CHOW-YUN-FAT.de

Translated from Chinese by Bridget "Lou Wu" Fox

First big break in TV

The first TV show that Chow Yun Fat had a decent role in was "Gung Uk Gung Jyu"/"Living Together". Here he could put into practice all the pains taken refining (his skills)...... it was difficult to act a historical figure; it made Chow Yun Fat mature rapidly artistically. So far Chow Yun Fat had only played some bit parts; it seemed he was to be used in small roles, and in very short scenes (his performances) gradually became mature and full of radiance. The eyes of a few directors began to turn towards Chow Yun Fat.

In 1975 "Wireless" television began to produce the series "The Itinerant Boy". When it was time to cast the second male lead, the Director recommended Chow Yun Fat. Consequently Chow Yun Fat had the opportunity to compete with other stars, and the result did not disappoint people's expectations, his technique was more than outstanding.

When the series came out, the viewing public really began to take notice of this young man who was growing into such a graceful figure. Chow Yun Fat's name began to make a noise among people in show business. This was Chow Yun Fat's first big role, and although he still appeared very young and tender, he nevertheless made a strong impression and appeared to the public as different and special. The director Wong Cheung Dou said:"Chow Yun Fat came from Lamma Island, he has the air of a clever country boy." However afterwards this clever country boy would achieve great wisdom.
After "The Itinerant Boy" had finished filming, they pressed on with "The Killer I" and "Hitman". In these two series his natural ability was gradually revealed and his talent showed itself.

In 1976 the filming began of "Hotel", which made Chow Yun Fat a resounding success, his fame increasing greatly. Chow Yun Fat was the member of the cast who stood head and shoulders above the rest, playing Siu Waa Saan, a character with a dark side . From 8 years old to 80, Chow Yun Fat entered people's hearts and minds in an extraordinary way; moreover, many of his colleagues at TVB began to call him Siu Waa Saan rather than Chow Yun Fat.
While "Wireless" was showing "Hotel", viewer numbers reached 2,300,00 out of a total population in all of Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories of 5,000,000. If we add the 250,000 people in Macau (at this time Macau didn't have it's own TV station, and everyone watched Hong Kong TV), the total population reached 5,300,000. While "Hotel" was being shown, supposing some 50% were working,and of the others some would be too busy to watch; we then have some 2,650,000 people at home available to watch TV, and of these 2,300,000 had become fans of "Hotel". Assuming some of the remainder did not watch TV, a tiny number were left who were not watching "Hotel". Amazing!

At 128 episodes this was a long series; showing two episodes a night lasted two months. When it was being filmed, it still only took as little as 5 months. In those 5 short months, the cast and crew were usually on set day and night; we can imagine the hard journey taken by the actors. There are 24 hours in one day, and 18 of these were taken up with filming this epic series; like an army out on long distance training out in the field, they never stopped. Chow Yun Fat was like a tightly drawn bow string; it really was cruel, he became very thin.

Chow Yun Fat's tutor in particular told him that he couldn't have a break from work; at that time he was comparatively young, emotions were comparatively frail; he must throw himself completely into acting a part, then it would be easy to enter into a role. This made his acting unusually vivid. Chow Yun Fat's entry into screen acting in very well-known; there were people who called him a "movie demon"(direct translation), probably because it was like that.
In "Hotel" the portrayal he gave was of an outwardly honest and straightforward, but inwardly cunning Siu Waa Saan - especially towards women he was a swindling and deceiving young villain.

Throughout those 5 months, it was as if he was governed by the spirit of Siu Waa Saan, a scowl a smile, one didn't know whether Chow Yun Fat was Siu Waa Saan, or Siu Waa Saan was Chow Yun Fat. Perhaps the truth is this was a kind of "being beside himself"; Chow Yun Fat really did enter into the role absolutely.
After the broadcasting of "Hotel", Chow Yun Fat's name was known everywhere, especially among housewives visiting each other and exchanging views in the street: "Who would have thought that Chow Yun Fat, this boy from (Lamma Island) who hadn't been in anything before, this country bumpkin, who could have known that through this one time part in "Hotel" he could have reinvented himself entirely - two people so far removed from each other, this really is an amazing transformation, enough to make you rub your eyes!

Before when I watched TV, the most charming young man was Ng Wai Gwok; who would have thought that Chow Yun Fat's acting would be even better than Ng Wai Gwok." So even in the year .....etc etc -lots of comparisons and comments from people I haven't heard of.
Basically his performance in this series was a turning point; he came to the attention of prestigious directors and his future in TV looked good.

