Leslie Cheung
Birthday: 1956-09-12 Place of Birth: Hong Kong, China
Synopsis
Leslie Cheung (12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003) was a Hong Kong singer-songwriter, actor, film director, record producer, and screenwriter. Cheung is considered one of the "founding fathers of Cantopop" by "combining a hugely successful film and music career." He rose to prominence as a teen heartthrob and pop icon of Hong Kong in the 1980s, with the turning point in his acting career coming in 1986 with his starring role in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow, which broke Hong Kong's box office record. In the following years Cheung was praised for his performances in films which found popularity with audiences worldwide, including A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), Rouge (1987) and Wong Kar-Wai's Days of Being Wild (1991). Cheung won the 1991 Hong Kong Film Award (Days of Being Wild) and the 1994 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award (Ashes of Time) for best actor. He had also won the 1994 Japan Film Critics Society Award for best actor for his performance in Farewell My Concubine and ten other best actor nominations, five Golden Horse Awards, three Cannes Film Festival Awards, an Asia Pacific Film Festival Award, and a Venice Film Festival Award. Cheung's music and movies not only captured fans in Hong Kong but also other Asian countries including Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan and South Korea. He is the first foreign artist to hold 16 concerts in Japan that has yet to be broken and the record holder as the best-selling C-pop artist in Korea. Cheung was ranked as the favorite actor in the 100 years of Chinese cinema. In 2010, he was voted the third "Most Iconic Musician of All Time" (after Michael Jackson and The Beatles). CNN considered Cheung as the "Most Beautiful Man from Hong Kong Cinema" and one of "Asia's 25 Greatest Actors of All Time."
Acting
Happy Together
A gay couple from Hong Kong takes a trip to Argentina in search of a new beginning but instead begins drifting even further apart.
Inner Senses
This is the story of Yan, a young woman haunted by fleeting images of what she believes to be dead people. Told that it is all in her mind by her psychologist Jim, Yan still cannot find any other explanations for her visions. Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when Jim begins seeing the same things she does and the two begin to unravel a mystery that leads to a forgotten past
Okinawa Rendez-vous
Jimmy Tong is an expert blackmailer and thief who specialises in white-collar crimes. With his side-kick, Jimmy steals a personal diary belonging to a Yakuza leader Ken Sato intending to use its details as a platform for blackmailing and to extort money. Sato agreed to the uneasy deal and made preparations to pay Jimmy his exorbitant demands only for Sato's girlfriend Jenny to betray him and make off with the money to Okinawa.
Moonlight Express
On the eve of her wedding, Hitomi loses her fiance Tatsuya to a car accident. She travels to Hong Kong seeking solace and meets undercover cop Karbo — a dead ringer for Tatsuya. The duo is forced to take it on the lam when a corrupt colleague frames Karbo, and Hitomi soon finds herself torn between her love for Tatsuya and her blossoming feelings for her fellow fugitive.
Anna Magdalena
Two young men fall for the woman staying upstairs when she practises J.S. Bach's "Notebook for Anna Magdalena".
Yang ± Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema
An exploration of Chinese cinema and its relationships with gender and sexuality, which the film argues has been more frankly and provocatively explored than in any other national cinema. Utilizing both film excerpts and interviews with many leading directors and academics, the film examines topics such as male bonding in kung fu movies, depictions of same-sex bonding and physical intimacy, the emphasis on women's grievances in melodramas, and the career of Yam Kim-Fai, a Hong Kong actress who spent her life portraying men on and off the screen.
Who's the Woman, Who's the Man?
Music producer Sam and his cross-dressing protege Wing have finally professed their love for another, but now what?
Temptress Moon
Set in the decadent 1920s, Temptress Moon tells the very complicated story of a wealthy family living on the outskirts of Shanghai. Their youngest daughter, Ruyi, is brought up as a servant to her opium-addicted father and brother. Meanwhile, her brother-in-law Zhongliang has a successful, if illegal, career seducing and blackmailing married women in the city. When he comes to Ruyi's home the two fall in love, and trouble ensues.
The Chinese Feast
Former member of a triad, Sun seeks to emigrate to Canada. He decides to become a great chef of chinese cooking and follows the teaching master Au.
