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There's a certain bittersweet irony that in Rouge, Anita Mui's most acclaimed film role, the star plays a ghost from Hong Kong's bygone past lingering into the present day. It's been almost five years since the world lost the 40-year-old Anita Mui Yim Fong to complications from cervical cancer, yet in Hong Kong - and indeed the entire Chinese-speaking world - the woman once dubbed "The Madonna of Asia" continues to be an almost palpable presence. Countless memorial shrines, compilation CDs, even a Mainland TV biopic have kept her spirit alive and center-stage in the East Asian pop culture landscape. In life her flashy, constantly evolving onstage personas earned her another nickname - "The... [read more]
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With the seemingly never ending popularity of the Korean Wave continuing to flourish, a number of stars have become household names both at home and all around Asia. Korean television dramas in particular have proved to be a huge success, elevating certain male actors to heartthrob status, especially in Japan. However, Lee Byung Hun is one of the select few who can truly claim to have achieved global stardom, having won over audiences not only in Korea and Asia, but also in the West, with several promising Hollywood roles lined up, and being the only one of his countrymen to currently have US agent representation - no small feat in an industry notoriously resistant to all but the biggest of... [read more]
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When hearing the name Tony Leung, viewers would be forgiven for automatically thinking of Tony Leung Chiu Wai, the internationally acclaimed, sad-eyed Hong Kong star of In the Mood for Love, Hero, Infernal Affairs, and more recently Lust, Caution. However, particularly in recent years, the name is equally likely to be used in reference to another Tony Leung, namely Tony Leung Ka Fai, whose twenty-five year career has seen him grace the screen in nearly a hundred productions. Those confused by the similarity in English names may find it helpful to know that the two are often differentiated by nicknames, with Tony Leung Chiu Wai having been dubbed "Little Tony" and Tony Leung Ka Fai "Big... [read more]
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25 Beautiful Years: Wai Yin Association ... Making a Difference to Hong KongBeauty and wisdom have long been the tagline for beauty pageants, but for the past 25 years, Miss Hong Kong Pageant winners have added their own requirement to the list: heart. In 1982, a group of Miss Hong Kong titleholders and finalists united to form the Wai Yin Association, a charitable organization dedicated to community service, philanthropy, cultural activities, supporting the arts, and promoting Hong Kong's international image. With all the members being former beauty pageant contestants, Wai Yin Association is the only certified charitable organization of its kind in the world. In 2007, Wai Yin carried out a series of special charity events and commemorative activities to celebrate... [read more]
Written By YumCha! Editorial Team
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Although since they first opened their doors, Chinese cinemas have been ringing with the clash of swords, the righteous battle cries of noble, exquisitely garbed heroes and the evil laughter of beard stroking, cape swirling villains, of late the clamor has been particularly loud. Indeed, audiences at home and abroad would be forgiven for thinking that China's cinematic output consists for the most part of martial arts historical costume epics. Certainly, almost all of the country's big name and internationally lauded directors have tried their hand at the genre, even those perhaps better known for arthouse and humanistic cinema. The budgets for these films have grown ever bigger, packing in... [read more]
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Say "Miike Takashi," and most people immediately think of severed limbs, bullet-ridden corpses, ruthless yakuza hitmen, coke-addled whores, and maybe a dancing zombie or two. Modern Japanese Cinema's most infamous auteur, Miike is renowned at home and abroad for elevating the dark and violent themes that had been lurking in the flickering shadows of Japan's moviehouses since the 1960s into a kind of gloriously gory pop art. Not so obtuse as Suzuki Seijun, and defter than Ishii Terou, Miike and his movies descend into the darkest corners of the human psyche with an almost childlike sense of wonder. What ends up on the screen frequently disturbs, but also unabashedly entertains. The sheer... [read more]
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Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel recently wrapped up their TOUR 2008 L'7 ~Trans ASIA via PARIS~. Held from April 19 to June 8, the world tour brought L'Arc-en-Ciel to Shanghai, Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei, Paris, Tokyo, and finally full circle back to Osaka, where the band first began their musical journey 17 years ago. In close to two decades of ups and downs, this Japanese aesthetic rock band has grown from a Kansai indie to a world-class act. There is, of course, a reason I'm describing L'Arc-en-Ciel as "aesthetic rock" instead of "visual rock". In 1999, the host of Japanese music program Pop Jam repeatedly called L'Arc-en-Ciel a "visual kei band", a label that the band strongly resists.... [read more]
