Patrick Tam Kar-ming (; born 25 March 1948) is a
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
and
film editor
Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film which increasingly involves the use of digital technology.
The film edit ...
. He is known as the seminal figure of
Hong Kong New Wave
The Hong Kong New Wave is a film movement in Chinese-language Hong Kong cinema that emerged in the late 1970s and lasted into the early 2000s.
Origins of the movement
The Hong Kong New Wave started in 1979 with the release of numerous notable fil ...
and the mentor of
Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure ...
.
Career
Tam directed the 1987 film ''
Final Victory
''Final Victory'' (Chinese: 最後勝利) is a 1987 Hong Kong action film directed by Patrick Tam and starring Eric Tsang, Loletta Lee, Margaret Lee and Tsui Hark.
Plot
Triad leader Big Bo (Tsui Hark) is a violent man, but his younger brot ...
'', scripted by
Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure ...
. He edited Wong Kar-wai's ''
Days of Being Wild
''Days of Being Wild'' is a 1990 Hong Kong drama film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. Starring some of the best-known actors and actresses in Hong Kong, including Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Jacky Cheung and Tony Le ...
'', contributing the cameo appearance of
Tony Leung Chi-wai in the last scene, and ''
Ashes of Time
''Ashes of Time'' (Chinese: 東邪西毒) is a 1994 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai, and inspired by characters from Jin Yong's novel ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes''.
Background
The film's story is a prequel to the novel ...
'', as well as
Johnnie To
Johnnie To Kei-fung (born 22 April 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and film producer. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in ...
's ''
Election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
''.
As part of Hong Kong's New Wave of film directors in the late 1970s and 1980s, Tam's work enjoys great acclaim. According to the Hong Kong film critic Perry Lam, writing in ''
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
'' magazine, "
am'sunpredictable digressions and swift changes of scene can evoke a dreamer's logic, but his sound and images are always sharp and particular."
Tam is now an associate professor at the School of Creative Media,
City University of Hong Kong
City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is a world-class public research university located in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. Currently, CityU is ...
.
Filmography
Films
* 1980 ''
The Sword
The Sword was an American heavy metal band from Austin, Texas. Formed in 2003, the band was composed of vocalist and guitarist John D. Cronise, guitarist Kyle Shutt, bassist Bryan Richie and drummer Santiago "Jimmy" Vela III for most of its t ...
'' (director)
* 1981 ''Love Massacre'' (director)
* 1982 ''
Nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
'' (director)
* 1984 ''Cherie'' (director)
* 1987 ''
Final Victory
''Final Victory'' (Chinese: 最後勝利) is a 1987 Hong Kong action film directed by Patrick Tam and starring Eric Tsang, Loletta Lee, Margaret Lee and Tsui Hark.
Plot
Triad leader Big Bo (Tsui Hark) is a violent man, but his younger brot ...
'' (director)
* 1988 ''Burning Snow'' (director)
* 1989 ''
My Heart Is That Eternal Rose'' (director)
* 1990 ''
Days of Being Wild
''Days of Being Wild'' is a 1990 Hong Kong drama film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. Starring some of the best-known actors and actresses in Hong Kong, including Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Jacky Cheung and Tony Le ...
'' (editor)
* 1994 ''
Ashes of Time
''Ashes of Time'' (Chinese: 東邪西毒) is a 1994 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai, and inspired by characters from Jin Yong's novel ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes''.
Background
The film's story is a prequel to the novel ...
'' (editor)
* 2002 ''Dare Ya!'' (editor)
* 2005 ''
Election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
'' (editor)
* 2006 ''
After This Our Exile
''After This Our Exile'' (父子, literally ''Father-Son'') is a 2006 Hong Kong drama film directed by Patrick Tam. A critical hit, the film won both the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film and the Golden Horse Award for Best Feature Film award ...
'' (director, film editing supervisor)
* 2014 ''
That Demon Within
''That Demon Within'' (Mo Ging, traditional Chinese character: 魔警) is a 2014 Hong Kong action psychological thriller film directed by Dante Lam and starring Daniel Wu and Nick Cheung. It premiered at the 64th Berlin International Film Festi ...
'' (editor)
* 2022 ''
Septet: The Story of Hong Kong'' (director, segment "Tender in the Night", first released in 2020)
See also
*
Cinema of Hong Kong
The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of ...
*
Cinema of mainland China
References
External links
*
*
Faculty Listing at the School of Creative Media
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tam, Patrick
1948 births
Hong Kong film directors
Living people