Maggie Cheung Movies
One of Hong Kong's most respected and best-liked actresses, Maggie Cheung has done it all. Cheung's versatility as an action star, talented comedienne, and dramatic actress has allowed her to transcend the Hong Kong film industry to become a vibrant figure in international cinema.Born in Hong Kong on September 20, 1964, Cheung moved to England with her family at the age of eight. She remained in England until she finished her secondary school education. Upon returning to Hong Kong, she began a modeling career, which led to TV commercials and the title of first runner-up for Miss Hong Kong 1983. The following year, she broke into film, doing a number of vapid comedies with titles like Prince Charming, The Frog Prince, Happy Ghost 3, Happy Fat New Year, and Love Hungry Suicide Squad. She got her big break in 1985, when she was cast opposite legendary action star Jackie Chan in Police Story. The film's success gave her greater exposure, but it also resulted in her being typed in comic or damsel-in-distress roles.
Cheung got her next big break, and her chance to prove herself as a dramatic actress, when Wong Kar-Wai cast her in his 1988 crime drama As Tears Go By. Although she continued to do comedies and put-upon-woman roles (starring in the Police Story sequels and appearing in the Chow Yun-Fat action flick A Better Tomorrow 3), she also sought out more challenging work. She earned strong notices for her work in such films as the family conflict drama Song of the Exile (1990) and Wong Kar-Wai's 1991 period drama Days of Being Wild. In 1992, Cheung won some of the greatest acclaim of her career for her work in The Actress, Stanley Kwan's docudrama about a silent film icon. That same year, Cheung further proved her versatility with starring roles in three more action films, Twin Dragons with Jackie Chan; the third installment of the Police Story trilogy; and The Heroic Trio, in which she and fellow action stars Michelle Yeoh and Anita Mui were cast as comic book superwomen.
Following another collaboration with Wong on Ashes of Time, a 1994 period drama, Cheung broke through to an international audience in Irma Vep (1996). The popular film, directed by Olivier Assayas (whom Cheung married in 1998), featured Cheung as herself, an actress caught up in the chaos surrounding a filmmaker's attempts to make a tribute to Louis Feuillade's classic serial Les Vampires. Spending much of the film clad in an extremely flattering cat suit, Cheung endeared herself to international critics and audiences alike. The following year, she made her first English-language film, starring alongside Jeremy Irons and Gong Li in Wayne Wang's Chinese Box. Cast as a mysterious young woman named Jean, Cheung held her own against the more internationally well-established Irons and Gong. That same year, she won further acclaim for her work in the romantic comedy Comrades, Almost a Love Story, in which she played one of a pair of lovers kept apart for ten years by fate and circumstance. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
A woman throws herself into a last-ditch struggle to conquer her demons in this gritty drama from director Olivier Assayas. Lee Hauser (James Johnston) is a faded rock star who lives with his wife, Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung), the former host of a European music video show, in a small town in Western Canada. Both Lee and Emily have been battling drug addiction for years, and when Lee finally dies of an OD, Emily finds herself charged with possession of heroin and ends up spending six months in jail. Lee and Emily's son, Jay (James Dennis), has been living with his paternal grandparents, Albrecht (Nick Nolte) and Rosemary (Martha Henry), and while Emily is eager to see her son after getting out of jail, Albrecht persuades her that she needs to get herself clean before she can reconnect with Jay. Determined to get off methadone, Emily relocates to France, where she scares up a job as a waitress and moves in with her old friend Elena (Béatrice Dalle). Emily's attempts to start a new career and stay off drugs prove to be an uphill battle, and she doesn't appear to be winning her fight when she learns that Albrecht and Jay will be accompanying Rosemary to London for medical treatment when Rosemary contracts a serious illness -- and that Albrecht is considering making a side trip to Paris. Clean was screened in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Cheung, Nick Nolte, (more)
One of Asia's most popular screen stars, Maggie Cheung stars in this romance about two Chinese 30-somethings living in California. Ellen (Cheung) is a single mother who works as a cabby; Mike (Cantonese pop star Leon Lai) is a computer genius who owns a struggling dot com. The two exchange glances at a bar one day, and later, when Ellen spots Mike drunk in the street, she invites him to share her cab. Hormones duly explode in volcanic proportions, and the two embark on an on-again, off-again affair that may or may not survive their respective problems. As Ellen and Mike, Cheung and Lai appear together onscreen for the first time since they starred in Peter Chan's 1996 film Comrades, Almost a Love Story. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Cheung, Valerie Chow, (more)
- 1997
