100 years of HONKERS cinema!
July 15th 2009 14:18
While it is thought that the first films were made in Hong Kong in 1898, the destruction wreaked upon the city during World War Two (WWII), there is little evidence left to support this. Below is a timeline of Hong Kong cinema and themajor players that have been a part of it over the last 100 years.
100 Years - The dates.
1909
What is thought to be Hong Kong's first fictional film, short Stealing A Roast Duck, is directed by Liang Shaobo and produced by the US's Benjamin Brodsky.
1913
Lai Man-wai forms the Huamei film company with Brodsky and he writes, produces and directs the 15-minute feature Zhuangzi Tests His Wife.
1923
Lai Man-wai forms Minxin - the first Chinese-owned film company - documenting the military campaigns of the influential Chinese politician Dr Sun Yat-sen.
1924
Minxin produces Hong Kong's first full-length feature film, Rogue.
1934
The China Silent and Sound Pictures Production Company releases the first locally produced Cantonese talkie, A Fool's Wedding Night.
1945-1950
Film-makers return following the war, and the industry flourishes, producing up to 180 films a year, mainly dramas - including Madame Butterfly (1948), the first 35mm colour film shot in the city - and comedies.
1959
Run Run Shaw sets up Shaw Brothers in Clear Water Bay and its films quickly dominate the local box office.
1960-1965
Directors King Hu and Chang Cheh help establish the martial-arts genre as a force in Hong Kong cinema.
1971
Former Shaw Brothers executive Raymond Chow establishes Golden Harvest and begins shooting with Bruce Lee.
1973
Lee dies, aged 32, before his international breakthrough Enter The Dragon is released. It becomes a worldwide smash.
1978
Jackie Chan's Drunken Master establishes him as Hong Kong's biggest star.
1982
First Hong Kong Film Awards - the best film goes to New Wave director Allen Fong's Father And Son.
1997
Happy Together sees Wong Kar-wai become the first Hong Kong director to receive the best director award at Cannes.
2001
Edko Pictures co-produces Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which wins four Oscars (including best foreign film) and grosses close to $250m worldwide.
2002
Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's Infernal Affairs sweeps seven Hong Kong film awards. The film would be remade as the Academy Award-winning The Departed by Martin Scorsese in
06.
2008
Co-productions with the Chinese mainland point the way for Hong Kong, and director John Woo shows how it is done with blockbuster Red Cliff Part One.
100 Years -The players
Lai Man-wai
Often called the 'father' of Hong Kong cinema, Lai Man-wai (1893-1953) trained in the theatre and worked as a photographer before joining his brother Lai Buk-hoi to make Zhuangzi Tests His Wife in 1913. They formed the Minxin Film Company in 1923 and produced Rogue (1925), Hong Kong's first full-length feature, and its first blockbuster. While Lai Man-wai would later open the city's first 'super studio', the Lianhua Film Company, he was perhaps best known for his daredevil antics while documenting on film the military campaigns of Dr Sun Yat-sen against the Qing Dynasty armies in the 1920s.
Run Run Shaw
The man who almost single-handedly plotted the direction of post-war Hong Kong cinema began his career at the South Seas Film Studio in 1930. Run Run Shaw really began to make his mark in the 1950s, guiding the enormous Shaw Brothers Studio brand as it produced hit after hit, across every type of film genre. More than 900 features bear his signature as studio head, while the television station he founded in 1967, TVB, would become a training ground for the city's finest film-makers. Shaw has also contributed a fortune from his film industry enterprises into charities over the years.
Raymond Chow
When Raymond Chow opened the Golden Harvest studio in 1970, he said he wanted to find Hong Kong's most talented film-makers and give them the chance to make their own films. Those who followed him - from Bruce Lee to Tsui Hark and John Woo - helped Golden Harvest dominate the local box office throughout the 1970s and 1980s as Chow championed the martial-arts movies and streetwise thrillers that would become the hallmarks of Hong Kong cinema. He was the first local producer to try his hand at international features, too, setting a template for co-productions that is still being followed today.
Stephen Chow
The unique talents of Stephen Chow have produced staggering box-office figures - at the moment there is no bigger star in Asia. Chow began to develop his 'mo lei tau' (nonsense) brand of humour while training as an actor at TV channel TVB in the 1980s. Through films such as Shaolin Soccer (2001) and Kung Fu Hustle (2004), he has become a regular winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards, as an actor and a director.
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan says he dreamed of being a star, from his early days as a member of a Chinese opera troupe to the time he spent as a stunt extra watching the likes of Bruce Lee work their magic. More than 100 films later - and with hundreds of millions of dollars in box-office takings - Chan has become one of the world's most bankable stars. From the award-winning Police Story (1985) to international hits such as Rush Hour (1998), Chan's versatility has become legendary and he has extended his talents to include stints as an executive producer.
