As a gamer who has spent countless hours immersed in the world of martial arts movies, I can confidently say that Sammo Hung is a true legend whose career spans across generations. Born into the world of showbiz and starting his journey at the tender age of nine, Hung’s resilience and dedication to his craft are truly inspiring.
Over the course of seven decades, martial arts movie icon Sammo Hung from Hong Kong has experienced much and endured a great deal physically. Thus, it was hardly unexpected to witness the 72-year-old leaning on a cane as he made his way onto the stage for a masterclass at the Tokyo International Film Festival. However, as he enthralled an admiring crowd, the self-assurance and wit that have been cornerstones of Hung’s remarkable career in action films were evidently on display.
Raised in a family immersed in show business, Hung started his acting career as a child actor at the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera school in Hong Kong, at the tender age of nine. His cinematic debut occurred in the early 1960s, and a slightly blurry, black-and-white clip from that film showcased a young, innocent Hung, drawing affectionate sighs from his audience. “The training at the school was rigorous,” Hung reflected. “We learned all the basic movements. Once you’ve graduated, you can perform almost any move.
One significant moment in his career was when he faced off against Bruce Lee during the initial scene of the 1973 classic film, “Enter the Dragon.” Following Lee’s passing that year, the movie “Game of Death” remained unfinished. Later on, in 1978, he was tasked with coordinating the fight scenes for the reshoots.
Reflecting back, I didn’t get to know Bruce Lee that well, but his mesmerizing on-screen performances left a profound impact on me,” Hung reminisced. “His untimely death at such a young age was a shock not just in Hong Kong, but globally. His admirers and peers who held him in high esteem were deeply saddened.
In his initial directorial venture, The Iron-Fisted Monk, released in 1977, Hung not only took the helm but also starred in it. He added a comedic flair that audiences had enjoyed in previous films, thereby starting a wave of comedy kung fu movies. This genre later became synonymous with Jackie Chan, who made his mark in films like Drunken Master. Interestingly, Hung chose Cantonese for this film instead of the usual Mandarin, and from then on, all their productions were in Cantonese.
In 1978, “Enter the Fat Dragon” was the movie he both directed and starred in, and it was titled “Moeyo Debu-gon” when released in Japan. Since then, every film he made has incorporated “Debu-gon,” or fat man, into its Japanese title, as noted by film critic and producer Jun Edoki during his opening remarks.
In the 1980s, Hung significantly contributed to the development of the jiangshi horror kung fu genre, a passion fueled by his lifelong fascination with spirits and monsters. As he put it, “I was constantly brainstorming fresh ideas for my action films. I hardly ever took breaks during Hong Kong cinema’s golden age. At that time, I was young and energetic enough to maintain such a pace. Filmmaking was more appealing to me than taking a rest.
Although Hung didn’t achieve the same level of success at home in the 1990s as in previous decades, he gained prominence in two seasons of CBS’s “Martial Law” from 1998 to 2000. This made him an uncommon East Asian lead on a U.S. television show. Sharing screen time with Arsenio Hall, the series proved unexpectedly popular, even though Hung’s lines were somewhat restricted due to his limited English proficiency at the time.
The most challenging aspect, as I shared with a hearty chuckle, was the language barrier. When asked what they could alter about America, I expressed my desire for widespread knowledge of Chinese to simplify things for me,” said Hung.
In the sequence that followed, I found myself captivated by the legendary table-top fight scene between Hung and Donnie Yen in the 2010 film “Ip Man 2”. Being asked about the challenges of executing the combat sequence with an athlete like Donnie Yen, who’s renowned for his mastery over various martial arts disciplines, made me wonder if I would have felt equally daunted.
Working with Donnie wasn’t laborious as we both are quite proficient. In fact, we often managed to complete many takes in a single go. Donnie is undeniably talented, but I might just be a bit more so,” said Hung, eliciting laughter and applause from the audience.
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2024-11-03 14:56