Filmmaker Sammo Hung is one of the key figures who led the New Wave movement in Hong Kong in the 1980s. He was one of those who popularized martial arts and invented the genre of films about "jiang shi" - creatures similar to vampires. He is also often credited with helping many of his compatriots who have decided to gain fame in the Hong Kong film industry. He gave them work, promoted, shared his connections and received huge gratitude in return.
Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan are connected not only by professional relations, but also by a common nickname. Jackie Chan is often called Da Goh (Chinese: 大哥), which means "Big Brother." Sammo was known as “Da Guo” before the filming of “Project A”, in which both actors participated. Since Hung was the eldest of the “Kung Fu Master Brothers,” and the first to make this martial arts genre popular, he was given the nickname Da Goh Da (Chinese: 大哥大;), that is, “Big Older Brother” or “Eldest of the older brothers. "
Sammo Hung Biography
The future actor and director grew up during the Cultural Revolution. The hometown of the ancestors of the Hung (English Sammo Hung) - Ningbo, Zhejiang. But the future actor was born in Hong Kong. His father and mother worked as costume designers in the local film industry, because his grandfather and grandmother were engaged in raising his son. His grandmother was a martial artist, and her name was Chin Qi-ang, and his grandfather was a famous director named Hung Chun-ho. A career as a director of action scenes in films was provided to Hung from early childhood.
In the footsteps of grandfathers with fathers
Hung joined the Chinese Drama Academy in Hong Kong in 1961. He was enrolled there for seven years of study, starting at age 9, after his grandparents learned about the school from his friends. He headed the school Yu Jim Yuen, and, as was customary for all students, Hung took the name of his sifu (kind) as a surname.
Sammo became the head of the Seven Little Fortune student group (七 小 福), and established a kind of “friendly rivalry” with one of the younger students, Ewan Luo. This “classmate” later became an international superstar known as Jackie Chan. At the age of 14, Hung became the favorite of one of his teachers, who had connections in the Hong Kong film industry, and began to work as a stuntman. This brief experience in the movie caused him even more interest in this entertainment industry.
Shortly before leaving the Academy, at the age of 16, Hung was injured, which confined him to bed for a long period, during which his weight increased significantly. After seeking work in the film industry as a stuntman, he was given the nickname Sam-mo (“Three Hair”) in honor of a character from a famous Chinese cartoon.
Movie career
Many years later, in 1988, Hung starred in Painted Faces, a film adaptation of his personal experience at the Chinese Drama Academy. Among the exercises presented in the film are numerous acrobatic backflips and fighting techniques. Despite some brutal exercises and physical punishment shown in Painted Faces, Sammo Hung and the rest of the crew see the film as “a sparing version of their actual experience.”
But the career of the actor and director began much earlier. Sammo Hung appeared in several films for the studios Cathay Asia and Bo Bo Films back in the early 1960s. His debut took place in the 1961 film Education of Love. In 1962, he first appeared with Jackie Chan in the movie Big and Little Wong Ting Bar, and then played the role of ten-year-old Yue Fei in the film Yue Fei’s Birth, dedicated to the eponymous historical figure from the Song Dynasty - the man who became a famous Chinese general and a martyr.
In 1966, at the age of only 14, Hung began working at Shaw Brothers Studios, helping director Han Yingjie in King Hu's film Come Drink with Me. Between 1966 and 1974, Sammo worked on more than 30 films shot by the Shaw brothers' studio, moving up the career ladder from extras, stuntman and stunt coordinator to full-fledged director.
Top career
In 1970, Hung began working at Raymond Chow and Golden Harvest. At first he was hired to stage choreography in the films Golden Harvest and The Evil River (1970). His popularity soon grew, and due to the quality of his choreography and disciplined approach to work, he again caught the eye of the famous Taiwanese director, King Hu. Hung has worked in two of Hu's films, The Touch of Zen (1971) and The Fate of Li Han (1973). In the same year, he went to South Korea to study Hapkido under the direction of Ji Han Jae.
And also in 1973, he was spotted in Bruce Lee's classic movie, Dragon's Way Out. Two years later, Sammo Hung appeared in The Man from Hong Kong, positioned as the first Australian martial arts film.
Towards the end of the 1970s, Hong Kong cinema began to move away from Mandarin's epic martial arts films popularized by directors such as Chang Che. In a series of collaborative films, Hung, along with Jackie Chan, began to reinterpret the genre, creating a new direction in Asian cinema - the comedic Cantonese kung fu. Although these films were still very distinguished by the presence of martial arts in a variety of ways, they were diluted with a solid dose of humor.
70s star
In 1977, Hung got his first lead role in the film Shaolin Story. His next film, released the same year, was also his directorial debut and was called "The Monk with the Iron Fist." It was one of the very first martial arts comedies.
