Mou Tun-fei () (May 3, 1941 - May 25, 2019) was a Chinese filmmaker known for directing the infamous 1988 horror film '' Men Behind the Sun''.

Biography

Born on May 3, 1941, in

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

, China, Mou's family left China for Taiwan in 1949 due to

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

. Mou graduated from National School of Arts (now

National Taiwan University of Arts National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA; zh, c=國立臺灣藝術大學) is a university in Banqiao District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It is the oldest art university in Taiwan. History National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA) was establ ...

) that could not even afford equipment for the students. Mou thus was forced to learn filmmaking by theory alone, mainly by watching films numerous times in theaters and identifying how many cuts the films contained. After graduation, Mou was assistant director on an

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

propaganda film A propaganda film is a film that involves some form of propaganda. Propaganda films spread and promote certain ideas that are usually religious, political, or cultural in nature. A propaganda film is made with the intent that the viewer will ad ...

called ''Give Back My Country'' and then directed numerous Taiwanese films in a style akin to the

Italian neorealist Italian neorealism (), also known as the Golden Age of Italian Cinema, was a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class. They are filmed on location, frequently with non-professional actors. They p ...

movement. His first and second feature ''I don't dare to tell you'' (1969) and ''At the runway's edge'' (1970) were both banned by Taiwanese government, especially the latter film contained homosexual overtones. In 1977, Mou settled in Hong Kong and joined the

Shaw Brothers Shaw Brothers (HK) Limited () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, operating from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shangh ...

, his first film there being ''Gun,'' a segment in the fifth film of the Shaw’s exploitation true crime series ''The Criminals''. While at the Shaw Brothers, he would dabble in crime (''Bank Busters''), romance (''Melody of Love''), horror (''Haunted Tales'') and

kung-fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to c ...

('' A Deadly Secret''). However, his most notable work for the Shaw Brothers would be ''Lost Souls'' (1980); telling the story of a group of

illegal immigrant Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...

s taken captive and sexually and physically abused by a gang of human traffickers, ''Lost Souls'' has often been called a brazen, vicious and outrageous

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that seeks commercial success by capitalizing on current trends, niche genres, or sensational content. Exploitation films often feature themes such as suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudi ...

and a film that brings

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

’s ''

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom ''Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom'' (), billed on-screen as ''Pasolini's 120 Days of Sodom'' on English-language prints and commonly referred to as simply ''Salò'' (), is a 1975 political art horror film directed and co-written by Pier Paolo P ...

'' to mind. Mou then left the Shaw Brothers to become the first director from Taiwan to work in the mainland. While working on a children’s kung fu film called ''Young Heroes'', Mou began to hear stories about war atrocities committed by the

Japanese Imperial Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

. One account, of how the

Japanese military The are the military forces of Japan. Established in 1954, the JSDF comprises the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. They are controlled by the Ministry of Defense w ...

had performed every manner of horrific experiments on Chinese

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

s and civilians while stationed at

Unit 731 , short for Manchu Detachment 731 and also known as the Kamo Detachment and the Ishii Unit, was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that engaged in lethal human experimentat ...

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

, particularly grabbed Mou. Thus, he decided to make a film about it. Originally, he wanted to make a documentary, but he then realized that the Japanese army had destroyed or classified most of the photographs and films so he set about making a staged recreation instead. The film that resulted, a collaboration between

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and the mainland, would be the horror film '' Men Behind the Sun''. After co-directing the hardcore pornographic film ''Trilogy of Lust'' with Julie Lee Wa-Yuet, Mou set about making a fourth sequel to ''Men Behind the Sun'', this time visiting the 1937

Nanjing Massacre The Nanjing Massacre, or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly Chinese postal romanization, romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians, noncombatants, and surrendered prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanji ...

(or Rape of Nanjing) called '' Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre'' which released in 1995.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Interview
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mou, Tun-Fei 1941 births 2019 deaths Anti-communist propagandists Chinese anti-communists Chinese propagandists Propaganda film directors Film directors from Shandong Taiwanese film directors Hong Kong film directors Chinese film directors National Taiwan University of Arts alumni Taiwanese people from Shandong Taiwanese anti-communists