Destiny brings two people together, but they aren't sure if they're meant to be friends or lovers in this romantic comedy-drama. In 1986, Xiaojun (Leon Lai) arrives in Hong Kong from mainland China, full of dreams about life in the big city and determined to make enough money to send for his fiancée and marry her. Xiaojun knows no one in Hong Kong except his aunt, but with her help, he finds a room in a cheap hotel and picks up a job peddling a delivery bicycle for a butcher. On his day off, Xiaojun decides to get lunch at a McDonalds, which he's heard about but never seen. Xiaojun is waited on by Chiao (Maggie Cheung), a pretty girl who has also moved to Hong Kong from the mainland to seek her fortune. Chiao is taken with Xiaojun, but thinks he's too much the country bumpkin, especially since he can't speak Cantonese or English. Chiao arranges for Xiaojun to get lessons in English and teaches him about life in Hong Kong and how to get rich quick; she also ropes him into helping with her latest business scheme, using his delivery bike to sell flowers. Xiaojun and Chiao become best friends -- indeed, each is the only real friend the other has in Hong Kong -- and one night, on New Year's Eve, the two find themselves alone together and end up making love. The next morning, both Xiaojun and Chiao are certain they've made a mistake; Xiaojun goes on to marry his sweetheart from home, while Chiao opens a flower shop and becomes involved with a kind man who has ties to organized crime. As the years pass, however, Xiaojun becomes convinced that his mistake wasn't sleeping with Chiao, but letting her go, and eventually he decides he must find her and win her heart. Comrades: Almost a Love Story was a runaway success in Hong Kong, where the film won nine trophies at the 1997 Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actress. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
"Once upon a time in distant China, there were three sisters. One loved money, one loved power, and one loved her country." So opens this historical, melodramatic chronicle of the influential lives of three daughters from one of pre-Communist China's wealthiest families. Two of the Soong sisters married important figures in 20th-century Chinese history. Soong Ching-ling married Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Chinese Republic while her sister May-ling married Sun's successor, the famed Chian Kai-shek. The oldest daughter Ai-ling married industrialist H.H. Kung, a wealthy and powerful man who eventually became Hong Kong's finance minister. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Written and directed by Olivier Assayas, Irma Vep tells the story of has-been French filmmaker René Vidal (Jean-Pierre Léaud). In an attempt to reinvigorate his career, Vidal decides to remake Les Vampires, the classic silent serial featuring the adventures of jewel thief Irma Vep. Playing herself, actress Maggie Cheung is cast as the lead, joining Vidal on a chaotic set where he gets little respect from the rest of the cast and crew. Speaking no French, Cheung finds herself fending off the advances of lesbian costumer Zoé (Nathalie Richard), sticking up for Vidal, and becoming so immersed in her role that she burgles the guests of her hotel while in costume. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Cheung, Jean-Pierre Léaud, (more)
- 1994
Master Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai directed this lyrical, dream-like martial arts epic. A famously troubled shoot, the film took two years and 40 million dollars to produce (a shocking sum for a national cinema populated with low-budget quickies) and features a virtual who's-who of the Hong Kong film world. Conceived as a prequel to the popular martial arts novel The Eagle-Shooting Hero by Jin Yong, the movie is less a straightforward action thriller than a visually striking meditation on memory and love. It nominally centers on Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung), who ekes out a lonely existence as an itinerant hired sword. Getting on in years and tormented by memories of a lost love, he also works an agent for other mercenary assassins from his remote desert abode. Ouyang's old friend and fellow swordsman, Huang Yaoshi (Tony Leung Kar-fai, who starred in the The Lover) drowns his lovelorn misery in a magical wine that makes him forget. Later, a mysterious young man named Murong Yang (Brigitte Lin) hires Ouyang to kill his sister's unfaithful suitor, Huang Yaoshi. The following day, that spurned sister, Murong Yin (Lin again), hires Ouyang to protect her dearly beloved. Meanwhile, Hong Qi (pop star Jackie Cheung) finds some redemption for a life of killing by accepting a poor girl's offer to avenge her brother's death -- a task that Ouyang brusquely shunned. In another subplot, a master swordsman (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) is slowly going blind. He agrees to defend a village from horse thieves so that he can afford to go home and see his wife before his eyesight fails completely. This film is one of the most celebrated examples of 1990s Hong Kong cinema: it won multiple awards in its native Hong Kong, along with a Golden Osella for Best Cinematography at the 1994 Venice Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Lin, Leslie Cheung, (more)
