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The decade after Lee’s death saw the leap to stardom of two martial artists: Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Chan’s blend of slapstick and action, as seen in Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978), a collaboration with action choreographer Yuen Wo-ping (who choreographed the action on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Matrix), became an instant hit. He later added stunts to the formula, resulting in the hits Police Story and the Rush Hour series. Li garnered international acclaim when he teamed up with director Tsui Hark in Once Upon a Time in China (1991). Despite his reputation for tampering with a print hours before its premiere, Tsui introduced sophisticated visuals and rhythmic editing into the martial arts genre, most notably in Hong Kong’s first special effects extravaganza, Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983). As a producer, he helped to create John Woo’s gangster classic A Better Tomorrow (1986).

New Wave

Tsui Hark belonged to the New Wave, a group of filmmakers of the late ’70s and ’80s who grew up in Hong Kong, and were trained at film schools overseas as well as in local TV. Their works had a more contemporary sensibility, unlike those of their émigré predecessors, and were more artistically adventurous. Ann Hui, Asia’s top female director, is a New Waver who has won awards both locally and overseas. Song of the Exile (1990), a tale about the marriage between a Japanese woman and a Chinese man just after the Sino-Japanese War, won Best Film at both the Asian Pacific Film Festival and the Rimini Film Festival in Italy.

International Acclaim

The ’90s saw Hong Kong gaining unprecedented respect on the global film-festival circuit. Besides Ann Hui, Wong Kar-wai received Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival for Happy Together in 1997. Auteur of the cult favourite Chungking Express (1994), Wong is famous almost as much for his elliptical mood pieces as for his disregard of shooting deadlines. In the same year, Fruit Chan bagged the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno International Film Festival with Made in Hong Kong, an edgy number shot on film stock Chan had scraped together while working on other projects. Over in the pulp scene, actor-comedian Stephen Chow attracted a sizeable fan following among Western viewers shortly after he plonked himself into the director’s chair. In Shaolin Soccer (2001) and Kungfu Hustle (2004), Hong Kong’s two highest-grossing films to date, his signature humour is given a surreal twist by digital technology.

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top picks

HONG KONG FILMS

The One-Armed Swordsman (1967) – directed by Chang Cheh, this is the first of a new style of martial-arts films featuring male heroes and serious bloodletting.

Days of Being Wild (1990) – set in the ’60s, this star-studded piece directed by Wong Kar-wai is steered along by the characters’ accounts of seemingly mundane events.

Once Upon a Time in China (1991) – the first of Tsui Hark’s five-part epic follows hero Wong Fei-hung (Jet Li) as he battles government officials, gangsters and foreign entrepreneurs to protect his martial-arts school in 19th-century China.

Summer Snow (1995) – directed by Ann Hui, this touching story revolves around a working mother trying to cope with a father-in-law suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. It was the winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The Mission (1999) – directed by Johnnie To, this film about a quirky bunch of bodyguards hired to protect a Triad boss showcases To’s innovative approach to the action genre.

My Life as Mcdull (2001) – a heart-warming and sometimes poignant animated film about a pig character. Winner of the Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France.

The Warlords (2007) – directed by Peter Chan, this period war film about sworn brothers forced to betray one another by the realities of war shows it is possible to please both Hong Kong and mainland audiences.

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Tough Times

Due to changes in the market, the Hong Kong film industry sank into