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
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)
- 1988
Alfred Cheung spins this madcap comedy about an embittered Canadian ex-boxer named Chien Pao (Sammo Hung), who is desperate to pay off a band of loan sharks. Desperate to come to Canada to be with her true love Peter, Jade Li (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) agrees to marry the pugilist for a price. Unfortunately, soon after Jade arrives, Peter skips town with her cash. Pao grudgingly lets her stay with him and soon the two are looking for anyway to make money, including volunteering for bizarre medical research experiments. Later, Pao agrees to fight in an illegal match with the Thai boxer who stole his wife. Though Pao eventually cleans his clock, Jade has less luck working as a mud wrestler. When they deposit their earnings, the bank gets held up and Jade is taken hostage. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
A quartet of women become cabaret hostesses in hopes of building a better future for themselves in this intensely personal drama from director Michael Mak. Despite the fact that she comes from a broken home, May (Maggie Cheung) cares deeply for her mother and takes the job in hopes that she can provide the support that her ailing mother desperately needs. Little does she know the job will also find her involved in an impossible romance. Gigi (Cherie Chung) accepts the job in hopes of bailing her husband out of jail, though the happiness she hoped to find with him upon his release is short-lived when he embarks on an extramarital affair. A veteran hostess, Porsche (Do Do Cheng), is disheartened when an old flame reappears, though his intentions are far from the future she had in mind. Finally, Margarita (Hu Ching) may have the reputation as an ice princess, though few people can see the true beauty that lies deep within her tough exterior. In our journey through the lives of these four lost souls, we witness their journey to where they are today, and get a glimpse of what may come of them in the near future. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-wai makes his feature film debut with this gritty romantic crime-drama inspired by Scorsese's Mean Streets. The film opens with young gangster Wah (Andy Lau) getting a visit for the day from his beautiful cousin Ah-Ngor (Maggie Cheung), who is coming into Kowloon from the remote outlying Lantau island to receive medical treatment for a lung condition. At first, the short-fused gangster and the quiet country girl have little in common, but gradually the two start to form a bond of sorts. Meanwhile, Wah's buddy Fly (Jacky Cheung), who has an absolutely volcanic temper, is always getting Wah into hot water. Even though Wah knows that Fly is bound to end up dead soon, he stands by his foolhardy friend. After some hesitation, Wah -- who has fallen for Ah-Ngor -- visits his cousin on Lantau, hoping to make their relationship more than family. Fly later infuriates a psychopathic mob boss, Tony (Alex Man Chi-leung who, along with his henchmen, beats and degrades Fly and Wah. This induces Fly make amends with Tony by undertaking the outrageously difficult task of rubbing out an informant who is in the custody of the cops, before the man has the opportunity to testify in a court hearing.
~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, (more)
- 1987
When a news writer begins digging into village affairs even more deeply than the police did, she runs afoul of a multiple murderer. She was only looking for some local color and inspiration and is accompanied by her sister and a friend known as "weeny eyes." ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lui Fong, Maggie Cheung, (more)
In this crime drama, set in Hong Kong, police officers begin a city-wide search for a psychotic killer. Along the way, they must also deal with their own personal and professional issues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, (more)
This slapstick martial arts film is often regarded as superior to the original Project A. Dragon (Jackie Chan) runs against the pirates he defeated in the first film and also gets in trouble with corrupt cops, and a revolutionary group that includes popular Hong Kong actress Michelle Cheung. Many of the acrobatic fight sequences in this installment are legendary, including a scene where Dragon runs down the wall of a collapsing building in the style of Buster Keaton. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, (more)
One misunderstanding after another seems to plague the efforts of Fred, Silver, and Tony in this romantic comedy. Away on vacation, the three run into two beautiful young women named Agnes and Maggie who are strolling down the beach and, by all appearances, seem quite wealthy. All three men are enamored with the ladies and a poker game gives Fred first dibs on which girl he will pursue and he decides on Maggie. Meanwhile, Silver and Tony are left to fight it out for Agnes' affections. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Eric Tsang, (more)
- 1986
