![]() ![]() A Hong Kong crime family consists of two adopted siblings, Li Ann Tsei and Mac Ramsey, one blood sibling, Michael Tang, and their father, the Godfather. ![]() ![]() He is survived by numerous family members. John Woo's Once a Thief 2h 1996 Overview Synopsis Credits Film Details Notes Brief Synopsis Read More Telefilm based on the 1991 feature film of the same title written and directed by John Woo. The film won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and rightly earned Cheung international acclaim.Ĭheung continued to tackle interesting parts after the success of Concubine: a depraved opium addict in another stylish film by Chen Kaige, Temptress Moon (1996) a gutsy performance as the vituperative Ho Po-wing, one of a pair of gay Chinese lovers on holiday in Buenos Aires in Wong Kar-Wai's sexually explicit Happy Together (1997) and most recently, a man possessed by a dead girlfriend who tries to lure him into jumping to his death (another eerie parallel to his own suicide) in Chi-Leung Law's horror film Inner Senses (2002), which earned him a best actor at this last Sunday's Hong Kong Film Awards. His portrayal of Cheng, who experiences bitterness and regret throughout his life, and is driven to suicide by a failed love affair, was one of great sensitivity, and an incandescent charisma that few knew he possessed. The '90s saw Cheung steadily improve as an actor with some varied roles: a cunning jewel thief in John Woo's slick suspense drama, Once a Thief (1990) a suave villain in Wong Kar-Wai's Days of Being Wild (1991) and his extraordinary star turn as the gay, female-impersonating Chinese opera singer Cheng Dieyi in Chen Kaige's brilliant historical drama Farewell My Concubine (1993). That film helped Cheung present his versatility as a romantic leading man as well as his skill at action sequences. The film's success allowed Cheung to expand his film range and his next role was as an opium-smoking playboy in Stanley Kwan's Rouge (1987), a romantic ghost story that fluctuated between the Hong Kong of the '30s and the '80s. ![]() The turning point came when John Woo cast him as the rookie cop opposite Chow Yun-fat in the wildly popular Hong Kong action flick A Better Tomorrow (1986). His high profile in pop music led to some film work, which at first was light, teen fare. Cheung used this opportunity to cultivate his first taste of stardom as one of Asia's most popular singers and a celebrity to Chinese-speaking people around the world. Upon his return to Hong Kong, he entered in the 1976 ATV Asian Music Contest, and took second prize. He was fascinated by cinema from an early age (his father was the tailor to screen legend William Holden) and following graduation from secondary school, he studied drama at Leeds University in Great Britain. He was 46.Ĭheung was born on Septemin Hong Kong, the youngest of ten children. It launched on Mondays at 10:00pm in September 1997, and ended on Saturdays in the same time period in the Fall of the following year.Leslie Cheung, the Chinese singer and actor who won international acclaim for his role as a homosexual opera singer who commits suicide in the Oscar-nominated Farewell My Concubine (1993), died after leaping from a hotel in Hong Kong on April 1. 1h 48m 1991 Overview Synopsis Credits Film Details Articles & Reviews Notes Brief Synopsis Three Hong Kong art thieves, working the circuit in Europe, seek revenge after their boss, who trained them from childhood, double-crosses them. A Woo picture once again featured Chow Yun-Fat, who would go on to star in 1992’s Hard Boiled. Did a number of these for Canada that I dont have available to post here, like DUE SOUTH. Yet, despite the name value of John Woo, and the strong contributions of a talented all-Canadian cast, it was a combination of economics and indifferent viewer response that dictated an end to the Alliance Productions series after only one season on CTV in 1997. If Cherie Chung hadnt retired after making this movie, and maybe had gone on to star in some Wong Kar-wai movies, would she be. One of my favorite John Woo flicks is Once A Thief, which tells the narrative of three master thieves on a mission to steal a prized painting that each of their pasts is deeply entwined with. Variously described as 'a high-speed romp' and 'a romantic comedy with bullets', Once a Thief blasted and leaped its way across the nation's television screens with unbounded enthusiasm, and reasonable foreign sales. Based on action director John Woo's critically successful movie, the one-hour television series continued the story of two young refugees from a criminal empire in Hong Kong, who were played by Ivan Sergei as Mac Ramsey and Sandrine Holt as Li Ann Tsai, with Jennifer Dale as The Director and Nicholas Lea (better known for his role as Alex Krycek on The X Files) as ex-cop Victor Mansfield. ![]()
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