Shaw Brothers is a company that needs little introduction to fans of kung fu, responsible as it was for genre-defining films such as “Five Deadly Venoms” (1978), “The 36th Chamber of Shaolin” (1978) and the subject of this review, “Eight Diagram Pole Fighter” (1984). The movie was produced by Mona Fong and the Shaw Brothers. It was directed by Lau Kar-leung, who was also the martial arts choreographer for the film and co-wrote the script with Kuang Ni.
Kar-leung was a long-time collaborator of Gordon Liu, who starred in several notable titles which he directed, including “The 36th Chamber of Shaolin”, “Legendary Weapons of China” (1982) and “Eight Diagram Pole Fighter”. Liu’s co-star in the movie, Alexander Fu Sheng, another prolific Shaw Brothers actor, was sadly killed in a road-accident during filming, which meant his role was partly re-written and consequently Liu is the main protagonist. The film was nominated...
Kar-leung was a long-time collaborator of Gordon Liu, who starred in several notable titles which he directed, including “The 36th Chamber of Shaolin”, “Legendary Weapons of China” (1982) and “Eight Diagram Pole Fighter”. Liu’s co-star in the movie, Alexander Fu Sheng, another prolific Shaw Brothers actor, was sadly killed in a road-accident during filming, which meant his role was partly re-written and consequently Liu is the main protagonist. The film was nominated...
- 3/8/2021
- by Adam Webb
- AsianMoviePulse
Maybe It's Love. Photo courtesy of Celestial Pictures.The inspired "Shaw Sisters" retrospective at Metrograph focuses on women filmmakers who worked at the legendary Hong Kong studio. Two of the films—Maybe It's Love (1984) and My Name Ain't Suzie (1985)—were directed by Angie Chen. After directing a third feature, Chen turned to commercials and documentaries.Chen's life encompasses a broad swath of Chinese history. Born in Shanghai, she and her family caught the last train to Hong Kong during the civil war. They relocated for a time in Taiwan, moving back to Hong Kong when Chen's father left his family for Germany. Chen won a scholarship to a college outside Chicago, then transferred first to the University of Iowa before enrolling at UCLA. While translating a screenplay, she met Jackie Chan, who made her his assistant director on Dragon Lord (1982), a martial arts film shot in South Korea. Back in Hong Kong,...
- 8/26/2019
- MUBI
Love in a Fallen City. Photo courtesy of Celestial Pictures.Almost as long as there’s been a Chinese cinema, there have been Shaw Brothers. The three oldest brothers, Runje, Runde, and Runme, founded the Tianyi Film Company in Shanghai in 1925. Shortly thereafter, Runme and the youngest brother, Run Run, opened a branch of the company in Singapore, eventually expanding to Hong Kong. The Shaw empire crashed with the Japanese invasions, first in Shanghai in 1937 and then Singapore and Hong Kong in 1941. But after the war, thanks to the “more than $4 million in gold, jewelry and currency (they buried) in their backyard”1 they were able to re-open, first in Singapore and then, in the late 1950s, in Hong Kong. Shaw Brothers, with its massive Movietown production lot, became the dominant movie production house in the colony, vanquishing its rival MP & GI (later named Cathay) by the end of the 60s.
- 8/22/2019
- MUBI
Updated: Sir Run Run Shaw, founder of Shaw Brothers Studios and a pioneer of early Chinese cinema and television, has died aged 106.
Born in 1907, Shaw started his career working with his brothers at their jointly-owned Tianyi Film Company, later moving to Singapore to launch distribution and theatre networks across South-East Asia. He established Shaw Brothers Studios in Hong Kong in 1957.
The studio, which attracted top talent and was renowned for the high technical standards at its Movietown filmmaking base, produced more than 1,000 films, including classics such as The One Armed Swordsman, The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin, Come Drink With Me, The Kingdom And The Beauty and Five Deadly Venoms. Shaw was also a producer on Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
The bulk of the Shaw Brothers library was acquired by Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures in 2000, which digitally remastered and re-released many of the titles. The library continues to be mined by both Western and Asian companies for remake...
Born in 1907, Shaw started his career working with his brothers at their jointly-owned Tianyi Film Company, later moving to Singapore to launch distribution and theatre networks across South-East Asia. He established Shaw Brothers Studios in Hong Kong in 1957.
The studio, which attracted top talent and was renowned for the high technical standards at its Movietown filmmaking base, produced more than 1,000 films, including classics such as The One Armed Swordsman, The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin, Come Drink With Me, The Kingdom And The Beauty and Five Deadly Venoms. Shaw was also a producer on Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
The bulk of the Shaw Brothers library was acquired by Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures in 2000, which digitally remastered and re-released many of the titles. The library continues to be mined by both Western and Asian companies for remake...
- 1/7/2014
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
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