Leong Po-Chih (born 31 December 1939) is a British-born Chinese film director from Hong Kong and United States.

Early life

On December 31, 1939, Leong was born in England. He has two siblings. Leong attended the

London Film School London Film School (LFS) is a film school in London and is situated in a converted brewery in Covent Garden, London, neighbouring Soho, a hub of the UK film industry. It is the oldest film school in the UK.

, before embarking on a

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

degree.

Career

Leong started his career as a trainee film editor at

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

. Leong worked on a variety of productions, including the long-running series ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

''. In 1967, Leong joined

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...

and set up its film unit in

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...

. As an

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

he also directed a number of entertainment programmes, including ''The Star Show''. He left TVB in 1969 to form Adpower, one of the first commercial production companies in Hong Kong. In 1976, Leong became a co-director in his first Hong Kong film. Leong co-directed ''Jumping Ash'' (1976), an

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

set in a drug underworld, where he also appeared in this film as Tiger's man. It was one of the two top-grossing films of the season. At the 23rd Hong Kong Film Festival, it was described as "the advance guard of the (Hong Kong) New Wave". He went on to direct a range of genres from drama to action movies, comedies, horror and satire, in both English and Chinese. ''Banana Cop'' (1984) was the story of a British–Chinese policeman who returns to Hong Kong to seek help with a case. It was the genesis for his first British film ''

Ping Pong Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

'' (1986), made for UK's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, the first English feature film set in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

. After ''Banana Cop'', Leong turned to history for inspiration and made the award-winning movie ''

Hong Kong 1941 ''Hong Kong 1941'' () is a 1984 Hong Kong war drama film directed by Po-Chih Leong, produced by John Shum and written by Sammo Hung. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Cecilia Yip and Alex Man. For his performance in this film, Chow was awarded his fir ...

'' (1984), starring

Chow Yun Fat Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor. He is perhaps best known for his collaborations with filmmaker John Woo in the five Hong Kong action heroic bloodshed films: ''A Better Tomorrow'', ''A Be ...

, set in Hong Kong during the early days of the Japanese invasion. ''Hong Kong 1941'' was an oblique comment on the 1984 deal between Britain and China about Hong Kong's future. Leong and his film maker daughter, Sze Wing Leong, directed and filmed the effect of this deal up to and beyond the handover in ''Riding the Tiger'' (1997-1998), an eight part, observational documentary series for the UK's Channel 4. Further pursuing his interest in history, Leong made a Hong Kong English-language movie, ''Shanghai 1920'' (HK, 1990), set in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

and starring

John Lone John Lone (; jyutping: zyun1 lung4; born October 13, 1952) is an American actor. He starred as Pu Yi in the Academy Award-winning film ''The Last Emperor'' (1987), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. A veteran o ...

, about the rise of the legendary Shanghai gangster Big-Eared Du. His second British

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

, was the award-winning 1998 movie, ''

The Wisdom of Crocodiles ''The Wisdom of Crocodiles'' (also released as ''Immortality'') is a 1998 British romantic thriller film directed by Po-Chih Leong and starring Jude Law. It is based on the book of the same name by Paul Hoffman. Plot Cast * Jude Law as ...

'', starring

Jude Law David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an English actor. He received a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, two Tony Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2007, he received an Honorary Césa ...

Timothy Spall Timothy Leonard Spall (born 27 February 1957) is an English actor and presenter. He became a household name in the UK after appearing as Barry Spencer Taylor in the 1983 ITV comedy-drama series ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet''. Spall performed in '' S ...

, and

Kerry Fox Kerry Lauren Fox (born 30 July 1966) is a New Zealand actress. She came to prominence playing author Janet Frame in the movie ''An Angel at My Table'' directed by Jane Campion, which gained her a Best Actress Award from the New Zealand Film and ...

, with notable references to

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

s opus, especially ''

Rashomon is a 1950 Jidaigeki psychological thriller/crime film directed and written by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori (actor), Masayuki Mori, and ...

'', and to

Jean-Pierre Melville Jean-Pierre Melville (; born Jean-Pierre Grumbach; 20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973) was a French filmmaker and actor. Among his films are ''Le Silence de la mer'' (1949), ''Bob le flambeur'' (1956), '' Le Doulos'' (1962), ''Le Samouraï'' (196 ...

's ''

Le Samouraï ''Le Samouraï'' (; ), is a 1967 neo-noir crime thriller film written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. The film follows a professional hitman named Jef Costello who is identified by witnesses and his efforts to provide himself with an alibi ...

''. In recent years Leong has made action films starring

Steven Seagal Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...

Wesley Snipes Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist. His prominent film roles include '' Major League'' (1989), ''New Jack City'' (1991), ''White Men Can't Jump'' (1992), ''Passenger 57'' (1992), '' R ...

Judd Nelson Judd Asher Nelson (born November 28, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as John Bender in ''The Breakfast Club'', Alec Newbury in ''St. Elmo's Fire'', Joe Hunt in ''Billionaire Boys Club'', Nick Peretti in ''New Jack City ...

Joe Mantegna Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor. Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeffe ...

, and Oscar-winning

Marcia Gay Harden Marcia Gay Harden (born August 14, 1959) is an American actress. She is the recipient of accolades including an Academy Award and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for a Critics' Choice Movie Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards. Born ...

. He has directed films for US network television and

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...

. In 2012, he reunited with Hong Kong producer

Raymond Wong Bak Ming Raymond Wong Pak-ming (Chinese: 黃百鳴, born 8 April 1946; sometimes transliterated as Raymond Wong Bak-ming) is a Hong Kong film producer, playwright, director and actor. He is one of the most successful producers in Hong Kong cinema, h ...

to direct the 3D movie, ''Baby Blues''.

Personal life

Leong's wife is Mary Leong. Leong and his family currently resides in Los Angeles. His son is James Leong, also a film maker. Leong's younger brother is sculptor

Po Shun Leong Po Shun Leong (born 15 March 1941) is an English artist, former architect, sculptor and furniture maker. He was born at Northampton, England, and educated at the Quaker Leighton Park School in Berkshire, and then at the Architectural Association ...

, and his nephew is photographer

Sze Tsung Leong Sze Tsung Leong (born 1970) is an American and British photographer and artist interested in urban studies. Biography Born in Mexico City, he grew up there and in Los Angeles as a youth. He then continued on and studied at the Art Center College of ...

Filmography

Films

Television series

Awards

His movies have won multiple awards and have been shown at the Venice, London, Toronto, Locarno, Hong Kong and Edinburgh film festivals, amongst others.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leong, Po-Chih British film directors Living people 1939 births