Tsui Hark
Born in Canton 1951 but raised in the Chinese section of Saigon, Tsui Hark filmed his first 8mm short at age 8. Hark migrated to Hong Kong at 14 and later studied film at the University of Austin, Texas. His first movie was “Butterfly Murders,” a cult favorite about killer butterflies. The success of his 1979 fantasy epic “Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain,” helped him finance his own production company, Film Workshop, which ultimately spawned John Woo’s action classic “The Killer,” starring Chow Yun-Fat. Hailed as the Spielberg of Asia for his experimental and visionary story-telling—not to mention his consistent box office successes, Hark redefined many genres: horror, heroic bloodshed and comedy. Among his 60+ films which he directed, produced or both, audience favorites include “A Better Tomorrow,” “Peking Opera Blues,” “A Chinese Ghost Story,” “Green Snake,” “The Lovers,” “The Blade,” “Shanghai Grand” and “Metade Fumaca” (1999) starring Eric Tsang and Nicholas Tse. After a three year hiatus, Hark completed “Time and Tide,” a gangster epic, in 2000. Hark will commence photography for the “Initial D” movie in October 2003. The movie, starring Edison Chan Koon-Hei, is adapted from the popular manga and anime of the same title.
Resources:
Bright Lights Film Journal
Filmography Compilation by Stephen Teo
Tsui Hark Interview: Changjiang Daily
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