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Among the Chinese pop artists that emerged during the early 2000s R&B renaissance, no one has found success in as many forms of mass media as Jay Chou. In his ten years in the entertainment industry, he has become one of the biggest pop acts in Asian music and one of the most successful young actors in Asian Cinema as well. He's even become one of the most successful young directors in contemporary Chinese Cinema with a hit debut film. And to think - he started his entertainment career as a failing contestant on a talent show. Musical Pioneer - Jay Chou the Musician Jay Chou began to play the piano from the age of 4 and even majored in piano in high school, where he began writing songs.... [read more]
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For international audiences, Kon Ichikawa - who passed away February 13, 2008 - might be called the Ringo Starr of the great Golden Age Japanese film directors. In the West, at least, Ichikawa is a name that does seem destined to remain eclipsed by the likes of Akira Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi, and Yasujiro Ozu. But the Japanese have long recognized and celebrated Ichikawa's invaluable contribution in forging the identity of their national cinema. If Kurosawa, Kobayashi, and Ozu were auteuristic luminaries working within clearly defined boundaries, Ichikawa was the master-of-all-trades. His work spans six decades and virtually every genre of filmmaking imaginable. Comedies, mysteries, sci-fi... [read more]
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Although Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and even the determinedly arthouse Jia Zhangke are better known around the world, Feng Xiaogang is arguably the most popular director and the biggest box office draw in China. After ten years of directing domestic blockbusters that have never quite managed to find an international audience, this woeful situation is finally starting to change, with his lavish 2006 costume drama The Banquet winning a belated Western release under the bizarrely misleading martial arts title Legend of the Black Scorpion, and his latest film Assembly breathing life back into the Asian war genre and introducing viewers in the West to his considerable talents. Feng has progressed... [read more]
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To the average Japanese family, NHK's Kohaku Uta Gassen ("Red and White Song Battle") aired on the night of December 31, 1997 was just the 47th installment of the popular annual New Year's countdown music event. But for fans of Japanese pop and rock music, the night marked the final performance of a band representing the white team. The band bowed out with one last song titled Forever Love. That band was X Japan. One of Japan's most representative and legendary bands, X Japan is a name of great interest for both music fans and academic scholars alike. The band's effect on Japanese music can be rightfully described as a series of revolutions. From their official major debut on April 21, 1989... [read more]
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When asked to name an iconic image of Hong Kong Cinema, what springs to mind? Bruce Lee, trampling that "No Dogs or Chinese Allowed" sign in Fists of Fury? Chow Yun Fat jumping through the air in slow-motion, two guns blazing in Hard Boiled? Jackie Chan almost breaking his neck in any number of movies, perhaps? All good choices, but can any of them compare with the visual poetry of Joey Wong suspended from a wire, gracefully gliding across the night sky in her long, flowing robes in A Chinese Ghost Story? It's an unforgettable image that sent massive shockwaves through the Hong Kong film industry, as anyone who's seen any of the innumerable knockoffs of A Chinese Ghost Story can attest to.... [read more]
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In chiaroscuro, between shadows and light, an ambiguous figure comes out to greet us. Is that a smile, or the mask of a double-faced man who'd rather die than reveal what he's thinking? From the moment Orson Welles made his world-famous entrance in Carol Reed's masterpiece The Third Man, noir has been mysteriously shrouded in shades of black and white. The more famous quote about Switzerland and the cuckoo clock are still quintessential noir, of course, but they hardly stand up to the shadowplay's challenge. Visual and emotional ambiguity has always been noir's biggest charm, and this is what sets the stage for Korean filmmaker Lee Myung Se's latest film M. When did noir start in the West?... [read more]