For more on HK cinema CLICK HERE
Source: From an article posted March 20 by Mathew Scott AAP
100 Years - The dates.
1909
What is thought to be Hong Kong's first fictional film, short Stealing A Roast Duck, is directed by Liang Shaobo and produced by the US's Benjamin Brodsky.
1913
Lai Man-wai forms the Huamei film company with Brodsky and he writes, produces and directs the 15-minute feature Zhuangzi Tests His Wife.
1923
Lai Man-wai forms Minxin - the first Chinese-owned film company - documenting the military campaigns of the influential Chinese politician Dr Sun Yat-sen.
1924
Minxin produces Hong Kong's first full-length feature film, Rogue.
1934
The China Silent and Sound Pictures Production Company releases the first locally produced Cantonese talkie, A Fool's Wedding Night.
1945-1950
Film-makers return following the war, and the industry flourishes, producing up to 180 films a year, mainly dramas - including Madame Butterfly (1948), the first 35mm colour film shot in the city - and comedies.
1959
Run Run Shaw sets up Shaw Brothers in Clear Water Bay and its films quickly dominate the local box office.
1960-1965
Directors King Hu and Chang Cheh help establish the martial-arts genre as a force in Hong Kong cinema.
1971
Former Shaw Brothers executive Raymond Chow establishes Golden Harvest and begins shooting with Bruce Lee.
1973
Lee dies, aged 32, before his international breakthrough Enter The Dragon is released. It becomes a worldwide smash.
1978
Jackie Chan's Drunken Master establishes him as Hong Kong's biggest star.
1982
First Hong Kong Film Awards - the best film goes to New Wave director Allen Fong's Father And Son.
1997
Happy Together sees Wong Kar-wai become the first Hong Kong director to receive the best director award at Cannes.
2001
Edko Pictures co-produces Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which wins four Oscars (including best foreign film) and grosses close to $250m worldwide.
2002
Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's Infernal Affairs sweeps seven Hong Kong film awards. The film would be remade as the Academy Award-winning The Departed by Martin Scorsese in
06.
2008
Co-productions with the Chinese mainland point the way for Hong Kong, and director John Woo shows how it is done with blockbuster Red Cliff Part One.
100 Years -The players
Lai Man-wai
Often called the 'father' of Hong Kong cinema, Lai Man-wai (1893-1953) trained in the theatre and worked as a photographer before joining his brother Lai Buk-hoi to make Zhuangzi Tests His Wife in 1913. They formed the Minxin Film Company in 1923 and produced Rogue (1925), Hong Kong's first full-length feature, and its first blockbuster. While Lai Man-wai would later open the city's first 'super studio', the Lianhua Film Company, he was perhaps best known for his daredevil antics while documenting on film the military campaigns of Dr Sun Yat-sen against the Qing Dynasty armies in the 1920s.
Run Run Shaw
The man who almost single-handedly plotted the direction of post-war Hong Kong cinema began his career at the South Seas Film Studio in 1930. Run Run Shaw really began to make his mark in the 1950s, guiding the enormous Shaw Brothers Studio brand as it produced hit after hit, across every type of film genre. More than 900 features bear his signature as studio head, while the television station he founded in 1967, TVB, would become a training ground for the city's finest film-makers. Shaw has also contributed a fortune from his film industry enterprises into charities over the years.
Raymond Chow
When Raymond Chow opened the Golden Harvest studio in 1970, he said he wanted to find Hong Kong's most talented film-makers and give them the chance to make their own films. Those who followed him - from Bruce Lee to Tsui Hark and John Woo - helped Golden Harvest dominate the local box office throughout the 1970s and 1980s as Chow championed the martial-arts movies and streetwise thrillers that would become the hallmarks of Hong Kong cinema. He was the first local producer to try his hand at international features, too, setting a template for co-productions that is still being followed today.
Stephen Chow
The unique talents of Stephen Chow have produced staggering box-office figures - at the moment there is no bigger star in Asia. Chow began to develop his 'mo lei tau' (nonsense) brand of humour while training as an actor at TV channel TVB in the 1980s. Through films such as Shaolin Soccer (2001) and Kung Fu Hustle (2004), he has become a regular winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards, as an actor and a director.
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan says he dreamed of being a star, from his early days as a member of a Chinese opera troupe to the time he spent as a stunt extra watching the likes of Bruce Lee work their magic. More than 100 films later - and with hundreds of millions of dollars in box-office takings - Chan has become one of the world's most bankable stars. From the award-winning Police Story (1985) to international hits such as Rush Hour (1998), Chan's versatility has become legendary and he has extended his talents to include stints as an executive producer.
For more on HK cinema CLICK HERE
Source: From an article posted March 20 by Mathew Scott AAP
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