''Painted Faces'' (Chinese: 七小福) is a 1988 Hong Kong

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

co-written and directed by Alex Law and starring

Sammo Hung Sammo Hung Kam-bo ( zh, t=洪金寶, j=Hung4 Gam1-bou2; born 7 January 1952) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a fight choreographer for ...

as his mentor, Master Yu Jim-yuen of the

China Drama Academy The China Drama Academy () was a Peking opera school in Kowloon, Hong Kong, famous for being the childhood home of such famous actors as Jackie Chan (Yuen Lo), Sammo Hung (Yuen Lung), Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu and Corey Yuen (Yuen Kwai). It w ...

. For his portrayal as Master Yu, Hung won his second

Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor The Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor is an annual Hong Kong industry award presented to an actor for the best performance by an actor in a leading role. The actor with most awards in this category is Tony Leung Chiu-Wai with 5 times. He is als ...

at the 8th Hong Kong Film Awards. The film was selected as the Hong Kong entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

62nd Academy Awards The 62nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1989 and took place on March 26, 1990, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee. The Chinese title refers to the

Seven Little Fortunes The China Drama Academy () was a Peking opera school in Kowloon, Hong Kong, famous for being the childhood home of such famous actors as Jackie Chan (Yuen Lo), Sammo Hung (Yuen Lung), Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu and Corey Yuen (Yuen Kwai). It w ...

, which includes Hung,

Yuen Biao Yuen Biao (born Ha Lingchun; 26 July 1957) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist and stuntman. He specialises in acrobatics and Chinese martial arts and has also worked on over 80 films as actor, stuntman and action choreographer. He was one of ...

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

and their fellow opera-mates, who later became popular in the

Hong Kong film industry 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, British Hong Kong, Hong Kong had a gr ...

. The film focuses on Master Yu and his methods on bringing up his protégés.

Cast

as Master Yu *

Lam Ching-ying Lam Ching-ying (; born Lam Gun-bo (); 27 December 1947 – 8 November 1997) was a Hong Kong stuntman, actor, and action director. As a practitioner of martial arts Lam starred in a number of notable films that found recognition outside Hong Kong ...

as Wah *

Cheng Pei-pei Cheng Pei-pei (born 6 January 1946) is a Chinese actress, who is considered cinema's first female action hero. She is known for her performance in the 1966 King Hu ''wuxia'' film ''Come Drink with Me'', as well as her portrayal of Jade Fox in ...

as Ching *

John Shum John Sham Kin-Fun (born 1952) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. His English name is sometimes written as John Shum. Whilst known primarily for his comedic acting roles in Hong Kong cinema, he also spent time as a political activist. Biogra ...

as Stagehand (guest appearance) *

Wu Ma Fung Wang-yuen (22 September 1942 – 4 February 2014), better known by his stage name Wu Ma, was a Hong Kong actor, director, producer and writer. Wu Ma made his screen debut in 1963, and with over 240 appearances to his name (plus 49 directoria ...

as Film Director (guest appearance) *Mary Li as Cheng Lung's mother (guest appearance) *Chung Kam-yuen as Teenage

Samo Samo (–) founded the first recorded political union of Slavic tribes, known as Samo's Empire (''realm'', ''kingdom'', or ''tribal union''), stretching from Silesia to present-day Slovakia, ruling from 623 until his death in 658. According to ...

**Yeung Yam-yin as Child Samo *Cheung Man-lung as Teenage Cheng Lung **Siu Ming-fui as Child Cheng Long *Koo Fai as Child

**Wong Kim-wai as Teenage Yuen Biao

Reception

Marc Savlov of

Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...

gave the film 3½ stars out of 5 and said that: "Despite the fact that the film lags a bit in its second half .. Painted Faces remains a charming, gorgeously lensed slice of Hong Kong history, and certainly one that no Jackie Chan/Samo Hung/Yuen Biao fan should pass up."

Accolades

References

External links

* {{Golden Horse Award for Best Feature Film 1988 films 1988 drama films Best Feature Film Golden Horse Award winners 1980s Cantonese-language films Golden Harvest films Hong Kong drama films Films based on actual events Films directed by Alex Law Films about Peking opera Films set in Hong Kong Films set in the 1960s Films shot in Hong Kong Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Horse Award Shaw Brothers Studio films 1980s Hong Kong films

Cast

Reception

Accolades

See also

References

External links