Editing Tsui Hark (section)

==Career==

===1977–1981: New Wave period===
Tsui returned to Hong Kong in 1977 and worked for TVB,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2001/hong-kong/hark_filmo/ | title=Tsui Hark: Filmography – Senses of Cinema | date=17 December 2013 }}</ref> the dominant local television station, then moved to its rival, CTV, lured by its general manager Selina Chow. Viewed as having an eye for talent (numerous future New Wave directors got their first directing gigs under Chow)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3225186/hong-kong-new-wave-cinema-key-movies-and-directors-tsui-hark-ann-hui-and-how-they-changed-filmmaking | title=Hong Kong New Wave cinema: The directors and their ground-breaking movies | date=25 June 2023 }}</ref> she put Tsui in charge of the martial arts drama, ''The Gold Dagger Romance'', which marked him as a talent to watch.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.filmcomment.com/article/an-annotated-tsui-hark-interview-part-ii/ | title=Online Exclusive: An Annotated* Tsui Hark Interview (Part II, aka Annotation Overload) }}</ref> 

Producer Ng See-yuen saw ''Gold Dagger Romance'' and hired Tsui to direct his first feature, ''The Butterfly Murders'' (1979),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.filmcomment.com/article/an-annotated-tsui-hark-interview-part-ii/ | title=Online Exclusive: An Annotated* Tsui Hark Interview (Part II, aka Annotation Overload) }}</ref> a technically challenging blend of [[wuxia]], murder mystery and science fiction / fantasy elements. His second film, ''[[We're Going to Eat You]]'' (1980), was a blend of cannibal horror, black comedy and martial arts. He was quickly typed as a member of Hong Kong's "New Wave" of directors.

Tsui's third film, ''[[Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind]]'' (1980), was a nihilistic thriller about delinquent youths on a bombing spree. Heavily censored by the [[1980s in Hong Kong|British colonial government]], it was released in 1981 in a drastically altered version titled ''Dangerous Encounter – 1st Kind'' (or alternatively, ''Don't Play with Fire''). The movie out-grossed Tsui's previous two films, however and made him a darling of film critics with writers describing it as "one of those very rare films in the history of Hong Kong cinema that brims with accusation and subversion" and saying that it described "man as trapped animals — this is the popular theme of the New Wave and the one enduring image in their narratives."<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hv3yJ6MaoYsC&pg=PA44 | isbn=978-0-7864-0990-7 | title=The Cinema of Tsui Hark | date=January 2001 | publisher=McFarland }}</ref>

===1980s–2000s: Golden era===
In 1981, Tsui joined [[Cinema City & Films Co.]], a production company founded by comedians [[Raymond Wong (film presenter)|Raymond Wong]], [[Karl Maka]] and [[Dean Shek]]. Cinema City & Films Co. was instrumental in codifying the slick Hong Kong blockbuster films of the 1980s.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} Tsui played his part in the process with pictures like the crime farce ''[[All the Wrong Clues]]'' (1981), his first hit, and ''[[Aces Go Places 3]]'' (1984), part of the studio's long-running spy spoof series.

In 1983, Tsui directed the [[wuxia]] fantasy film ''[[Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain]]'' (1983) for the studio [[Orange Sky Golden Harvest|Golden Harvest]]. Tsui imported Hollywood technicians to help create special effects whose number and complexity were unprecedented in Chinese-language cinema.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

In 1984, Tsui formed the production company [[Film Workshop]] with [[Nansun Shi]]. He also developed a reputation as a hands-on and even intrusive producer of other directors' work, fuelled by public breaks with major filmmakers like [[John Woo]] and [[King Hu]]. His most longstanding and fruitful collaboration has probably been with [[Ching Siu-tung]].{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} As action choreographer and/or director on many Film Workshop productions, Ching made a major contribution to the well-known Tsui style.

Film Workshop releases became consistent box office hits in Hong Kong and around Asia, drawing audiences with their visual adventurousness, their broad commercial appeal, and hectic camerawork and pace. With Tsui having been called the 'Steven Spielberg of Asia', Film Workshop became the 'Amblin of Hong Kong'.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=CORLISS |first1=Richard |title=He makes movies move That's why Tsui Hark is the Hong Kong Spielberg |url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2047487,00.html |magazine=Time |date=2 July 2001 |access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref> He produced [[John Woo]]'s ''[[A Better Tomorrow]]'' (1986), which launched a craze for [[Heroic bloodshed]] movies, and Ching Siu-tung's ''[[A Chinese Ghost Story]]'' (1987), which did the same for period ghost fantasies. ''[[Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain]]'' and ''[[The Swordsman (1990 film)|The Swordsman]]'' (1990) birthed the modern-day special effects industry in Hong Kong.