- 1993
Jeff Lau Chun-wai spins this wild and woolly parody of Wong Kar-wai's martial arts epic Ashes of Time, which was actually produced by Wong himself and features many of the same cast members as Ashes. This loosely plotted film centers around the misdeeds of a pair of royals (Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Veronica Yip) looking to usurp the throne. Also appearing in this film is the bubble-headed Third Princess (Brigitte Ling Ching-hsia) who martial arts ability is dubious at best, a mysterious flying head (Tony Leung Kar-fai), and the dreaded kung fu form "Toad Has a Pee Pee." Because of Ashes' notoriously difficult production, Dong Cheng actually beat the film to the theaters. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Cheung
- 1993
Wong Jing produces and Cheung Kon-man directs this wacky cop comedy about mismatched partners Fish and Ball (Ng Man-tat and Aaron Kwok Fu-shing, respectively). While occupied with tracking down the thug who cut off Fish's hand, the two are assigned to go undercover and protect Jessy (Deric Wan Siu-lun), the scion of a wealthy businessman under threat from the mob. While posing as Jessy, Ball falls for the lad's beautiful though high-strung girlfriend Jacky (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) while at the same time trying not to discourage the advances of his ex-ladyfriend Shun (Chingmy Yau Suk-ching). ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ng Man Tat, Aaron Kwok, (more)
This Hong Kong actioner is basically a remake of Brian DePalma's 1987 The Untouchables. A tough cop is determined to bring down a powerful gangster but also has to fight corrupt elements both in the police department and the political establishment of the city. He is befriended by a federal agent (Maggie Cheung) who is also determined to bring down the gangster. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
This Hong Kong kung fu adventure, directed by Sammo Hung, tells the story of Fei, a fisherman (Andy Lau), and Yen Ling, a prince (Kenny Bee). When Yen Ling is betrayed by his own brother, the two form a friendship. Fei is sent to retrieve the prince's fiancee, Yueh (Anita Mui), but falls in love with her instead. Fei's friend, a killer whale, rounds off the cast of characters in this action-filled fantasy. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
Snakes and special effects abound as human and mythical worlds collide in this lavish variation of an old Chinese fable about a learned man who falls under the spell of two snake women. After 1,000 years of practice, White Snake is finally able to take on a completely human form. Hsu Hsien, the scholar, falls in love with the lovely White Snake. Her sister, Green Snake, is not as adept at shape-shifting as she has only practiced for 500 years. She is human above the waist only. The serpentine sisters are hunted by a Buddhist monk who is almost to nirvana, and a Taoist monk determined to rid the area of all snakes. When the two forces finally meet, Hsu stands by as a secular witness. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Cheung, Joey Wong, (more)
- 1992
In the 1930s, in China, there was a woman film-actress who was tagged as "the Chinese Garbo." She was a wildly popular performer who made her first film at age 16 and died by her own hand at age 25. Ironically, she was famous for playing tragic heroines, and her own life mirrored the kinds of situations she portrayed onscreen. In this biopic, Ruan Ling-yu (Maggie Cheung) is riding high in her career when the press decides to take her down a notch or two, bitterly criticizing her for an affair with a married man. This situation is unbearable for her, and she kills herself, but not before uttering the words "Gossip is a terrible thing." In addition to the central drama, scenes from actual films starring the actress are included, and the actors in this biopic occasionally step out of character to address the camera, recounting some significant fact about the individuals whose lives they are playing, and the nature of those times in China. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Cheung
Raymond Lee Wai-man remakes King Hu's 1966 masterpiece about revenge and intrigue between imperial eunuchs during the Ming Dynasty. At the film's outset, the villainous Eunuch Tsao (Donnie Yen Chi-tan) has assassinated one of his primary court rivals and is looking to take out his former rival's right-hand man Chow Wai-on (Tony Leung Kar-fai). Tsao orders that his rival's children be exiled, hoping that Chow will try to rescue them. Instead, Chow's lover Yau Mo-yin (Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia), along with her small band of fighters, saves the children and takes to a desolate tavern called the Dragon Inn, run by the sexy, but wily, Jade (Maggie Cheung man-yuk). Chow soon catches up with Yau at the Inn, catching the eye of Jade. Before the two can move the children to a more secure location, Tsao's henchman pay them an unwelcome visit. While the two sides maneuver, Jade plays both sides of the fence. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, (more)
