|
Seven Little Fortunes
The China Drama Academy () was a Peking opera school in Kowloon, Hong Kong, known for being the childhood home of such famous actors as Jackie Chan (Yuen Lo), Sammo Hung (Yuen Lung), Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu and Corey Yuen (Yuen Kwai). Famed filmmaker Yuen Woo-ping also attended the school for one year as a day student. It was run from a small theatre in the Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park by Master Yu Jim Yuen, a northern (北拳) kung fu practitioner and a very stern teacher. Children were usually enrolled for a period of 10 years, whilst Yu taught them the acrobatic and acting skills that would later introduce many of them into the world of Chinese theatre and movies. Whilst attending the Peking opera school under the tutelage of Yu Jim Yuen, the students all adopted their sifu's given name "Yuen" as their family name. Life in the school Practice at the Peking Opera School was very strict. The students signed into contracts that would allow the instructors to punish them up u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peking Opera
Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime, martial arts, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China. Major performance troupes are based in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. The art form is also preserved in Taiwan, where it is also known as (). It has also spread to other regions such as the United States and Japan. Peking opera features four main role types, ''Sheng role, sheng'' (gentlemen), ''dan role, dan'' (women), ''jing role, jing'' (rough men), and ''chou role, chou'' (clowns). Performing troupes often have several of each variety, as well as numerous secondary and tertiary performers. With their elaborate and colorful costumes, performers are the only focal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Who Am I? (1998 Film)
''Who Am I?'' ( zh, first=t, t=我是誰, s=我是谁, also known as ''Jackie Chan's Who Am I?'') is a 1998 Hong Kong spy action comedy film directed by Benny Chan and Jackie Chan, who also starred in the leading role, and writer with Susan Chan and Lee Reynolds. The film was released theatrically in Hong Kong on 17 January 1998. It is also Chan's second film to be scripted and shot in English, the first one being '' Mr. Nice Guy''. Plot Somewhere in the jungles of South Africa on Thanksgiving 1996, a multinational military unit named ''Special Force Unit'' ambushes a convoy and kidnaps several scientists working on a highly-volatile compound extracted from a recently discovered meteorite. Among the operatives is a Hong Kong national identified as "Jackie Chan". The CIA assigns Agent Morgan to investigate the incident, unaware that he and newly retired General Sherman orchestrated the abduction for their personal profit. At the same time, the CIA assigns another operative in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinema Of Hong Kong
The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese-language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former Crown colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of artistic freedom than mainland China and Taiwan, and developed into a filmmaking hub for the Chinese-speaking world (including its worldwide diaspora). For decades, Hong Kong was the third largest motion picture industry in the world following US cinema and Indian cinema, and the second largest exporter. Despite an industry crisis starting in the mid-1990s and Hong Kong's transfer to Chinese sovereignty in July 1997, Hong Kong film has retained much of its distinctive identity and continues to play a prominent part on the world cinema stage. In the West, Hong Kong's vigorous pop cinema (especially Hong Kong action cinema) has long had a strong cult following, which is now a part of the cultural mainstream, widely available and imitated. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessment to form Cambridge University Press and Assessment under Queen Elizabeth II's approval in August 2021. With a global sales presence, publishing hubs, and offices in more than 40 countries, it published over 50,000 titles by authors from over 100 countries. Its publications include more than 420 academic journals, monographs, reference works, school and university textbooks, and English language teaching and learning publications. It also published Bibles, runs a bookshop in Cambridge, sells through Amazon, and has a conference venues business in Cambridge at the Pitt Building and the Sir Geoffrey Cass Sports and Social Centre. It also served as the King's Printer. Cambridge University Press, as part of the University of Cambridge, was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biographical Film
A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films and Historical drama, historical drama films in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a single person's life story or at least the most historically important years of their lives. Context Biopic scholars include George F. Custen of the College of Staten Island and Dennis P. Bingham of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. Custen, in ''Bio/Pics: How Hollywood Constructed Public History'' (1992), regards the genre as having died with the Studio system, Hollywood studio era, and in particular, Darryl F. Zanuck. On the other hand, Bingham's 2010 study ''Whose Lives Are They Anyway? The Biopic as Contemporary Film Genre'' shows how it perpetuates as a codified genre using many of the same tropes used in the studio era that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Painted Faces
