To celebrate the re-launch of digital remastered Shaw Brothers films and the opening of the Shaw Brothers Film festival, Hong Kong stars from the 1970s gathered in Taipei yesterday at Breeze Center's Ambassador Cinema, meeting with their long-time fans and enjoying the spotlight.
"I don't think we're old. Our spirits are not old at all," said kung fu actor Liu Chia-hui (劉家輝), now 47 year-old. Liu was the lead actor in the classic kung fu drama The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1977). He was accompanied by another action star, David Chiang (姜大衛). Also among the stars gathered were four cast members from The Love Eterne: Ling Bo, Hu Chin, Lee Kun and Ren Jie.
Indeed none of the stars have given up their acting careers in the years since the decline of the Shaw Brothers empire. Liu, an action actor with solid kung fu skills, still has his trademark shaved head, just like when he played the Shaolin monk and kung fu master in 36th Chamber. Known as the "Yul Brynner of the East," Liu is currently acting in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 action film Kill Bill, playing the role of a Japanese fighter for the director who is known to be a big fan of 1970s Hong Kong action films.
"Tarantino told me he chose me for two reasons: First, I fight with real kung fu; and second, I have a shaved head like Yul Brynner," Liu told the Taipei Times. "I've tried acting in many roles with hair, but none of them were as successful as those in which my head was shaved," Liu said.
David Chiang, lead actor in Blood Brothers (1973), has long since left acting and become a director of films and TV dramas in Hong Kong. But now, as the old kung-fu movies are currently in fashion, he is back in action roles again. Chiang just finished Tai chi Warrior, an English-language martial arts film, in which he plays a tai chi master in Shanghai.
These are all good signs for Celestial Pictures who bought Shaw Brothers' 760 titles and invested heavily in remastering them. According to William Pfeiffer, CEO of Celestial Pictures, the Shaw Brothers week of movie screenings has generated such good box office numbers that it has been extended into a Shaw Brothers Month. "We even have plans to re-make some of the classic films," Pfeiffer said.
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