crime story Final Victory (1987), written by Wong Kar-wai. He also made frequent cameo appearances in his own productions, such as a music judge in A Better Tomorrow and a phony FBI agent in Aces Go Places II.
In the face of an industry downturn in the '90s, he produced two expensive movies. Green Snake (1993) was a poetic and lyric movie based on a favourite Chinese fairy tale. The Blade (1995) was a gory, deliberately rough-hewn revision of the 1967 wuxia classic The One-Armed Swordsman.
In the mid-to-late '90s, Tsui tried Hollywood with two films starring Jean-Claude Van Damme: Double Team (1997) and Knock Off (1998). In 2002, he made Black Mask 2: City of Masks, an American market sequel to Jet Li's 1996 film. It was released direct-to-video in the United States in December of that year before being theatrically released the next month in Hong Kong.
2000s-Now: China-Hong Kong co-productions
Tsui returned to directing at home in 2000 after not having made a local film since 1996. Time and Tide (2000) and The Legend of Zu (2001) were action extravaganzas with lavish computer-generated imagery that gained cult admirers but no mass success.
Tsui continues to push technical boundaries and revise old favourites. Master Q 2001 was Hong Kong's first combination of live action and Pixar-style 3D computer animation. Era of Vampires (2002; US title, "Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters") reworked a subgenre popular in the '80s, hybrid martial arts / supernatural horror films featuring the "hopping corpses" of Chinese folk legend.
In 2005, Tsui launched the multimedia production Seven Swords, a film adaptation of Liang Yusheng's novels Saiwai Qixia Zhuan and Qijian Xia Tianshan. The film came with a television series counterpart (Seven Swordsmen), a comic book series, a cellphone game, clothing brand, and an online multi-player video game. The film was relatively successful, and in February 2006 Tsui announced plans to begin filming the second late in the year. As of 2008, Tsui continues to work on the script for Seven Swords 2 in between filming projects. In 2011 there has been no news nor plans about a Seven Swords 2. Rumors has it that due to lack of interest by the filmmakers of finishing the hexalogy lead the project into being cancelled.
In August 2008, Tsui provided art direction for the direct-to-video anime feature titled Kungfu Master (a.k.a. Wong Fei Hong vs Kungfu Panda), an apparent unofficial sequel to Kung Fu Panda, featuring Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung.[11] He also directed the 2008 thriller Missing starring Angelica Lee and the 2008 romantic comedy film All About Women featuring comic graphics and extensive ADR dubbing.
Tsui's latest work in 2010 is Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, a rare but successful blend of wuxia, suspense-thriller, mystery, and comedy, which was in competition for the Golden Lion award and was also nominated and won numerous other awards.
In 2010 he announced his first 3-D film, The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, which is a re-imagining of his 1992 film New Dragon Gate Inn starring Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Maggie Cheung and Brigitte Lin. In 2011 Huayi Brothers announced that Tsui will be making a prequel to Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame; shot in 3-D, it was released in 2013 as Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon.
In October 2011, Tsui received the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award at the 16th Busan International Film Festival for his contributions to Hong Kong cinema. He is the fifth Chinese filmmaker to receive this award at Busan.[12]
His film The Taking of Tiger Mountain premiered in China in December 2014.[13]
Tsui worked on a film with Milkyway Image alongside Ann Hui, Ringo Lam, Patrick Tam, Johnnie To, Sammo Hung and Yuen Woo-Ping. Each director created a segment based on Hong Kong history.[14] The completed film, Septet: The Story of Hong Kong, was shown at the Busan International Film Festival on 21 October 2020 and at the annual Hong Kong International Film Festival in April 2021.[15]
In 2021 Tsui co-directed The Battle at Lake Changjin with Chen Kaige and Dante Lam. The film is the most expensive film ever produced in China, the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time, and the highest-grossing non-English film.