  
Pictures (from left): TVB Series "Hotel" and "Man in the Net"

The story behind those awful films of the 70s
KING OF LONG SERIES - BOX OFFICE POISON

"Able people should do more work"(Chinese saying used when asking someone to do extra work) ; these are not empty words. After Chow Yun Fat had finished filming "Hotel", his reputation was rapidly rising, (his talent and abilities)were burgeoning, until he was not given the opportunity to take even a moment's rest. At this time Lau Fong Gong had been appointed head tutor of the acting school.(He died in 2004, aged 77.) Even though he hadn't long since finished filming "Hotel", (Lau) wouldn't let him go, he must play a part in the show "CID". At the same time "Wireless" had already started raising money for a new show in which he would star, so as not to let slip an opportunity at this crucial point, and make every effort to use the fertile soil offered by Chow Yun Fat. Filming was arranged in a very tight schedule.
During the next five years, he worked filming shows without a break, gaining the reputation of "The King of the Long Series". He made shows like "The Giants" at 110 episodes, "Conflict" at 80 episodes, "Rainbow" at 80 episodes, "Man in a Net" at 80 episodes, "The Brothers" at 80 episodes....

Chow Yun Fat appeared in many series playing all kinds of roles, and made for himself an image which entered deeply into the hearts and minds of the public, becoming the "prince on a white horse" for innumerable girls. During this time he was also noticed by film producers. In 1976 the Hong Kong Cooperative Film Company invited him to sign a 4 year contract. At first they encountered the rules set by "Wireless" which absolutely prohibited him working for another company; but Chow Yun Fat was very popular - at that moment it may be said that the status of "Wireless" was also skyrocketing, experiencing a meteoric rise, so they made an exception and allowed him to work for two masters at the same time.

There were two things which may have tempted Chow Yun Fat to sign this contract: one was fame, and the other was monetary advantage. He wanted to become a real star, and to do this he must try each kind of performing , he must master a hundred skills, especially film acting, because to work in cinema must be seen by TV actors as something higher to be sought after, and this will be even more so in society. But this was not the primary reason; this was just as Lam Yin Nei said:" In the wireless Television Company days, (when he made) "The Bund", "Man in a Net", "The Brothers", Chow Yun Fat's name was heard loudly, but he was still poor." For each episode of a TV show he made Chow Yun Fat's take home pay.....(was still not enough) to enable his whole family to free themselves from hardship.
However Chow Yun Fat entered the world of cinema at an inopportune moment. At that time Hong Kong society had just had several years of stability; the economy was still not making money; the Asian financial world was still uncertain; everywhere society was changiing............. Investors were not in the least concerned with culture, and value (for money) was the consideration - they blindly pursued sensory stimulation/excitement, in the vain hope of profit. In fact, they achieved the opposite.

Owing to the fact that Chow Yun Fat was young, he hadn't seen clearly that the Hong Kong Cooperative film Industry Company was a very suspect group, and he unwittingly took their money and signed. He made a great many very vulgar films; the basis of the drama was extremely unpolished.(to put it mildly!) The result wasn't as it had been in the TV shows, which had been to attract people's admiration.

As can be deduced from the name of the films, ("Bed for Day, Bed for Night", "Miss O", "Their Private Lives") a large part of the company was devoted to producing sex movies - these were more or less soft ...; in the West they would compare with the GB encoding standard which prohibits children from viewing them. The box office of these films was pretty poor. "Reincarnation" only brought in 348,000 HK dollars; in Hong Kong that year it ranked 69th in the cinema box office ratings. In 1980 when "Great Girl Criminals Stupid Detective"(Police Sir???) came out, although ticket sales were improved, the film still only came 87th in the rankings....some more on same lines.........

Of course, ticket receipts are accurate figures of money taken, and it should be remembered that prices were very low. In fact, Chow Yun Fat had very little interest in this kind of film, he only signed the contract unwillingly. Acting in this kind of role, where plot-lines were given no value, the responsibility should be with the producers and directors. Furthermore, the viewing public did not set much consideration by them, even if Chow Yun Fat was dubbed as ""Box Office Poison."
Chow Yun Fat became increasingly angry, stuck a four year contract, and with only three years of filming completed, he broke with the Film Cooperative. As a result Chow Yun Fat was still in trouble. It nearly reached the stage of a lawsuit, and an investigation was carried out. However the "Film Cooperative" was a company registered in Indonesia, it was not registered in Hong Kong; also they didn't have the qualifications for a lawsuit. Otherwise, if it had come to court, it wouldn't have just been for compensation regarding the films not made, there would yet have been compensation for the contract fee. The Chow Yun Fat whom everyone respected and loved would very possibly have ended up in prison.

In the end it was a false alarm. Although these troubles are now history, it caused Chow Yun Fat to truly feel he had been in a dangerous situation.
For this reason, for a time Chow Yun Fat sank into depression, and swore never to make films again. He concentrated on making TV shows, with the result that he made many long enduring works which were welcomed by the viewing public.