What do a cannibalistic, flying-demon baby, a spine-sucking Worm-tribe god, a blood curse that can only be cured by eating a nipple, and Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun Fat have in common? If you guessed they are all elements of one of the most outrageous and bizarre Hong Kong films of the 1980s, you obviously have a palate for high-camp and way too much time on your hands. Director Ngai Kai-Lam (of Story of Ricky fame) helms this lightning-paced supernatural adventure concerning cognac-sniffing, pulp-fiction heroes Dr. Yuen and Wisely (Andy Lau and Yun Fat respectively). On a frantic mission to cure Lau of the blood curse placed on him by a vengeful witch doctor (his veins periodically erupt into blood-spewing geysers), save the girl, and save 100 local village children from being sacrificed, the heroes battle a multitude of demons, monsters, and horrible curses. Sure, it's derivative of the Indiana Jones series and also lacks the budget needed to fully realize it's outlandish vision, but the film's pacing and originality are sure to please even the most jaded Hong Kong cinema fan. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Yeung Fan writes and directs this melodrama about Rose (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk), a beautiful orphaned teenager who has boys pursuing her by the boatload. When she decides to study in France, her overly protective brother Charles (Chow Yun-fat) begs her to return to Hong Kong. Instead, she marries one of her fellow students and eventually has a daughter. Later, Charles dies of a long painful illness. Grief-stricken, Rose gets a divorce and returns to her family home. One day, she meets Ga-ming, who is the spitting image of Charles (and who is also played by Chow). A passionate, if creepy, relationship ensues only to be complicated by the return of an old flame from her school days. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Maggie Cheung, (more)
- 1985
With a story as believable as a visit from the Tooth Fairy, this romantic comedy about a Cinderella-type woman (Maggie Cheung) and a slipper with a diamond is best suited to a young audience. After two thieves steal a valuable diamond from a dying tycoon, they run inside a store and hide it in a shoe, hoping to return later and retrieve the gem. In the meantime, a TV star (Cheung) comes in and buys the pair of shoes to wear with a borrowed evening dress she has to return before midnight. She is getting ready for a big society ball. Sure enough, she has to dash to the elevator to leave on time, and the diamond-studded shoe comes off in the process. The shoe is picked up by her Prince Charming, who does not have a clue as to its worth, and the chase is on.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Cheung
- 1985
Sporting one of the most humorous titles around, this film -- directed by David Chung Chi-man -- is an unlikely sci-fi Christmas flick. The film opens with a nefarious band of Japanese criminals putting a powerful explosive that they swiped from a mad scientist and in a can of Sarsae cola. Of course, the can gets lost amid a cornucopia of non-explosive beverages. Through an unlikely string of madcap events, cabbie Steward (John Sham Kin-fun) and bicycle enthusiast Cat (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) find themselves chased by a host of killers believing that they know the whereabouts of the can in question. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Sham, Maggie Cheung, (more)
This was internationally famous Jackie Chan's breakthrough action film, the work that got him past the ethnic boundaries of Hong Kong and into competition at the New York Film Festival in 1986. It also got him into the hospital after performing a stunt in which he fell through a glass canopy -- and stopped breathing. The story itself is not particularly profound. Kevin (Ga-kui) (Chan) is an honest, self-effacing cop who manages to capture drug lord Cho (Cho Leung) almost single-handedly. A reluctant Kevin is then assigned the job of protecting Cho's secretary Selena (Brigitte Lin) who is going to testify against him. Sure enough, the trial date comes, and Selena disappears, while Cho has to be set free for lack of evidence. The next thing he knows, Kevin is framed by Cho for the murder of a fellow (dirty) cop and is running like heck from the bad guys as well as the police. Some incredible stunts in this film include Chan being dragged behind a double-decker bus. One of Jackie Chan's trademarks are hilarious outtakes shown during the end credits, and they are among the best here. This feature is repeated to great advantage at the end of his 1998 hit Rush Hour as well. Police Story picked up "Best Picture" and "Best Action Choreography" at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Festival and was nominated for several other awards that year. Sequel after sequel followed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, (more)
- 1984
Burdened by wooden acting and a fragmented storyline, this romantic comedy set against the posh environment of an upper-class Hong Kong elite is about the love that blossoms between a bumbling young man (Leslie Chung) and an attractive woman he meets on the subway (Maggie Cheung). Both would-be lovers are pursued by others; an heiress chases after the likeable klutz, and his subway lady-love has an ex-boyfriend who wants her back again. This Hong Kong fare seems particularly made for the local population. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, (more)
- 1984
Kenny Bee is a shy young man whose wealthy parents want him to marry, no matter what. Although he goes to Waikiki with his friend Lolantho (Chen Pai-chiang), neither manage to succeed with women and when they return home, the anxious parents now have another problem: someone is embezzling money from the family's corporate business. In order to flush out the thief, the introverted son poses as Lolantho's chauffeur - and in that guise, the two come across a pair of gorgeous women they met in Waikiki (Cherie Chung and Maggie Cheung - both former Miss Hong Kong title holders). Mix-ups and misunderstandings abound, as well as some dirty-dealing from the suspected embezzler, but love is unerringly true and although Cupid's arrow might be briefly deflected, it ultimately hits the right target. Neither cerebral nor hysterical, this slapstick comedy is likely to amuse viewers of any orientation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenny Bee, Cherie Chung, (more)
