Lau Kar-leung
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- This is a Chinese name; the family name is Lau (劉).
Lau Kar-Leung (劉家良; Mandarin: Liu Jialiang, Liu Chia-Liang) (born August 1936) is a famous Hong Kong Chinese martial arts director, choreographer and actor.
Lau Kar Leung was born in August 1936, the third child of Lau Cham, a martial art master who was a pupil of Lam Sai Wing (the pupil of Wong Fei Hung). Lau's wife is Mary Jean Reimer, a solicitor in Hong Kong, who was formally an actress known as Yung Ching Ching (Weng Jing Jing).
Lau Kar-Leung is best known for his movies which he made during the 1970s and 1980s with the Shaw Brothers Studio. One of his most famous films is The 36th Chamber of Shaolin which starred his adopted brother Gordon Liu, aka Lau Kar Fai.
Before becoming famous, Lau worked as an extra and choreographer on the black & white Wong Fei Hung movies. He teamed up with fellow Wong Fei Hung choreographer Tong Gaai on the 1963 Hu Peng wuxia picture South Dragon, North Phoenix. This would prove to be a fruitful collaboration that would continue on until the mid-1970s.
In the 1960s he became one of Shaw Brothers' main choreographers and had a strong working relationship with director Chang Cheh, working on many of Chang's movies as a choreographer (often alongside Tong Gaai) including The One-Armed Swordsman, as well as other Shaw Bros. wuxia pictures, such as The Jade Bow. After a split with Chang on the set of Disciples of Shaolin, Lau evolved into a director during the sudden boom of kung-fu movies in the early 1970s. He occasionally did choreography work for non-Shaw movies as well, such as Master of the Flying Guillotine.
After Shaw Brothers collapsed in the 1980s, Lau moved on and continued directing and choreographing movies. His most famous non-Shaw film is undoubtedly Drunken Master II, which is regarded as one of the best martial arts movies by many fans. However it is a well known fact that the film's star Jackie Chan and director Lau had argued hotly over the style of fighting, which resulted in Lau leaving the set before the filming of the final fight scene, which was then taken over by Chan. Most recently, Lau did acting and choreography work for Tsui Hark's 2005 wuxia movie Seven Swords.
In real life, Lau is a practitioner of Hung Gar style kung-fu. Not surprisingly, many of Lau's films are about Hung Gar history and its practitioners. In fact, Lau has kung-fu lineage to the legendary Wong Fei Hung. Recently, Lau has ventured into opening up a Hong Kong based Lau Family Hung Gar academy with his real-life student, Kung-Fu Sifu Mark Houghton.
Contents |
[edit] Selected filmography
[edit] As director
- Spiritual Kung Fu (1975)
- Executioners From Shaolin (1976)
- Challenge of the Masters (1976)
- 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)
- Shaolin Mantis (1978)
- Heroes Of The East (1978)
- Mad Monkey Kung Fu (1979)
- Dirty Ho (1979)
- My Young Auntie (1980)
- Return to the 36th Chamber (1980)
- Legendary Weapons of China (1982) (also writer)
- Invincible Pole Fighter (1984) (also writer)
- Disciples of the 36th Chamber (1985) (also writer)
- Tiger On The Beat (1987)
- Drunken Master II (1994)
- Drunken Monkey (2002)
[edit] As martial arts choreographer
- The Jade Bow (1966)
- One-Armed Swordsman (1967)
- The Assassin (1967)
- Golden Swallow (1968)
- Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (1969)
- The Heroic Ones (1970)
- The New One-Armed Swordsman (1971)
- The Anonymous Heroes (1971)
- Boxer From Shantung (1972)
- The Water Margin (1972)
- The Blood Brothers (1973)
- Police Force (1973)
- Heroes Two (1974)
- Five Shaolin Masters (1974)
- Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
- Master of the Flying Guillotine (1975)
- Bloody Avengers (1975)
- Challenge of the Masters (1976)
- Executioners From Shaolin (1977)
- 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)
- Shaolin Mantis (1978)
- Shaolin Challenges Ninja (1978)
- Mad Monkey Kung Fu (1979)
- Dirty Ho (1979)
- My Young Auntie (1980)
- Return to the 36th Chamber (1980)
- Fist of the White Lotus (1980)
- Legendary Weapons of Kung Fu (1982)
- Invincible Pole Fighter (1984)
- Disciples of the 36th Chamber (1985)
- Operation Scorpio (1992)
- Drunken Master II (1994)
- Drunken Monkey (2002)
- Seven Swords (2005)
[edit] As actor
- Temple of the Red Lotus (1965)
- Challenge of the Masters (1976)
- Shaolin Challenges Ninja (1979)
- Mad Monkey Kung Fu (1979)
- My Young Auntie (1981)
- Legendary Weapons of Kung Fu (1982)
- Invincible Pole Fighter (1984)
- Pedicab Driver (1989)
- The Banquet (1991)
- The Twin Dragons (1992)
- Operation Scorpio (1992)
- Drunken Master II (1994)
- Drunken Monkey (2002)
- Seven Swords (2005)