Ashes of Time
Ouyang Feng is a heartbroken and cynical man who spends his days in the desert, connecting expert swordsmen with those seeking revenge and willing to pay for it. Throughout five seasons in exile, Ouyang spins tales of his clients' unrequited loves and unusual acts of bravery.
Once a Thief
Three orphans grow up to become art thieves under the tutelage of a crime boss. Romance complicates matters when the trio are double-crossed.
He's a Woman, She's a Man
Wing is a devoted fan of popular singer Rose who is involved in a topsy-turvy relationship with her charismatic producer Sam. Willing to go to any length to meet Rose, the willowy Wing disguises herself as a man, and with a twist of fate is chosen to be the next budding star for the record company.
Farewell My Concubine
Abandoned by his prostitute mother in 1920, Douzi was raised by a theater troupe. There he meets Shitou and over the following years the two develop an act entitled "Farewell My Concubine" that brings them fame and fortune. When Shitou marries Juxian, Douzi becomes jealous, the beginnings of the acting duo's explosive breakup and tragic fall take root.
The Bride with White Hair
The sensitive swordsman Cho Yi-Hang is tired of his life. He is the unwilling successor to the Wu-Tang clan throne and the unsure commander of the clan's forces in a war against foreign tribes and an evil cult. One day, he meets the beautiful Lien, a killer for the evil cult who is equally unsatisfied with her situation, but their love angers both the Wu-Tang clan and the evil cult.
The Bride with White Hair 2
For ten years, Cho has been in the snow of Mount Shin Fung waiting for a rare flower to blossom that will cure his wife who, back in Chung Yuan, is slowly killing all of the members of the Eight Big Clans. Something Cho did to her early in their marriage has turned her hair white and driven her mad. Cho's nephew, Kit, marries Lyre; they are deeply in love. On their wedding night, Ni-Chang, the bride with white hair, kidnaps Lyre and takes her to her harem of fighting women to indoctrinate her against Kit. Kit tries to lead a rescue party, but they are up against formidable opponents. Can Cho come in time with the blossom to soften Ni-Chang's heart?
All's Well, Ends Well
Three brothers living with their father fib and play pranks to win parental approval for themselves and their romances.
Days of Being Wild
Yuddy, a Hong Kong playboy known for breaking girls' hearts, tries to find solace and the truth after discovering the woman who raised him isn't his mother.
Aces Go Places V: The Terracotta Hit
Two friends who own an investment firm turn to a policeman friend for help when they are framed for robbery by a gang of antiquities smugglers.
A Better Tomorrow II
A restauranteur teams up with a police officer and his ex-con brother to avenge the death of a friend's daughter.
A Chinese Ghost Story
Ning Tsai-Shen, a humble tax collector, arrives in a small town to carry out his work. No one is willing to give him shelter for the night, so he ends up in the haunted Lan Ro temple. There, he meets Taoist Swordsman Yen Che-Hsia, and the beautiful Nieh Hsiao-Tsing, with whom he falls in love.
A Better Tomorrow
A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.
For Your Heart Only
Disco jockey Piggy Chan, mechanic Sapi and cousin Hayden are good friends. They three form a trio-Lovebursters. Some day, Piggy met a girl Jane Yu and fell in love at first sight with her. He tears down all obstacles to win her heart but after that, he resumes his inclination to flirt around. On the other hand, Sapi and Piggy’s sister Mable are deeply in love. Piggy is very furious when he discovers their love affair. However. He finally decides not to intervene because Sapi has a fatal disease. With the mounting pressure from friends and relatives, Piggy realizes his true affection towards Jane but she rejects him. The Loverbusters then step in and salvage the couple’s relationship.
Merry Christmas
A widower named Baldy (Karl Maka) longs for his lovely neighbor, but is unable to summon the courage to tell her until another man enters the picture and forces his hand. Knowing that Mak, the middle-aged newspaper editor, often misses his late spouse, his beloved children persuade him to date Siu Fung, the singer who lives next door. At this moment, Siu Fung's cousin, Uncle Sam, returns from the States and proposes to marry Siu Fung. One day, dispute happens between Sam and Mak which makes Siu Fung mad with Mak..
Little Dragon Maiden
Seeking to improve his combat skills, a young man falls in love with a woman with mystical powers but his past stands in the way of their union.
