Tony Leung Chiu Wai is one of the most recognizable Asian actors in the world, chiefly through his collaborations with a number of master filmmakers, including Ang Lee, Hou Hsiao Hsien, John Woo and Wong Kar Wai. Leung, who also has a career as a pop singer, has been praised by audiences and critics for his ability to wonderfully portray a plethora of different roles, a skill stressed by the fact that he can fluently speak Cantonese, English and Spanish.
His career reached its apogee from the end of the 80s, and Leung never actually deteriorated, with the astonishing parts coming one of the other. It is by no surprise then, that this year, he was presented with the Venice Film Festival lifetime achievement award
1. A City of Sadness (Hou Hsiao Hsien, 1989)
The script depicts the experiences of the Lin family during the upheaval that occurred after 1945, when Japanese forces withdrew from Taiwan after 51 years, until 1949 and the division of Taiwan from China.
Tony Leung plays the youngest brother of the family, who avoided recruitment to the army because he was deaf and blind due to a childhood accident. However, despite his inability, he is the most intelligent and the only one truly aware of the political situation, thus resulting in his association with anti-government activists. Leung's character represents Taiwan's political situation at the time, as he ends up as a prey of the circumstances, despite his fierce struggle to become an independent entity. His unsentimental performance was one of the film's biggest assets as he delivered, in an astonishing fashion, a quite demanding role as a handicapped individual who has to portray a number of sentiments.
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2. My Heart is that Eternal Rose (Patrick Tam, 1989)
Uncle Cheung (Kwan Hoi-san) is a retired gangster who now runs a bar with the aid of his daughter Lap (Joey Wang), that is frequented by her boyfriend Rick (Kenny Bee). Cheung is coerced into doing a job and smuggle another gangster's son into Hong Kong and enlists the help of Rick and corrupt policeman (Ng Man-tat). When the job goes wrong, Rick is forced to flee to the Philippines and Lap is forced to turn to Shen (Chan Wai-man) to save her father. Six years pass and Lap is now Shen's woman with only Cheung (Tony Leung), one of Shen's gang members, as a friend. When another gangster threatens to give evidence against Shen, a hitman is hired. This turns out to be Rick and the trigger for all their fates to intertwine as the reunited lovers face an uncertain future.
Tony Leung won best supporting actor at the 9th Hong Kong Film Awards for his role as Cheung and it is a superb performance. He is the heart of the movie as we observe his growth from naive sidekick to honorable knight. He reacts away from the violence and even when forced into confrontation, we see his shock through the aforementioned close ups. His scenes with Joey Wang's Lap have more resonance than those between Lap and Rick because of the way they are established, which whilst hurts the central love story to a degree, only adds more dramatic weight into what is normally a throwaway character that is served up to be sacrificed. (Ben Stykuc)
3. Bullet in the Head (John Woo, 1990)
The movie tells the story of three friends: Ben (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), Frank (Jacky Cheung), and Paul (Waise Lee), who regularly brawl with gang members in Hong Kong during the 1960s. Unfortunately, Frank accidentally kills one of the mobsters and the friends decide to flee Hong Kong. They go to Saigon, in order to work as smugglers in the ravaged by war Vietnam. However, things do not go as planned and the protagonists find themselves on the run, together with a hitman Luke (Simon Yam) and a nightclub singer Sally (Yolinda Yam), from the Vietcong soldiers. Eventually, Paul betrays his friends for a box of gold…
With regard to performances, Tony Leung is simply awesome in the leading role, together with his co-stars Jackie Cheung and Waise Lee who give him a run for his money. In addition, Simon Yam does great in the supporting part and is given a surprisingly large amount of screen time. Yolinda Yam's short but memorable performance also deserves to be noted. (Oliver Ebisuno)
4. Hard Boiled (John Woo, 1992)
Inspector “Tequila” Yuen is a hardcore cop set to arrest an arms dealer, and he is willing to resort to extreme measures in order to do so. Leung plays Alan, an undercover cop who has to betray his boss that introduced him to the criminal underworld of Hong Kong, in order to assist Yuen.
He plays a melancholy character unable to create even a notion of a normal life due to his double identity, and he subsequently suffers from ethical dilemmas due to the trust his crime boss has shown him. Although the actual protagonist is Chow Yun Fat as Yuen, Leung's role is more demanding and his competence was evident up to the point where he overshadowed Fat, at least artistically.