In this cartoonish live-action martial arts feature, three female super-heroes battle the forces of evil in the form of a woman who has hatched a plot to create China's next ruler. Over the years, she has stolen over a dozen children from their families. She hopes to raise them in a way that will make them into ruthless supermen. Among other things, the children are "hardened" by feeding them with human flesh. Thief-Catcher, Invisible Woman, and Wonder Women use their incomparable kung-fu skills to battle their nemesis and even some of the more seriously ruined children in order to protect the world from being taken over by them. Along the way, two of the women discover that they are sisters who were separated as infants. The film contains some scenes showing cruelty and violence being handed out to infants and children, and these may be distasteful for many. Viewers should also note that the Wonder Woman in this film is not based on the American comic-book character portrayed by Lynda Carter, but is a home-grown Chinese invention. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh, (more)
- 1991
Alan is a singer, as well as an actor, but his career has stalled in a nightclub by the sea, where he earns chump change for his efforts. He has an old buddy, Eric, who, when he pulls into town, easily persuades him to leave that job and join him in setting up a chicken farm. Their friendship is soon complicated by the arrival of Olive, who is affectionate with each of them but finally chooses Alan. Despite their romantic rivalry, the two men remain friends in the manner of Jules et Jim. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Tam, Eric Tsang, (more)
David Chiang Da-wei spins this maudlin, maladroit crime drama. Jacky (Jacky Cheung) is a junkie cartoonist who owes an obscene amount of money to the mob. Jacky's buddy Michael (Michael Wong Man-tak) -- a drug dealer who is in league with the very thugs whom Jacky is in trouble with -- saves his friend from being pulped. Instead of a brutal thrashing, Michael proposes to Jacky an offer that he can't refuse -- if he smuggles drugs to Holland, a chunk of his debt will be forgiven. He's all set to swallow condom after condom filled with smack until he learns that his emotionally fragile wife Carol (Crystal Kwok Kam-yan) tries to commit suicide. Jacky backs out of the deal, prompting the mob to renew its price on his head. When Michael's pure-hearted girlfriend Maggie (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) tries to intervene, hoping to save her friend, all sorts of bad things start to happen. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
In this adventure story with a comic touch from Hong Kong, Ching (Yuen Biao) is a royal guard of the Ming Dynasty who must find and capture an old friend who has gone bad and is wanted for rape and murder. In the midst of a hard-fought battle in the snow, the two men are frozen, and they remain in suspended animation until they are accidentally thawed out in 20th century Hong Kong. Their rivalry continues as they confront the wonders of modern technology and vie for the hand of a beautiful woman (Maggie Cheung) who is acting as Ching's guide to the modern age. This film was also released in English-speaking countries under the title Time Warriors. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Following up on his debut As Tears Go By, master filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai directs this dark, brooding tale about identity and unrequited love. Set in 1960, the film center of the young, boyishly handsome Yuddy (Leslie Cheung), who learns from the drunken ex-prostitute who raised him that she is not his real mother. Hoping to hold onto him, she refuses to divulge the name of his real birth mother. The revelation shakes Yuddy to his very core, unleashing a cascade of conflicting emotions. Two women have the bad luck to fall for Yuddy. One is a quiet lass who works at a sport arena named Su Lizhen (Maggie Cheung), while the other is a glitzy showgirl named Mimi (Carina Lau). Perhaps due to his unresolved Oedipal issues, he passively lets the two compete for him, unable or unwilling to make a choice. As Lizhen slowly confides her frustration to a cop named Tide (Andy Lau), he falls for her. The same is true for Yuddy's friend Zeb (Jacky Cheung), who falls for Mimi. Later, Yuddy learns of his birth mother's whereabouts and heads out to the Philippines. This film won a armful of trophies at the Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Director, Best Actor for Leslie Cheung, and Best Picture. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, (more)
In 1969, while Hong Kong is undergoing its own localized chaos -- fallout from the Cultural Revolution on the Chinese mainland -- taxi driver Ah-chung is hard-pressed to juggle the two women in his life and his ambition to own his own cab. One of the women is a wealthy socialite who pays for his intimate attentions. The other is his real girlfriend who, despite herself, is drawn to him. What's the problem? The girlfriend is ambitious too: she wants to land someone with real money, not just a hard-working cab driver. One highlight of this light-hearted romantic comedy is its use of music from the period. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenny Bee, Maggie Cheung, (more)
- 1990
