Film Auteurs - Review: Pengarahan Iii (Afv 3172)
Film Auteurs - Review: Pengarahan Iii (Afv 3172)
Film Auteurs - Review: Pengarahan Iii (Afv 3172)
There are many filmmakers we celebrate in this vein, but some become lost
or forgotten and some like Hong Kong director, actor, writer and producer Stephen
Chow are just plain underrated.
Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow was born in 1962 in Hong Kong to working class parents. He
began his career as a temporary actor on television. He graduated from TVB's acting
classes in 1982.
Stephen’s brand of action comedy was in a school all of its own. The action is
as over the top as we can possibly get, especially with later films like Shaolin Soccer
and Kung Fu Hustle using CGI to exaggerate the action to Dragon Ball Z levels of
absurdity.
This is all due to Stephen Chow adopting and perfecting a school of thought
and comedy movement called “Mo Lei Tau,” a Cantonese phrase that translates
roughly to “coming from nowhere” or “makes no sense.”
Stephen developed the idea into something far more farcical and illogical than
anything that came before it. Mo Lei Tau is characterized by the fact that things
happen for no reason. Fights can break out over nothing, people can burst into song
and dance, characters break the Fourth Wall and story threads get picked up and
dropped for no reason. It has its roots in the films of the Hui Brothers, a trio of
siblings that would mix kung-fu and comedy to wild success in Hong Kong.
Stephen Chow’s protagonist and story structures are very similar from film to
film. The protagonist usually played by Stephen himself, it is a low-class narcissist
trying to prove or accomplish something beyond his means.
The movie usually has them ending up attaining physical or spiritual Buddhist
like or in the case of Journey to the West, actual Buddhist enlightenment ascension
to obtain these means Besides, usually with the help of a woman. This focus on low-
class characters is important to Stephen given his lower class upbringing and the
class system within Hong Kong and China as a whole.
The characters may be narcissists, but their arcs usually have them endearing
themselves to the audience by the end of the film.
A prime example is the ending of King of Comedy where the two main
characters fall in love with each other. In order to have these ridiculous digressions
and surprises, Stephen has developed a simple and reliable story telling method.
Stephen Chow multiple collaborations with his regular sidekick, Hong Kong
comedian actor Ng Man Tat is best remembered for his comedic roles on the silver
screen.
The two have been in many movies together, many lament how the comedic
duo which has made us laugh for years seems to have fallen out of touch.
Movies are released very differently today than they were in 2004. Fans of the
Stephen Chow-Ng Man Tat would be happy to know that the comedy auteur is open
to working with the veteran actor again someday. Ng Man Tat admitted that it has
been a while since he last spoken to Stephen, though admitted that the director did
invite him to play a role in Stephen’s movie. It is noted that Ng declined the offer due
to health problems.
REFERENCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Chow