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Richard James Havis

Lo Wei was one of Hong Kong’s most renowned directors in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but disparagement from Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan tarnished his reputation.
Lee hated the way that Lo, who directed The Big Boss (1971) and Fist of Fury (1972), tried to take credit for his success. Chan disliked the way Lo tried to turn him into a clone of the deceased Lee in films like New Fist of Fury (1976).
Below, film historian Frank Djeng discusses how it could be time for Lo’s voluminous body of work to be re-evaluated.
Do you think Lo’s work has been overlooked?
Yes, I think it’s time to reassess his accomplishments. He was one of Shaw Brothers’ most prominent directors between 1964 and 1970, directing close to 20 films there.


His The Golden Buddha (1966), which is a really fun James Bond-style film, was the first Shaw movie to take HK$1 million, and Lo was the first to be called a “million-dollar director”.
He mainly directed wuxia films in his Shaw period, riding on the coattails of King Hu’s hit Come Drink With Me. He reunited that film’s stars Cheng Pei-pei and Yueh Hua in Dragon Swamp, The Shadow Whip and Raw Courage.
Over his full career – he worked at MP&GI studios before Shaw, and at Golden Harvest after – he directed all sorts of genres.
I think that was a result of his experience as an actor. He acted in dramas, romances, the lot … he understood how to make many different styles of film.
Many modern-day viewers are unaware that Lo was a famous actor earlier in his career.
Yes, he started off as a stage actor in Shanghai and when he came to Hong Kong, he moved into films. He had a leading role in Prisoner of Love in 1951, and he became a matinee idol.

He was a prolific actor and appeared in around 135 films over his career. He would often give himself roles in the films he was directing – he usually played authority figures, like the police chief in Fist of Fury.
Lo was a solid director, but he did not really have a unique style.
He was more of an “assembly line” director, and I wouldn’t say he had a striking visual style. But he did have a good eye for composition.
His frames are always nicely composed, and his crowd scenes are very clearly laid out. You can see all the faces of the actors in those scenes. I think he really valued actors, and he thought their faces should be shown, out of respect.

He also used the widescreen format for most of his films, perhaps because of his training at Shaw, where they used Shawscope (Shaw Brothers’ brand of widescreen technology). I love that, as it makes his films very theatrical. You really need to see them on a wide screen to appreciate them.
What about the action scenes in his films? Was Lo heavily involved?
I think he used to delegate that to his martial arts choreographers. Jackie Chan said Lo would take a nap during his action scenes, or go and read his horse-racing papers.
He was also known for coming in late to start shooting, and leaving early and delegating the work to his assistant director, or the martial arts choreographer. He wasn’t a slacker, but if he had a chance to do nothing, he would take it.


This actually benefited Chan: if we believe what he said, he learned how to act and direct during the times when Lo was simply not there. He would talk to the martial arts choreographer and work things out.
Lo had a massive ego and was sometimes compared to Orson Welles in that respect.
Yes, he did. Lo was from Shanghai, and the Shanghainese are known to be a bit arrogant, so that may account for it.
He was full of self-confidence, and he felt he was the one that had made Bruce Lee famous, for instance. The Big Boss and Fist of Fury both broke box office records, and he felt he was responsible for that.

He said he was responsible for Lee’s success, and of course Lee hated that, and that is what led to all the fights and ego battles on the set of Fist of Fury. Lo tried to control Lee and that ultimately led to them parting ways.
How much do you think Lo was actually responsible for Lee’s success?
Well, we really have to look at the martial arts scenes to answer that. The Big Boss was choreographed by Han Ying-chieh, who was a mentor to Bruce Lee and a revered figure in his own right. Lo had respect for him and let him do what he wanted.
By the time you get to Fist of Fury, you can see Lee’s style coming through, but Han also contributed a lot to the film. He did more than Lo, and Lee also put a lot of work in.
How about Jackie Chan? Would Chan have made it without Lo?
It’s hard to tell. Lo knew Chan was talented but he didn’t understand him. Jackie’s forte is kung fu comedy and it was [Yuen Woo-ping’s] Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master which had that and made him a star.
After those two films, Lo made Spiritual Kung Fu with Chan, which had some comedic elements. But I think if he had stuck with Lo, he wouldn’t have been allowed to do the things he does best.

Excluding his work with Lee and Chan, what do you think are Lo’s top five films?
The Golden Buddha for sure, as it is simply a lot of fun. It’s Shaw Brothers doing James Bond. Lo himself also plays a great villain in it. It has an imitation Bond, gadgets, and it was shot on location in Thailand.
I also really like the two films he did with Jimmy Wang Yu, A Man Called Tiger and The Tattooed Dragon. Those are a lot of fun, too.
Going back to the wuxia at Shaw, I like Dragon Swamp, with Cheng Pei-pei, Yueh Hua and Lo Lieh.

