Once Upon a Time in China
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Once Upon a Time in China | |
|---|---|
 Once Upon a Time in China |
|
| Directed by | Tsui Hark |
| Produced by | Tsui Hark |
| Written by | Tsui Hark Leung Yiu Ming Tang Pik Yin Yun Kai Chi |
| Starring | Jet Li Rosamund Kwan Kent Cheng Jacky Cheung Yuen Biao |
| Music by | Romeo Díaz James Wong |
| Cinematography | Chan Tung-Chuen Wilson Chan David Chung Andy Lam Arthur Wong Bill Wong |
| Editing by | Marco Mak |
| Distributed by |  Golden Harvest |
| Release date(s) | 1991 |
| Running time | 134 min. |
| Country |  Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Followed by | Once Upon a Time in China II |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Once Upon a Time in China (traditional Chinese: 黃飛鴻; simplified Chinese: 黄飞鸿; pinyin: Wong Fei Hung) is a 1991 Hong Kong action film co-written and directed by Tsui Hark and starring Jet Li as legendary Chinese folk hero, Wong Fei Hung. It is the first film in the Once Upon a Time in China film series. While the original film is in Cantonese, Jet Li spoke Mandarin when filming and was later dubbed into Cantonese in the release. The Mandarin dubbed all of the voices but used the original Jet Li speeches.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Concerns are growing over the Westerners from America, United Kingdom and France increasing their presence in Foshan (in some DVD releases, the subtitles state that the town in question is Canton, perhaps because it is a more recognizable place). The general of the Black Flag Army approaches Wong Fei-Hung (Jet Li) and requests that he recruit and train a militia of kung fu warriors to help protect the town. Wong recruits the butcher, "Porky" Wing (Kent Cheng) and "Bucktooth So" (Jacky Cheung).
Wong meets up with 十三姨 ("Thirteenth Aunt", played by Rosamund Kwan) and romantic feelings between the two are stirred. However, Shao Jun's father was a sworn brother to Wong Fei Hung's grandfather. This had made her, technically, Wong Fei Hung's aunt. A romantic relationship between them was considered a taboo among traditional Chinese society, thus this issue kept haunting their relationship.
Leung Foon (or "Fu", played by Yuen Biao) arrives in town with a Chinese Opera group and gets in trouble with a local gang called Sha Ho Bang, who are terrorising local businesses and dealing with the Americans. He accidentally runs into Aunt Yee and falls in love with her. After being kicked out by the opera group, Fu begins training under another master, "Iron Robe" Yim (Yee Kwan Yan).
The Americans, Jackson (Jonathan Isgar) and Tiger (Steve Tartalia) are working for the Sino-Pacific company, exporting Chinese people to the US for slave labour. The Sha Ho gang aids the Americans by kidnapping women to be sold as prostitutes for the Americans.
Sifu Wong attempts to bring the gang to justice but the fearful inhabitants of Foshan do not dare to act as witnesses.
"Iron Robe" Yim decides he must fight and beat Wong in order to make a name for himself in the town, in order to open a successful martial arts school. The Sha Ho gang offers to help Yim if he allies himself with their gang, a move which forces Leung Foon to stand against Wong Fei Hung.
[edit] Awards and Nominations
- 1992 Hong Kong Film Awards
- Won: Best Director (Tsui Hark)
- Won: Best Action Choreography
- Won: Best Film Editing (Marco Mak)
- Won: Best Original Film Score (James Wong)
- Nominated: Best Picture
- Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Jacky Cheung)
- Nominated: Best Cinematography
- Nominated: Best Art Direction (Yee Chung Man)
[edit] Box office
Once Upon a Time in China is largely credited with starting the period martial arts craze of the early to mid 1990s. It was a box office hit. The film ran for almost two months, the longest duration for any of the series, and grossed $29,672,278 HKD in Hong Kong.[1]
[edit] External links
- Wong Fei-hung aka "Once Upon a Time in China" at the Internet Movie Database
- Once Upon a Time in China at Rotten Tomatoes
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