In 1979, the list of Sammo Hung's films was replenished: he directed the comedy “Fat Dragon's Way Out,” for the studio Fong Ming Motion Picture Company, where he also played a major role. In the film, he parodied Bruce Lee. However, he had a very good relationship with the latter during his life, because no matter what tricks Sammo Hung allowed himself, Bruce Lee treated them very condescendingly and understandingly. The death of the latter was a real blow for the hero of the article, and therefore in his new film he did not joke too hard on him.
After the success of the film “The Drunken Master” (1978), in which Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung worked together, the hero of the article decided to make a similar film with Ewan Siu Tin, aka Simon Yoon, in the title role. The film Sammo, as expected, could not overshadow the original in popularity. It was called The Magnificent Butcher (1979), and Hung filmed it with Ewan Siu Ting, who played the lead role. However, during the filming, the actor died of a heart attack and was replaced by Fan Mei Sheng. Ewan's absence may have led to the commercial failure of the film.
Time to unite
As Hung grew in popularity, he used his influence in cinema to help his classmates from the former Chinese Drama Academy. And he also helped former students of the "rival" Spring and Autumn Drama School. In addition to regular collaboration with renowned Taiwanese actors and Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung also began to appear regularly in his own films and often in the title role.
In 1983, the collaboration of Hung, Jackie Chan, and Yuan Biao began, which was called the Three Dragons. This alliance lasted as long as 5 years. Despite the fact that Yuan continued to appear in the films of Hung and Chan, the last film with the participation of all three was called “Dragons Forever” and was released in 1988.
Sammo Hung worked on the Lucky Stars series of comedy films in the 1980s. He also starred in the original trilogy Winners and Sinners (1983), My Lucky Stars (1985) and Twinkle, twinkle Lucky Stars (1985). The director of these films was made by Hung himself.
Horror movies with martial arts
During the 1980s, Hung played an important role in the creation of the first films about “Jiang Shi,” the bouncing living dead, which are the Chinese counterpart of Western vampires. In two iconic films, “Meeting of the Monstrous Good” (1980) and “Dead and Dead” (1983) featured “jiang shi” that move with sharp jumps, allowing them to approach the victims with lightning speed, as well as Taoist priests who are able to fight with these sinister creatures with spells.
And also Hung "revived" the subgenre of action movies with female characters by releasing the movie Police Assassins / Yes, Madam! (1985), in which the famous movie stars Michelle Yeo and Cynthia Rothrock played.
New millennium
In 2000-2001, Hung expressed interest in filming the Soulcalibur video game series. A film production agreement was signed in April 2001 with an estimated budget of $ 50 million. Sammo had the idea of producing a martial arts epic based on this game with Chen Lung and Jackie Chan in the lead roles, But the project, unfortunately for both Hung fans and game fans, was finally frozen. Hung's plans were described in detail on his website, but a year later the film adaptation announcement was removed. The rights to the film were later acquired by Warren Zid, producer of American Pie and Destination.
Zero, as well as the 80s, became a rather fruitful time for the illustrious Chinese director, and Sammo Hung's films at that time came out quite often. In 2004, Kung Fu Hustle was released, in which he worked as a director and director of battle scenes, but, unfortunately, left the project. In 2004, he again worked in tandem with Jackie Chan in a brief but notable role in Disney Studios Around the World in 80 Days, playing the legendary folk hero Wong Fei Hung.
Further activities
In 2005, Hung was hired to work on projects such as Dragon Shad Daniel and Wilson Yip's SPA: Sha Po Lang (also known as Kill Zone). In the last of these films, he played the villain for the first time in more than 25 years, and also had his first fight with Donnie Ian. One of the key features of the second film was the role of Hung as the adoptive father of the character played by Wu Jing. However, these scenes were removed from the final version of the film, as the director could not find a way to organically weave them into the fabric of the plot. However, a prequel was planned for this tape, in which the scene with Hung was to enter.
In early 2008, Hung starred in Fatal Move, in which he and Ken Lo played a pair of rival triad leaders (criminal gangs). He also starred and developed acting choreography for The Three Kingdoms by Daniel Lee.
US Recognition and Creative Pause
In 2010, Sammo Hung received an award for his many achievements in cinema at the New York Asian Film Festival, where four of his films were shown. Hung also played in the film Ip Man 2 (2010), in addition to acting, doing, as always, setting up battle scenes.
In this tape, he played the master Hung Gara, who challenges the main character. But in the same year, Hung starred in the prequel to this film, where he played a completely different character - Chan Wah-shun, the protagonist’s teacher. At this time, a calmer period began in the biography of Sammo Hung.