In fact, Tsui's "movie brat" nostalgia is one of the main ingredients in his work. He often resurrects and revises classic films and genres: the murder mystery in ''[[The Butterfly Murders]]'' (1979); the Shanghai musical comedy in ''Shanghai Blues'' (1985). ''[[Peking Opera Blues]]'' (1986) plays with and pays tribute to the traditions of the [[Peking opera]] that his mother took him to see as a small boy and which had such a strong influence on Hong Kong action cinema. ''[[The Lovers (1994 film)|The Lovers]]'' (1994) adapts a retold, cross-dressing period romance, best known from Li Han-hsiang's 1963 opera film ''The Love Eterne''. ''A Chinese Ghost Story'' remakes Li's supernatural romance ''The Enchanting Shadow'' (1959) as a special effects action movie.

The pattern is also seen in perhaps Tsui's most successful work to date, the [[Once Upon a Time in China (film series)|''Once Upon a Time in China'' film series]] (1991–97). [[Jet Li]] played the role of Chinese folk hero [[Wong Fei-hung]] in the first three films and the sixth, ''[[Once Upon a Time in China and America]]''. This series is the clearest expression in his oeuvre of Tsui's Chinese nationalism and his passionate engagement with the upheavals of Chinese history, particularly in the face of Western power and influence.

Tsui also dabbled in acting, mostly for other directors. Notable roles include one-third of the comic relief trio in [[Corey Yuen]]'s film ''[[Yes, Madam (1985 film)|Yes, Madam]]!'' (1985) and a villain in [[Patrick Tam (film director)|Patrick Tam]]'s darkly comic crime story ''Final Victory'' (1987), written by [[Wong Kar-wai]]. He also made frequent cameo appearances in his own productions, such as a music judge in ''[[A Better Tomorrow]]'' and a phony FBI agent in ''[[Aces Go Places II]]''.

In the face of an industry downturn in the '90s, he produced two expensive movies. ''[[Green Snake (1993 film)|Green Snake]]'' (1993) was a poetic and lyric movie based on a favourite Chinese fairy tale. ''[[The Blade (film)|The Blade]]'' (1995) was a gory, deliberately rough-hewn revision of the 1967 [[wuxia]] classic ''[[The One-Armed Swordsman]]''.

In the mid-to-late '90s, Tsui tried Hollywood with two films starring [[Jean-Claude Van Damme]]: ''[[Double Team (film)|Double Team]]'' (1997) and ''[[Knock Off (film)|Knock Off]]'' (1998). In 2002, he made ''[[Black Mask 2: City of Masks]]'', an American market sequel to Jet Li's [[Black Mask (film)|1996 film]]. It was released [[direct-to-video]] in the United States in December of that year before being theatrically released the next month in Hong Kong.

===2000s–present: China-Hong Kong co-productions===
[[File:Tsui Hark.jpg|thumb|Tsui Hark in 2008]]
Tsui returned to directing at home in 2000 after not having made a local film since 1996. ''[[Time and Tide (2000 film)|Time and Tide]]'' (2000) and ''[[The Legend of Zu]]'' (2001) were action extravaganzas with lavish computer-generated imagery that gained cult admirers but no mass success.

Tsui continues to push technical boundaries and revise old favourites. ''Master Q 2001'' was Hong Kong's first combination of live action and [[Pixar]]-style [[3D computer graphics|3D computer animation]]. ''Era of Vampires'' (2002; US title, "Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters") reworked a subgenre popular in the '80s, hybrid martial arts / supernatural horror films featuring the "hopping corpses" of Chinese folk legend.

