1979: Butterfly Murders
(director)
Killer
butterflies terrorise the country. A few swordsmen come to investigate but get trapped in
the castle of Lord Shum.
This is the first movie directed by Tsui Hark, thanks to he became the leader of the Hong
Kong new wave. It is a mix of Kung Fu movie style and western influence. The movie is a
kind of thriller where Tsui Hark demonstrates the illusion that can offer the cinema. It's
a beautiful movie but may be the plot lacks a bit of pace. The surroundings are terrific.
A great movie!
1980: We Are Going To Eat
You (director)
Agent 999 looks for a dangerous murderer who he hide in a island full of cannibals!
This black comedy has somehow a Roger Corman flavour. But Tsui Hark did nothing to seduce
the audience here. This is a very dark but also a funny though pessimistic point of view
on mankind.
1980 : Don’t Play
With Fire aka Dangerous Encounter Of The First Kind (director)
In the second version three students meet a strange girl. They steal money together from a
dangerous western gang of smugglers. As a result they get into big trouble very
quickly…
Tsui Hark directed a more outrageous film and showed his anger big time. That was more
than the censorship board of HK could stand and the movie was therefore forbidden. The
scene that made censors mad was the one when teenagers set a bomb in a theatre. It could
give naughty ideas to the youth of HK. Tsui Hark had to find a solution: to make a new
version in 10 days! He ended up with a second version much more violent than the first
one. But with the new version, Tsui Hark's anger is still very present on the screen and
makes this anarchistic movie very interesting to watch.
1981: All The Wrong Clues
For The Right Solution (director)
In the 40's a private eye (George Lam) goes into troubles when the girlfriend of Al Capone
(Karl Maka) decides to run away with him.
1983: Zu, Warriors Of The
Magic Mountain (director)
A young soldier has to save the world from a demon.
Amazing! Flying swordsmen, beautiful witches and a baroque style are the mad elements of
this cult movie. Zu however didn't gross a lot at the local box office, but it was very
important for the Hong-Kong cinema history. Tsui was indeed the first director to use
western special effects and especially the blue screen technique to pay a tribute to old
Cantonese movies, the Wu Xia Pian genre in particular (Chivalry genre). The production was
therefore long and hard work. The poetry and the beauty of Zu make you overcome
its shortcomings: the style is very 80's, the plot is too messy, the characters lack
sometimes of depth, but this film represents the incredible Hong Kong fantasy. It's a
precious film to watch over and over again.
1983: All The Wrong Spies
(actor)
1984: Aces Go Places 3,
aka Mad Mission 3 (director)
Secret agent King Kong come back in this third part to help the Queen Mother to bring back
her stolen crown!
Tsui left the production midway because he disagreed with producer Karl Maka. Mad Mission
is however a funny and old fashioned commercial movie. Watch it just for a laugh.