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Tsui Hark has been married twice. He was briefly married during his time studying in the U.S. in the 1970s, but the marriage ended in divorce. In 1977, he met Nansun Shi while working at Commercial Television, Hong Kong and they began dating a year later. In 1984, they founded a film studio, where Shi was responsible for financing, distribution, and promotion. The couple co-produced over a hundred films. In 1993, rumors circulated about Tsui's affair with Sally Yeh, allegedly causing a temporary split with Shi. In 1996, Tsui and Shi married in Beverly Hills, California. In 2008, Tsui was reported to have been living with Seven Swords (2005) actress Chen Jiajia in Beijing. When asked about their status of marriage, Shi then responded, "Let me give you a standard answer. I've been saying this for years: what happens between two people is private and doesn't concern a third party."[16] By 2011, Tsui began dating his assistant, Lele, whom he had met online during the filming of Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011).[17][18] Shi announced their divorce in 2014, adding that Tsui and Lele had been together for some time.[19][20]
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| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | The Butterfly Murders | Yes | No | No | |
| 1980 | We're Going to Eat You | Yes | Yes | No | Also known as Hell Has No Gates |
| Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 1981 | All the Wrong Clues for the Right Solution | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1983 | Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain | Yes | No | No | |
| Search for the Gods | Yes | No | No | Short film | |
| 1984 | Shanghai Blues | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Aces Go Places 3 | Yes | No | No | Also known as Mad Mission 3 | |
| 1985 | Working Class | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 1986 | A Better Tomorrow | No | No | Yes | |
| Peking Opera Blues | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| 1987 | A Chinese Ghost Story | No | No | Yes | |
| A Better Tomorrow II | No | Yes | Yes | ||
| 1988 | The Big Heat | Uncredited | No | Yes | |
| I Love Maria | Uncredited | Uncredited | Yes | Also known as Roboforce | |
| 1989 | A Better Tomorrow III: Love & Death in Saigon | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| The Killer | No | No | Yes | ||
| 1990 | Fight and Love with a Terracotta Warrior | No | No | Yes | |
| The Swordsman | Uncredited | No | Yes | ||
| Spygame | No | No | Yes | ||
| A Chinese Ghost Story II | No | No | Yes | Also editor | |
| 1991 | Once Upon a Time in China | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| The Raid | Uncredited | Yes | Yes | ||
| A Chinese Ghost Story III | Uncredited | Yes | Yes | ||
| King of Chess | Uncredited | No | Executive | ||
| The Banquet | Yes[a] | Yes | No | ||
| 1992 | Twin Dragons | Yes[b] | Yes | No | Also known as Shuang long hui and Brother vs. Brother |
| Once Upon a Time in China II | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| The Master | Yes | Yes | Yes | Filmed in 1989 | |
| Swordsman II | No | Yes | Yes | Also known as The Legend of the Swordsman | |
| New Dragon Gate Inn | No | Yes | Yes | Also known as Dragon Inn | |
| The Wicked City | No | Yes | Yes | ||
| 1993 | Iron Monkey | No | Yes | Yes | |
| The East Is Red | No | Yes | Yes | Also known as Swordsman III | |
| Once Upon a Time in China III | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Green Snake | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Once Upon a Time in China IV | No | Yes | Yes | ||
| 1994 | Burning Paradise | No | No | Yes | |
| The Lovers | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Once Upon a Time in China V | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| 1995 | The Chinese Feast | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Love in the Time of Twilight | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| The Blade | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also editor and production manager | |
| 1996 | Tristar | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Shanghai Grand | No | No | Yes | ||
| Black Mask | No | Yes | Yes | ||
| 1997 | Once Upon a Time in China and America | No | No | Yes | |
| Double Team | Yes | No | No | American and English-language debut | |
| A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation | No | Yes | Executive | Also editor | |
| 1998 | Knock Off | Yes | No | No | |
| 2000 | Time and Tide | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2001 | The Legend of Zu | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also known as Zu Warriors |
| Old Master Q 2001 | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2002 | The Era of Vampires | No | Yes | Yes | Also known as Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters |
| Black Mask 2: City of Masks | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| 2003 | 1:99 Shorts | Yes | No | No | 1 segment |
| 2004 | Xanda | No | Yes | Yes | Also known as Sanda |
| 2005 | Seven Swords | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2006 | The Warrior | No | Yes | Yes | Also action director |
| 2007 | Triangle | Yes[c] | Yes | Yes | |
