Many consider Tony Chiu Wai Leung’s role in John Woo’s Hard Boiled – in which he co-starred with Chow Yun-fat, as his breakthrough role in film. However, Leung first gained international exposure through Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s A City of Sadness, which won the Venice Golden Lion. Leung often collaborates with director Wong Kar Wai and has appeared in many of his films. He is one of the most famous and critically acclaimed Chinese actors in Hollywood. In celebration of his new film THE GRANDMASTER, in which Leung portrays iconic martial artist Yip Man, we are taking a look at the best movies of his career.
HERO
This Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated film is definitely one of Leung’s best and most well-known performances. Upon its release in 2002, the film became the highest grossing motion picture in Chinese film history. It is based on the story of Jing Ke’s assassination attempt on the King of Qin in 227 B.C., and in it Leung plays a warrior named Broken Sword: one of the only assassins to ever infiltrate the King’s palace. He stars alongside martial arts film veterans: Jet Li, Ziyi Zhang, Maggie Cheung, and Donnie Yen.
INFERNAL AFFAIRS
In this modern-day crime thriller, Leung stars as Chen Wing Yan, a police officer who goes undercover into a triad to gain intelligence. On the other hand, Andy Lau stars as a triad member who infiltrates the Hong Kong Police force. Their objectives are the same: to find out who is the mole, and who is the cop. The film received much critical acclaim for its original plot and swift storytelling style. It was even remade by Martin Scorsese in 2006 as The Departed which won the Academy Award for Best Picture that year.
RED CLIFF
This Chinese epic war film directed by John Woo is based on the Battle of the Red Cliffs and the events at the end of the Han Dynasty in 208-208 A.D. The film was released in two parts and totals over four hours in length. Leung stars alongside Takeshi Kaneshiro as a military general and strategist. It is the most expensive Asian-financed film to date. Woo mixed the factual story of the war with modern feelings and emotions to make it more worldly accepted, and the result is a fantastic film.
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
One of his seven collaborations with Wong Kar Wai, In the Mood for Love follows the story of two neighbours who form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. The film co-stars another frequent collaborator of Leung’s: Maggie Cheung and the two have excellent chemistry. It premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Palm d’Or. It also serves as the second film in an informal trilogy and is preceded by Days of Being Wild, and followed by Leung’s next film 2046.
2046
This film follows a science fiction author (Leung) and the women who enter his life over the course of a few years, after he loses the woman he considers to be his one true love (played by Maggie Cheung.) Golden Globe nominee Zhang Ziyi co-stars with Leung as one of his lovers, who lives in room 2046 of the Oriental Hotel. The film was nominated for the Golden Palm Award at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
CHUNGKING EXPRESS
Another Wong Kar-wai collaboration, The Chunking Express¸ follows the story of two melancholy Hong Kong policemen who fall in love. One (Takeshi Kaneshiro) falls for a mysterious drug smuggler, while the other (Leung) simultaneously becomes infatuated with a quirky snack bar worker. The film depicts the paradox of being lonely in a big city surrounded by people. Upon its release in 1995, it won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Picture, Best Actor (Leung), and Best Director.
HAPPY TOGETHER
Happy Together centres on Ho Po-Wing (Leslie Chung) and Lai Yiu-fai (Leung) a Hong Kong couple who visit Argentina in hopes of renewing their ailing relationship. The two have a pattern of abuse, followed by breakups and reconciliations. Wong Kar-wai won Best Director for the film at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, and it received positive critical acclaim from many other festivals. It is an intense depiction of a turbulent romance between two men.
HARD BOILED
Often considered Tony Leung’s breakout film, Hard Boiled was director John Woo’s last Hong Kong film before he transitioned to Hollywood. The film follows a tough-as-nails cop (Yun-Fat Chow) who teams with an undercover agent (Leung) to shut down a mobster and his crew. It was well received by English critics, and the Los Angeles times wrote that “With Hard Boiled, John Woo shows himself to be the best director of contemporary action films anywhere.” The film was even made into a video game called Stranglehold.
THE GRANDMASTER
The highly-anticipated film by acclaimed director Wong Kar Wai took six years in the planning and three years in the making. It is an epic action feature inspired by the life and times of the legendary kung fu master, Ip Man. The story spans the tumultuous Republican era that followed the fall of China’s last dynasty, a time of chaos, division and war that was also the golden age of Chinese martial arts. Nominated for two Academy Awards, for Cinematography and Costume Design, THE GRANDMASTER features virtuoso performances from those at the film’s heart: Wong regular, Tony Leung, Ziyi Zhang and Chang Chen. The film portrays both the Chinese martial arts and the world of the martial artists with unprecedented authenticity and the trio of lead actors completed several years of rigorous and challenging kung fu training for their roles.
THE GRANDMASTER IS COMING TO UK CINEMAS ON 5TH DECEMBER 2015.
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