If you were to ask Western fans of Hong Kong movies who the
most popular star in Asia is, names such as Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-Fat would
probably come up. However, it is Stephen Chow (sometimes credited as Steven
Chow, Stephen Chiau or by his Chinese name, Chow Sing Chi) that is Asia's top
box office draw.
Born in 1962 in Hong Kong, Chow grew up as the only boy
among three sisters (which may explain the troubles he often encounters with
the ladies in his movies). After graduating from high school, he enrolled in
the Shaw Bros. TVB acting school in 1982. During his time at the school, his
rubber-faced mannerisms found many fans, and he had his first taste of success
on the children's TV show "430 Space Shuttle," which also starred
another future Hong Kong movie star, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (Chow finding success
on a kid's show could be considered a bit ironic, since Chow is said not to
like children very much). Chow also worked with Ng Man-Tat, who would later
become his sidekick in many of his most popular movies.
After his time at the TVB school, the studio immediately
signed him to a contract, and he enjoyed a successful run on the network in
both comedies and dramas. By 1987, Chow had entered into the movie industry
with a role in Final Justice, for which he won the prestigious Taiwanese Golden
Horse award for best supporting actor. The award caused Chow to put his comedic
talents on the back burner as he appeared in a series of action and dramatic
roles, including John Woo's Just Heroes and Jet Li's Dragon Fight. However,
after appearing with Jacky Cheung in the comedy Faithfully Yours, Chow's
comedic nature returned to his film work.
In 1990, Chow scored his first major box office hit with All
for the Winner, which was a parody of the previous year's box office champ,
Wong Jing's God of Gamblers. Wong is a producer/director who is never one to
shy away from cheap publicity, so he hired Chow for the sequel to God of
Gamblers. It was with Wong -- a director known for his schizophrenic style --
that Chow solidified his own comedic style, which would come to be known as
"moy len tau." Moy len tau is a Cantonese term that roughly
translates to "nine comes after eight, but eight has nothing to do with
nine," but is more generally termed as "nonsense comedy."
Born from the comedies of the Hui brothers of the late
1970's-early 1980's such as the Mr. Boo series, Chow's moy len tau style
features manic pacing, high levels of physical comedy, parody, popular culture
references, and heavy use of Cantonese slang. The dependence on Cantonese terms
made Chow's movies huge hits with local audiences, and his physical attributes
-- notably the aforementioned "rubber face" and general good looks --
translated Chow's films into international hits as well. Chow's collaborations
with Wong, which included yet another God of Gamblers movie (by which time he
had gained enough popularity to be the movie's top-billed star) had given Chow
the basic template for his films -- a slightly dimwitted, but talented, man
gets thrown into strange circumstances, where he ultimately finds redemption
(and resolution) through love.
After the success of the God of Gamblers movies, Chow's star
continued to rise. 1991's Fight Back to School became Hong Kong's top-grossing
film of all time, knocking John Woo's mega-hit A Better Tomorrow out of the top
spot. The same year also saw Chow appearing in a comedic homage to one of his
idols, with Fist of Fury '91, a parody of the classic Bruce Lee movie. Chow
continued to spoof other popular movies, such as Swordsman with Royal Tramp,
and also did somewhat more serious fare with movies based on folk tales and
heroes, as with Flirting Scholar and King of Beggars. Though not was all wine
and roses during this period -- Hong Kong audiences are notoriously fickle --
and Chow had his share of flops. But by the time he completed The God of
Cookery in 1997, Chow had not only cemented himself as one of Asia's top stars,
but a talented producer, writer and director as well.
Stephen Chow is now in the envious position in the Hong Kong
movie industry of only having to do one or two movies a year in order to keep
in a public's eye (many stars appear in as many as a dozen films a year). And
like many of Hong Kong's top stars, Hollywood has come calling. He was
originally slated to direct a US remake of God of Cookery starring Jim Carrey,
but eventually turned the job down after getting tired of dealing with
Hollywood's red tape. Like his comedic style, Stephen Chow seems something that
is unique to Hong Kong movies and something which would (and could) only be
featured there. However, with the recent success of Chow's Shaolin Soccer
(which became the all-time Hong Kong box office winner for a domestic product),
American interest seems to have been renewed. Shaolin Soccer is slated to be
given a release in US theatres, with re-releases of some of his older movies to
follow.
Below are the lists of his famous movies:
1. All for the Winner
2. God of Gamblers II
3. Fight Back to School
4.God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai
5.Crazy Safari
6.Fight Back to School II
7.All's Well, Ends Well
8.Justice, My Foot!
9.King of Beggars
10.Hail the Judge
11. Shaolin Soccer
12. From Beijing with Love
13.Kung Fu Hustle
Below are the lists of his famous movies:
1. All for the Winner
2. God of Gamblers II
3. Fight Back to School
4.God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai
5.Crazy Safari
6.Fight Back to School II
7.All's Well, Ends Well
8.Justice, My Foot!
9.King of Beggars
10.Hail the Judge
11. Shaolin Soccer
12. From Beijing with Love
13.Kung Fu Hustle
14. CJ7
15.Sixty Million Dollar Man
16.Out of the Dark
17.Royal Tramp
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