In 2005, Tsui launched the multimedia production ''[[Seven Swords]]'', a film adaptation of [[Liang Yusheng]]'s novels ''[[Saiwai Qixia Zhuan]]'' and ''[[Qijian Xia Tianshan]]''. The film came with a television series counterpart (''[[Seven Swordsmen]]''), a comic book series, a cellphone game, clothing brand, and an online multi-player video game. The film was relatively successful, and in February 2006 Tsui announced plans to begin filming the second late in the year. As of 2008, Tsui continues to work on the script for ''Seven Swords 2'' in between filming projects. In 2011 there has been no news nor plans about a ''Seven Swords 2''. Rumors has it that due to lack of interest by the filmmakers of finishing the hexalogy lead the project into being cancelled.

In August 2008, Tsui provided art direction for the [[direct-to-video]] anime feature titled ''Kungfu Master'' (a.k.a. ''Wong Fei Hong vs Kungfu Panda''), an apparent unofficial sequel to ''[[Kung Fu Panda (film)|Kung Fu Panda]]'', featuring Chinese folk hero [[Wong Fei-hung]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Kungfu Master | work=Product listing | publisher=Sensasian | url=http://sensasian.com/product.php/EN/V17937H-D | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914045201/http://sensasian.com/product.php/en/V17937H-D/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=14 September 2008 | access-date=1 September 2008}}</ref> He also directed the 2008 thriller ''[[Missing (2008 film)|Missing]]'' starring [[Angelica Lee]] and the 2008 romantic comedy film ''[[All About Women]]'' featuring comic graphics and extensive ADR dubbing.

Tsui's latest work in 2010 is ''[[Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame]]'', a rare but successful blend of wuxia, suspense-thriller, mystery, and comedy, which was in competition for the Golden Lion award and was also nominated and won numerous other awards.

In 2010 he announced his first 3-D film, ''[[The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate]]'', which is a re-imagining of his 1992 film ''[[New Dragon Gate Inn]]'' starring [[Tony Leung Ka-Fai]], [[Maggie Cheung]] and [[Brigitte Lin]]. In 2011 [[Huayi Brothers]] announced that Tsui will be making a prequel to ''Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame''; shot in 3-D, it was released in 2013 as ''[[Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon]]''.

In October 2011, Tsui received the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award at the 16th [[Busan International Film Festival]] for his contributions to Hong Kong cinema. He is the fifth Chinese filmmaker to receive this award at Busan.<ref>{{cite web | title = Tsui Hark to receive Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award at Busan | url = http://asiapacificarts.usc.edu/article@apa?tsui_hark_to_receive_asian_filmmaker_of_the_year_award_at_busan_17339.aspx | work = Asia Pacific Arts | date = 9 February 2011}}</ref>

His film ''[[The Taking of Tiger Mountain]]'' premiered in China in December 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/john-woos-crossing-joins-3-d-december|title= John Woo's Crossing joins 3-D December|author= Stephen Cremin|date= 18 April 2014|access-date= 20 May 2014|work= [[Film Business Asia]]|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140429093616/http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/john-woos-crossing-joins-3-d-december|archive-date= 29 April 2014|df= dmy-all}}</ref>

Tsui worked on a film with [[Milkyway Image]] alongside [[Ann Hui]], [[Ringo Lam]], [[Patrick Tam (film director)|Patrick Tam]], [[Johnnie To]], [[Sammo Hung]] and [[Yuen Woo-Ping]]. Each director created a segment based on Hong Kong history.<ref name="screen-daily">{{cite web|url=http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/berlin/news/johnnie-to-assembles-top-hong-kong-talent/5082782.article|work=[[Screen Daily]]|title=Johnnie To assembles top Hong Kong talent|access-date=9 February 2015|date=6 February 2015|last=Shackleton|first=Liz}}</ref> The completed film, ''[[Septet: The Story of Hong Kong]]'', was shown at the Busan International Film Festival on 21 October 2020 and at the annual Hong Kong International Film Festival in April 2021.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.igafencu.com/r/hong-kong-international-film-festival-2021/|title=Must-watch Chinese film premieres at the 2021 Hong Kong International Film Festival}}  igafencu.com.   2021-04-07</ref>

In 2021 Tsui co-directed ''[[The Battle at Lake Changjin]]'' with [[Chen Kaige]] and [[Dante Lam]]. The film is the most expensive film ever produced in China, the [[List of highest-grossing films in China|highest-grossing Chinese film of all time]], and the [[List of highest-grossing non-English films|highest-grossing non-English film]].