| 2008 | Missing | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| All About Women | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also editor | |
| 2010 | Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 2011 | Flying Swords of Dragon Gate | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2013 | Sheng dan mei gui | No | No | Yes | |
| Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2014 | The Taking of Tiger Mountain | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2016 | Sword Master | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 2017 | Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| The Thousand Faces of Dunjia | No | Yes | Executive | ||
| 2018 | Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings | Yes | Story | Yes | |
| 2019 | The Climbers | No | No | Yes | |
| 2020 | Septet: The Story of Hong Kong | Yes | Yes | No | 1 segment, also acted as editor |
| 2021 | The Battle at Lake Changjin | Yes | No | Yes | Also editor |
| 2022 | The Battle at Lake Changjin II | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 2024 | Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Great Hero | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2025 | Shih, Queen of the Sea | No | No | Yes | |
Television
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Spirit Chaser Aisha | Yes | No | Yes | Lost media |
| 1995–1996 | Wong Fei Hung Series | Yes | Yes | Yes | Episodes "The Final Victory" and "The Ideal Century" |
| 2005–2006 | Seven Swordsmen | No | Yes | Yes | |
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind | Interpol Officer | Uncredited cameo |
| 1982 | Aces Go Places | Ballerina Director | Also known as Diamondfinger and Mad Mission |
| Yi jiu ling wu de dong tian | Li Shutong | ||
| 1983 | Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain | Blue Army soldier fighting Fat Man | |
| Aces Go Places 2 | FBI | Also known as Mad Mission II | |
| Wo ai Ye Laixiang | Japanese Ambassador | ||
| 1984 | Shanghai Blues | Pedestrian Who Gets Soaked | |
| Aces Go Places 3 | Police Officer in Computer Room | Also known as Mad Mission 3 | |
| Run, Tiger, Run | Grandpa Steak | ||
| 1985 | Kung Hei Fat Choy | Gold Grabber | |
| Working Class | Sunny | ||
| Yes, Madam | Panadol | ||
| 1986 | A Better Tomorrow | Music Judge | |
| Happy Ghost III | Reincarnation Director | ||
| 1987 | Final Victory | Big Bo | |
| 1988 | The Big Heat | Inspector Yiuming Butt | Uncredited |
| I Love Maria | Whiskey | Also known as Roboforce | |
| 1989 | A Better Tomorrow III: Love & Death in Saigon | Police Officer in Computer Room | |
| 1992 | The Wicked City | Card player | |
| 1997 | A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation | Solid Gold (voice) | |
| 2000 | Time and Tide | Narrator (voice) | Uncredited cameo |
| 2008 | All About Women | Taxi driver | Uncredited cameo |
| 2011 | A Simple Life | Director Tsui | Also known as Sister Peach |
| The Great Magician | Warlord | ||
| 2016 | The Mermaid | Uncle Rich | Credited under the name "Ke Xu" |
| The Bodyguard | Old Man | ||
| 2017 | Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back | Theater employee | |
Other credits
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | All the Wrong Spies | Production designer | |
| 1986 | Righting Wrongs | Action choreographer | Also known as Above the Law |
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Golden Horse Awards
| Year | Category | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Best Director | All the Wrong Clues for the Right Solution | Won |
| 1992 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Swordsman II | Nominated |
| 1994 | Best Adapted Screenplay | The Lovers | Nominated |
| 1997 | Best Adapted Screenplay | A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation | Nominated |
| 2005 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Seven Swords | Nominated |
| 2014 | Best Director | The Taking of Tiger Mountain | Nominated |
Hong Kong Film Awards
| Year | Category | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Best Film | Shanghai Blues | Nominated |
| Best Director | Nominated | ||
| 1987 | Best Film | A Better Tomorrow | Won |
| Best Action Choreography | Righting Wrongs | Nominated | |
| 1988 | Best Film | A Chinese Ghost Story | Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actor | Final Victory | Nominated | |
| 1990 | Best Film | The Killer | Nominated |
| 1992 | Best Film | Once Upon a Time in China | Nominated |
| Best Director | Won | ||
| 1993 | Best Film | Once Upon a Time in China II | Nominated |
| Best Director | Nominated | ||
| 1995 | Best Director | The Lovers | Nominated |
| 2006 | Best Film | Seven Swords | Nominated |
| Best Director | Nominated | ||
| 2011 | Best Film | Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame | Nominated |
| Best Director | Won | ||
| 2012 | Best Film | Flying Swords of Dragon Gate | Nominated |
| Best Director | Nominated | ||
| 2016 | Best Director | The Taking of Tiger Mountain | Won |
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- Co-directed with Alfred Cheung, Joe Cheung and Clifton Ko
- Co-directed with Ringo Lam
- Co-directed with Ringo Lam and Johnnie To
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