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Although in an election year it might seem a little frivolous, there were few instances in 2007 that surpassed the controversy and fervor created by Shim Hyung Rae's blockbuster monster flick D-War (a.k.a. Dragon Wars). Director Shim, oh-so-much smarter than he makes people believe on TV or print interviews, ended up running away with the cheese while supporters and critics of his film were fighting under his nose. Although even non-Koreans might already be familiar with the director of Yonggary and D-War, an introduction is necessary to understand a little better what happened. Shim Hyung Rae is perhaps one of the two or three representative Korean comedians of the 1980s, becoming a star... [read more]
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Spring of 1980. Gwangju, South Korea. The breeze of late spring blew through the southern city, over the river of billboards and the perky sounds of green cabs. Color broadcasting had only started a few months earlier, and televisions could be seen airing baseball. Or maybe a little horror, with the virgin ghosts of KBS program Hometown of Legends predating Sadako's screams and chronic back pains by a good few moons. The residents of Gwangju were just living out their small, everyday routines, but what happened from May 18, 1980 changed their lives in ways they could have never imagined. These everyday people, those few fateful days, are the focus of Kim Ji Woon's 2007 blockbuster May 18.... [read more]
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On April 8, 1998, B'z, one of Japan's most representative bands, released their 24th single and successfully took the number one spot on the Oricon charts again. On that same day, a 19-year-old female singer named Ayumi Hamasaki who had struggled in the entertainment industry for a few years released her debut single. The single peaked modestly at number 20 on the Oricon charts. At the time, neither she nor her mentor and producer Max Matsuura could have possibly known that this was only the beginning of a fairy-tale journey for both them and Japanese pop music. It is not possible to talk about the past decade of Japanese pop music without mentioning Ayumi Hamasaki. In the past ten years,... [read more]
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The Chinese film industry has always been best known internationally for wuxia and martial arts productions, from the films of the famous Shaw Brothers studio during the 1960s and 1970s through to recent hits such as Ang Lee's Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or Zhang Yimou's luscious epics Hero and Curse of the Golden Flower. Over the last couple of decades, however, another genre has been rising in prominence to rival its popularity, namely that of the Shanghai nostalgia piece. This form sees filmmakers attempting to evoke memories of the glory years of the 1930s through to the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, a time during which Shanghai flourished as the... [read more]
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Gangs have always been one of cinema's favorite arguments, not only in the West where the mafia gave Hollywood decades of stories to tell, but also in Asia, where some of the oldest crime organizations have become the subject of countless films. What would Japanese Cinema be without the yakuza films of Fukasaku Kinji and Kitano Takeshi, or Hong Kong without its triad films? Even Korea has its hoodlums and assorted gangsters populating films and TV dramas for decades. Called "jopok" (short for "jojik poknyeokbae", organized crime society), these gangs have made their mark in Korean history ever since the colonial period, but how can we explain the last ten years' boom, bringing to the... [read more]
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Some actors take a while to hit their stride, and such has been the case with Aaron Kwok, who has spent many years paying his dues before finally being recognized as more than just a pretty face. Of course, he has been enjoying fame for nearly two decades now for his slick singing and dancing skills, being hailed as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop, though it is only recently, with back to back wins at the 2005 and 2006 Golden Horse Awards for his stunning turns in Divergence and After This Our Exile, that his acting talent has also earned him the same kind of acclaim and respect. As such, he has now truly joined the A-list of Hong Kong performers equally adored on stage and... [read more]
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An escaped mental patient. A bookish, introverted librarian. A sadomasochistic crime boss who casually cuts off his own tongue. A suicidal husband and father. An afro-sporting zombie hunter. An average guy who can't get a date. Genghis Khan. These are just a few of the colorful characters Asano Tadanobu has portrayed along the unlikely road to international superstardom. By all accounts one of the nicest, most down-to-earth people at work in today's Asian entertainment industry, Asano carved out his bloody place in cinema history playing some of the most memorably demented wackos to ever grace the silver screen. Western media often dubs him "the Japanese Johnny Depp", but the appellation... [read more]
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