If I had to choose another, it would be The Comet Strikes with Nora Miao. Or Vengeance of a Snowgirl – that was his collaboration with Li Ching, who was a very popular actress at Shaw. It features the usual Shaw regulars, and Lo himself plays a bit part. It’s a very competently made film.
In this regular feature series on the best of Hong Kong cinema, we examine the legacy of classic films, re-evaluate the careers of its greatest stars, and revisit some of the lesser-known aspects of the beloved industry.
Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook


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Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan disliked this Hong Kong film director, but how good was he?

Black and white file photo of Nora Miao Ker-hsiu (left), film director Lo Wei (2nd left), and actor Bruce Lee Siu-lung [Bruce Li]. 3 Sep 71.

Hong Kong martial arts star Bruce Lee and director Lo Wei  are pictured in 1971. Lee hated the way that Lo, who directed The Big Boss (1971) and Fist of Fury (1972), tried to take credit for his success. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Lo Wei, Nora Miao and Bruce Lee on the set of Fist of Fury.

Bruce Lee in a still from The Big Boss (1971). Photo: Criterion Collection

Bruce Lee in a still from Fist of Fury. Photo: Criterion Collection

Jackie Chan in a still from New Fist of Fury (1976).

Cheng Pei-pei in a still from Dragon Swamp (1969).

How John Woo’s Face/Off, Windtalkers and Paycheck showed his experimental side

John Travolta (top) and Nicolas Cage in a still from John Woo’s 1997 film  Face/Off.

John Woo at an interview with the Post in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Adam Beach (left) and Nicolas Cage in a still from Windtalkers (2002). Photo: Reuters

John Woo (left) and Nicolas Cage at a news conference at the Peninsula Hong Kong, on June 24, 2002. Photo: SCMP

Ben Affleck in a still from Paycheck (2003). Photo: Doug Curran/DreamWorks

(From left) Ben Affleck, John Woo and Uma Thurman at the world premiere of Paycheck in December 2003, at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, in Hollywood, California. Photo: AP 

How Hong Kong director Wai Ka-fai’s first 3 films revealed his storytelling range

Chow Yun-fat in a still from Peace Hotel (1995).

Chow Yun-fat in a still from Peace Hotel (1995), Hong Kong director Wai Ka-fai’s first film. 

Cecilia Yip in a still from Peace Hotel (1995).

Wai Ka-fai at an interview with the Post in 2006. Photo: SCMP

Lau Ching-wan in a still from Too Many Ways to Be No.1 (1997). Photo: Milkyway Image

Sammi Cheng (left) and Andy Lau in a still from Needing You (2000).

Andy Lau (centre) in a still from Needing You (2000).

How Hong Kong director Ringo Lam freshened up the crime genre with Victim and Triangle

Lau Ching-wan (front) in a still from Victim.

Lau Ching-wan in a still from Victim (1999), Lam’s crime thriller with supernatural elements. Eight years later, the Hong Kong director switched up the crime genre again in Triangle, made with Tsui Hark and Johnnie To. 

Tony Leung Ka-fai and Amy Kwok in a still from Victim.

Ringo Lam in an interview with the Post in 1999. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Sun Honglei, Simon Yam and Louis Koo in a still from Triangle.

(From left) Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam and Johnnie To at an interview with the Post in 2007. Photo: SCMP

Takeshi Kaneshiro, one of the ‘most good-looking’ actors in Hong Kong cinema and star of some of Wong Kar-wai and Peter Chan’s best movies, is a man of mystery

Takeshi Kaneshiro at an interview with the Post in July 2004. Kaneshiro, who debuted as a singer in Taiwan in 1992, has not been seen on the big screen since 2017 – but remains as popular as ever. Photo: SCMP

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhou Dongyu in a still from “This Is Not What I Expected” (2017).

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Brigitte Lin in a still from “Chungking Express” (1994). 

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Kyoko Fukada in a still from the drama series “God, Please Give Me More Time” (1998).

(From left) Xu Jinglei, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Jet Li, Jacky Heung and director Peter Chan promote “The Warlords” at an event in December 2007. Photo: SCMP

Takeshi Kaneshiro in a still from “Perhaps Love” (2005).

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Michele Reis in “Fallen Angels” (1995). Photo: Block 2 Pictures and Jet Tone Contents

Takeshi Kaneshiro in an interview with the Post in December 2006. Photo: SCMP

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Lo Wei, Hong Kong’s first ‘million-dollar director’, made hits including The Big Boss and Fist of Fury but had a big ego that caused issues


Lo Wei, Hong Kong’s first ‘million-dollar director’, made hits including The Big Boss and Fist of Fury but had a big ego that caused issues.
