Wong Jing ( born 3 May 1955) is a Hong Kong

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 ...

, producer,

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

presenter A presenter is a person or organization responsible for the running of a public event, or someone who conveys information on media via a broadcasting outlet. Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a new ...

, and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. A prolific filmmaker with strong instincts for crowd-pleasing and publicity, Wong Jing played a prominent role in

Hong Kong cinema 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 pol ...

during the 1990s.

Biography

Wong was born in Hong Kong, the son of noted film director

Wong Tin-Lam Wong Tin-Lam (1927–2010) was a Chinese screenwriter, producer, director, and actor, who has contributed to the Hong Kong cinema scene with a career spanning six decades. He has made films in Cantonese, Mandarin and Amoy dialect. Career Wong ...

. He graduated from the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university an ...

with a degree in Chinese literature which he describes as "useless" (Yang, 2003). Like many Hong Kong film figures of his time, Wong began his career in television – in his case, scriptwriting for local juggernaut

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 ...

beginning in 1975 (Teo, 1997). He moved on to writing for the

Shaw Brothers Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, and operated from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shangh ...

studio. There, he made his directing debut with ''Challenge of the Gamesters'' (千王鬥千霸) in 1981. This start foreshadowed his later successes with movies about gambling, such as ''

God of Gamblers ''God of Gamblers'' (; lit. ''God of Gambling'') is a 1989 Hong Kong action comedy-drama film written and directed by Wong Jing featuring an all-star cast led by Chow Yun-fat, Andy Lau, Joey Wong and Sharla Cheung. Plot Ko Chun is a world-fa ...

'', 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 ...

and

Andy Lau Andy Lau Tak-wah (; born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maint ...

, which broke Hong Kong's all-time box office record upon its release in 1989, and started a fad for the genre. Wong has directed, produced or written over 175 films (Yang, 2003), occasionally acting in them as well. He works with an efficient mass production method making heavy use of directing assistants and allowing him to work on several movies at once. He works under the umbrellas of two production companies he launched, Wong Jing's Workshop Ltd. and BoB and Partners Co. Ltd. (Best of the Best), the latter in partnership with director

Andrew Lau Andrew Lau Wai-keung ( zh, t=劉偉強, born 4 April 1960) is a Hong Kong film director, producer, and cinematographer. Lau began his career in the 1980s and 1990s, serving as a cinematographer to filmmakers such as Ringo Lam, Wong Jing and Wo ...

and writer-producer

Manfred Wong Manfred Wong (; Wong Man-Chun; born 5 June 1957, in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong radio personality, film producer, screenwriter, film director and actor. He is best known for his involvement as a writer for the ''Young and Dangerous'' film series. ...

(Bordwell, 2000). He once commented that his movies were hits because he gave the people what they wanted, and not what he thought they should want. A typical Wong production might be a broad comedy (''Boys Are Easy'', 1993) or an entry in a currently popular genre, such as

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

(''Holy Weapon'', 1993), erotic thriller (''

Naked Killer ''Naked Killer'' () is a 1992 Hong Kong erotic thriller film written and produced by Wong Jing, and directed by Clarence Fok Yiu-leung. The film stars Chingmy Yau, Simon Yam and Carrie Ng. The film is regarded as a cult classic. Plot Kitty ...

'', 1992) or

gangster film A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The ...

(''

Young and Dangerous ''Young and Dangerous'' () is a 1996 Hong Kong crime film about a group of triad members, detailing their adventures and dangers in a Hong Kong Triad society. Directed by the film's cinematographer Andrew Lau, the film features a large ensembl ...

'', 1996). It will imbue its model with lightning pacing and frequent shifts in tone to accommodate

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

and

toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human urine and feces, and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting position popu ...

humor, sentimental heart-tugging, cartoonish violence, sexual titillation, and

parodic A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

references to well-known Hong Kong and

Hollywood films The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Ame ...

. Wong also directed or produced several of the films of comic actor Stephen Chow, who has been Hong Kong's most popular performer since the early 1990s. Examples of their collaborations include ''

God of Gamblers II ''God of Gamblers II'' () is a 1990 Hong Kong action comedy film written and directed by Wong Jing. It stars Andy Lau as the Knight of Gamblers, Stephen Chow as the Saint of Gamblers, and Ng Man-tat as Blackie Tat. This film is a sequel to both ...

'' (1991), ''

Tricky Brains ''Tricky Brains'' (), also known as ''The Ultimate Trickster'', is a 1991 Hong Kong comedy film written and directed by Wong Jing, who also co-stars in the film. The film stars Andy Lau, Stephen Chow, Rosamund Kwan, Chingmy Yau, Ng Man-tat and ...

'' (1991), '' Royal Tramp I'' and ''II'' (1992) and ''Sixty Million Dollar Man'' (1995). Wong's commercial skills are not limited to the content of his movies or his casting. He was using Hollywood-style cross-media promotional tactics – such as tie-in novels, comic books and other products, and magazine interviews – long before they became common in Hong Kong (Bordwell, 2000). Wong's style, often seen as loud, crass and

philistine The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, when ...

, may be another factor in his low stock among critics. According to director

Ann Hui Ann Hui On-wah, (; born 23 May 1947) is a film director, producer, screenwriter and actress from Hong Kong who is one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers of the Hong Kong New Wave. She is known for her films about social issues in Ho ...

, he remarked of Hui's acclaimed 1990 drama ''Song of the Exile'', "Who wants to watch the autobiography of a fat woman?" In 1994, unidentified assailants attacked him outside his offices and knocked out his teeth; this was widely believed to have been retaliation for injudicious remarks, ordered by Triads or Chinese organized crime figures, whose involvement in the industry is notorious, although Wong himself is rumored to be involved with the Triads.王晶曾收小弟 "黑社会头领"长沙现身
/ref> Since the late 1990s, Wong's films have fared much worse in the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

due to the sluggish recession which has been enveloping Hong Kong cinema in the new millennium. However a number of his films released in the 2010s, such as ''

From Vegas to Macau ''From Vegas to Macau'' (), also known as ''The Man From Macau'' (), is a Hong Kong-Chinese crime comedy film directed by Wong Jing. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Nicholas Tse, Chapman To and Jing Tian. The film was released during 2014 Chinese Ne ...

'', have seen renewed success for the director, particularly in mainland China.

Filmography

References

* Bordwell, David. ''Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000. * Dannen, Fredric, and Barry Long. ''Hong Kong Babylon: The Insider's Guide to the Hollywood of the East''. New York: Miramax, 1997. * Teo, Stephen. ''Hong Kong Cinema: The Extra Dimensions''. London: British Film Institute, 1997. * Yang, Jeff. ''Once Upon a Time in China: A Guide to Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Mainland Chinese Cinema''. New York: Atria, 2003.

External links

*
Wong Jing profile page
at

Hong Kong Cinemagic Hong Kong Cinemagic, sometimes referred to as HKCinemagic, is a bilingual ( French and English) website providing a repository for information about Chinese language films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, and the people who created them. The websi ...

Long interview with Wong Jing
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Jing Hong Kong film directors 1955 births Living people Hong Kong male film actors Hong Kong film producers Hong Kong film presenters Hong Kong screenwriters Alumni of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Asian film producers Hong Kong male television actors 20th-century Hong Kong male actors 21st-century Hong Kong male actors