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5. The Eagle Shooting Heroes (Jeff Lau, 1993)
The story follows an intersecting bunch of characters of high and low status. A coup conducted by the villainous Ouyang Feng (Tony Leung Chiu-wai on the silliest form of his career) and his Machiavellian cousin/wife (a delightfully evil Veronica Yip) kickstarts a number of warriors, monks and vagabonds on a search for the all-powerful Book of Yin, a text that when studied and mastered will give its reader limitless kung fu powers. There are two snags: first, that the characters are already well-versed in physics-defying fighting styles (leading them into plenty of skirmishes along the way), and second, they keep getting distracted in a series of unexpected love affairs and seductions. Turns out, all's unfair in love and war when the chaos of excessive violence and horniness threatens to upset the balance of an entire country.
there's perhaps no greater surprise than Tony Leung Chiu-wai's frankly insane performance, complete with an evil laugh straight out of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon and an increasingly startling amount of prosthetics as his pratfalls get more and more spectacular. He's unrecognisable by the end of the second act; his lips like sausages and his ears like teacups, his extended duel with Jacky Chung (playing lovesick peasant Hung Chi, a country bumpkin with a death wish after his cousin rejects his romantic advances) makes him a bizarre sight and ostensibly the film's punching bag. When compared to his noble blind swordsman character in “Ashes of Time”, the two characters could not be farther from one another (Simon Ramshaw)
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6. Chungking Express (Wong Kar Wai, 1994)
The script revolves around two police officers who fall in love with two different women. Leung plays Cop 663, who has recently separated from his girlfriend and subsequently meets a peculiar waitress, Fei, who has an obsession with the song “California Dreamin'” by the Mamas and Papas and falls in love with him.
Leung was obliged to play a role that depicts the results of Fei's actions. However, his portrayal of the silent, tough person, who is interested in a woman but is afraid to express his feelings, is wonderful. His performance earned him the award for Best Leading Actor by the Golden Horse and the Hong Kong Film Awards.
7. Ashes of Time (Wong Kar Wai, 1994)
The film tells the story of Ouyang Feng, who abandoned his house when the woman he loved chose to marry his older brother. Since then he lives in the desert where he works as an intermediate between individuals who seek revenge and potential killers for hire.
Leung plays a master swordsman who is slowly turning blind. He agrees to defend a village from thieves in order to afford to return home and meet his spouse before his eyesight fails completely. Although Leung was not among the protagonists, he nevertheless performed competently and at the same time, he presented a sample of his skills in action scenes.
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8. Cyclo (Ahn Hung Tranh, 1994)
The film takes place in Ho Chi Minh City, where an 18-year-old Vietnamese man named Cyclo drives a bike-taxi in order to earn his pay. Eventually the vehicle is stolen and the young man finds himself at the mercy of a gangster-poet, who subsequently leads him into a life of crime. However, he does not realize that the poet has been prostituting his sister.
Leung portrays the pimp-poet, who is torn between love and cruelty, in a devastating contrast. The love that Cyclo's sister feels for him, despite the fact that he is prostituting her, was one of the first samples of his later roles as an object of lust for many female characters.
9. Happy Together (Wong Kar Wai, 1997)
Lai Yiu-fai and Ho Po Wing are lovers, spending their vacations in Argentina. Eventually, during the trip, Ho abandons Lai and he, not having enough money to return home, is forced to work in a bar as a door attendant, while living in a miniscule room in the back of the establishment. Ho dates a number of men, until one day he visits Lai, while being physically traumatized. He takes care of him and although he loses his job, he manages to find another one as a dishwasher in a Chinese restaurant. While there, he meets Chang, a young man who travels around the world.
Tony Leung portrays Lai, a melancholy man who keeps his feelings bottled while he struggles to survive in a foreign country and through an unfair relationship. Additionally, Wai implemented him as the chief narrator in voice-over and he delivered both in that aspect and in his particular role. Furthermore, his portrayal of a gay man instead of his usual character as a Don Juan, proved his ability to act with the same competence in opposite roles. His performance netted him the Best Actor Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
10. The Longest Nite (Patrick Yau, 1998)
The film is set in Macau, where two rival triad gangs are about to negotiate a truce. However, the attempt is undermined because one of the two leaders, Lung, hears a rumor that the other one, Brother K, has set in motion an attempt against his life. The latter subsequently sends Sam, a corrupt police officer who works for him, to investigate. Nevertheless, Sam's violent ways create even further upsetting actions.
Leung plays Sam, a heinous character who is in fact a gangster, although he works for the police. His character starts out as a shallow individual, whose only concern is to beat and torture whoever he comes across. However, as the script unfolds, the role gains depth due to Sam's confusion resulting from the evidence he discovers. Leung portrays both of the aforementioned aspects sublimely.
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