This love story spans many decades of modern Chinese history. In the beginning (1938), an independent-minded female writer (Lin Ching-hsia) strikes up an acquaintance and then a romance with a man who is collaborating with the Japanese (Chin Han). Despite warnings from friends that their romance can only end in catastrophe for them both, she persists, but eventually the two of them are separated during the Civil War, and their fates only become clear in 1989. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chin Han, Maggie Cheung, (more)
- 1990
Loosely based on Kazuo Koike's famous manga Crying Freeman, Clarence Fok Yiu-leung spins this wild and woolly gangster drama. The film centers around a ruthless band of criminals called "The Eight Hundred Dragons," who pitilessly track down and kill any defecting members. Snooker (Dean Shek Tien) has held out the longest by hiding out in Russia. When the grand master of the clan learns of Snooker's whereabouts, he kidnaps him and his young daughter. Meanwhile, the villainous master also orders the kidnapping and brainwashing of Snooker's friend Yao (Sam Hui Kook-kit). After his memory has been erased with mind rubbers, Yao is given over to elder master Chimer (Nina Li Chi) and turned into a secret hired gun. When he whacks the Godfather of Japan, who is protected by the wrathful Hunteress (Carrie Ng Kar-lai), Yao soon finds a hit out on him. During the assassination, he runs into May (Maggie Chueng Man-yuk), Yao's former girlfriend. Since she is a witness to the crime, Chimer orders her dead too, but Yao can't bring himself to do it -- even though he has no memory of her. Soon, finds himself protecting May from both Chimer's and the Huntress' henchmen. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Set in the early 1970s, Song of the Exile is the story of a Chinese/Japanese student who returns to her native Hong Kong after graduating from a university in London. Once she arrives back home, she and her family begins to fight, largely due to cultural and societal conflicts between her mother and herself. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Cheung
Hong Kong filmmaker Clara Law directed this sensitive drama about a young woman named Li Hung (Maggie Cheung), who is granted a student visa after considerable difficulty and travels to America to continue her education. She doesn't have an easy time of it, as she makes plain in her letters to her husband, Nansan (Tony Leung), but he tells her that she has to stay in the interests of their infant child. As her situation worsens, Li Hung asks Nansan for a divorce, but he flatly denies her request, so she cuts off all communication with him. Desperate to re-establish a connection with his wife, Nansan sneaks into the United States and arrives in New York, where he encounters a violent street gang and a friendly teenaged hooker with a heart of gold. The hooker, Jane, gets Nansan a job with her pimp while he frantically searches for Li Hung, whom he learns has managed to divorce him while he was still in Hong Kong. When they are finally reunited, Nansan realizes that his wife has become someone whom he can barely recognize. Hayley Man co-stars with Liu Chin. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Kar-Fai, (more)
- 1989
In this drama, three Chinese women with vastly different backgrounds get acquainted and become friends amid the social desolation of New York. Chao Hong (Sichingowa) is from mainland China, and has come to marry a Chinese man with American citizenship. Aside from the difficulties of being newly married to a virtual stranger, she suffers from separation from her family and her homeland. Wang Hsiung Ping (Sylvia Chang) was an actress in Taiwan, and has come to New York to be with her American boyfriend. Now she has broken up with him, and is not at all certain what she wants to do. Li Feng Jiao (Maggie Cheung) is financially secure, as she owns a restaurant in the U.S. and has property in the U.S. and in Hong Kong - but she is too busy to have a romantic life. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Chang, Maggie Cheung, (more)
Tsui Hark takes the reigns of this series following a much-publicized rift between himself and John Woo -- the director of the first two A Better Tomorrow films -- to direct this prequel based around Chow Yun-Fat's memorable Mark character. Set in 1974, Mark ventures to Saigon after his cousin, Cheung Chi-mun (Tony Leung Kar-fai), gets into hot water with the local police. Using a contact in the Vietnamese army, the two soon start trafficking black market weapons with a beautiful female assassin named Chow Ying-kit (Anita Mui). After a deal goes horribly wrong, the three -- along with Ying-kit's father -- try to leave Vietnam, only to have Ying-kit be detained by customs. Back in Hong Kong, Mark and Chi-mun set up a small garage. When Ying-kit returns, her old mobster boyfriend, Ho (Saburo Tokito), also makes an unwelcome appearance. Though Ying-kit has fallen for Mark, he refuses to reciprocate because Chi-mun has fallen for her. Ho hates them both and tries to kill them with a well-placed bomb. Though the attempt fails, Ho promises more if the two don't leave town. Instead, Ho leaves for Saigon with Ying-kit who is quietly plotting revenge. Mark and Chi-mun soon follow them, hoping to save Ying-kit and kill Ho themselves. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Anita Mui, (more)