''Painted Faces'' () is a 1988 Hong Kong biographical drama film co-written and directed by Alex Law and starring Sammo Hung as his mentor, Master Yu Jim-yuen of the China Drama Academy. For his portrayal as Master Yu, Hung won his second Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor at the 8th Hong Kong Film Awards. The film was selected as the Hong Kong entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. The Chinese title refers to the Seven Little Fortunes, which includes Hung, Yuen Biao, Jackie Chan and their fellow opera-mates, who later became popular in the Hong Kong film industry. The film focuses on Master Yu and his methods on bringing up his protégés. Cast *Sammo Hung as Master Yu *Lam Ching-ying as Wah * Cheng Pei-pei as Ching *John Shum as Stagehand (guest appearance) *Wu Ma as Film Director (guest appearance) *Mary Li as Cheng Lung's mother (guest appearance) *Chung Kam-yuen as Teenage Samo **Yeung Yam-yin as Ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera, or ballet production who appears in a nonspeaking or nonsinging (silent) capacity, usually in the background (for example, in an audience or busy street scene). War films and epic films often employ background actors in large numbers: some films have featured hundreds or even thousands of paid background actors as cast members (hence the term "cast of thousands"). Likewise, grand opera can involve many background actors appearing in spectacular productions. On a film or TV set, background actors are usually referred to as "supporting artists", "junior artists", "atmosphere", "background talent", "background performers", "background artists", "background cast members", "talent", "background friends", or simply "background", while the term "extra" is rarely used and is often considered derogatory. In a stage production, background actors are commonly referred to as " supernumeraries". A mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horse Stance
The horse stance is a common posture in Asian martial arts. It is called ''mǎbù'' (馬步) in Chinese, (or ) in Japanese, and ''juchum seogi'' (주춤 서기) or ''annun seogi'' (lit. sitting stance) in Korean. This stance can not only be integrated into fighting but also during exercises and forms. It is most commonly used for practicing punches or to strengthen the legs and back. The modified form of horse stance, in which heels are raised, is a fighting stance in International Karate Tournaments. The Chinese form of horse stance is a fighting stance which changes into front stance while using hip rotation to develop punching force. Chinese martial arts ''Mabu'' is used for endurance training as well as strengthening the back and leg muscles, tendon strength, and overall feeling and understanding of "feeling grounded". It is a wide, stable stance with a low center of gravity. Feet are placed 45 degree outward . Northern styles The ideal horse stance in most northern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acting
Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of skills, including a well-developed imagination, emotional facility, physical expressivity, vocal projection, clarity of speech, and the ability to interpret drama. Acting also demands an ability to employ dialects, accents, improvisation, observation and emulation, mime, and stage combat. Many actors train at length in specialist programs or colleges to develop these skills. The vast majority of professional actors have gone through extensive training. Actors and actresses will often have many instructors and teachers for a full range of training involving singing, scene-work, audition techniques, and acting for camera. Most early sources in the West that examine the art of acting (, ''hypokrisis'') discuss it as part of rhetoric. Hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martial Arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preservation of a nation's intangible cultural heritage. The concept of martial arts was originally associated with East Asian tradition, but subsequently the term has been applied to practices that originated outside that region. Etymology "Martial arts" is a direct English translation of the Sino-Japanese word (, ). Literally, it refers to "武 martial" and "芸 arts". The term ''martial arts'' was popularized by mainstream popular culture during the 1960s to 1970s, notably by Hong Kong action cinema, Hong Kong martial arts films (most famously those of Bruce Lee) during the so-called "chopsocky" wave of the early 1970s. According to John Clements, the term '':wikt:martial art, martial arts'' itself is derived from an older ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acrobatics
Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance (ability), balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sports, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro dance, circus, gymnastics, and freerunning and to a lesser extent in other athletic activities including ballet, slacklining and Diving (sport), diving. Although acrobatics is most commonly associated with human body performance, the term is used to describe other types of performance, such as aerobatics. History Acrobatic traditions are found in many cultures, and there is evidence that the earliest such traditions occurred thousands of years ago. For example, Minoan civilization, Minoan art from contains depictions of bull-leaping, acrobatic feats on the backs of bulls. Ancient Greeks practiced acrobatics, and the noble court displays of the European Middle Ages would often include acrobatic performances that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kung Fu
Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" of martial arts. Examples of such traits include ''Shaolin kung fu, Shaolinquan'' () physical exercises involving Five Animals, All Other Animals () mimicry or training methods inspired by Chinese philosophies, Old Chinese philosophies, religions and legends. Styles that focus on qi manipulation are called ''Internal martial arts, internal'' (; ), while others that concentrate on improving muscle and cardiovascular fitness are called ''Styles of Chinese martial arts#External styles, external'' (; ). Geographical associations, as in ''northern'' (; ) and ''Nanquan (martial art), southern'' (; ), is another popular classification method. Ter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
