Painted Faces (Chinese: 七小福) 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.[1] 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.[2]

Painted Faces
US film poster
Chinese七小福
Literal meaningSeven Little Fortunes
Hanyu Pinyinqī xiǎo fú
Jyutpingcat1 siu2 fuk1
Directed byAlex Law
Written byAlex Law
Mabel Cheung
Produced byLeonard Ho
Mona Fong
StarringSammo Hung
Lam Ching-ying
Cheng Pei-pei
CinematographyDavid Chung
Edited byKwong Chi-leung
Yu Tun
Music byLowell Lo
Production
companies
Distributed byGolden Harvest
Celestial Pictures
Fortune Star Media Limited
Release date
  • 10 November 1988 (1988-11-10)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese
Box officeHK$14,730,964

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

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Reception

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Marc Savlov of Austin Chronicle gave the film 3½ stars out of 5 and said that: "Despite the fact that the film lags a bit in its second half [...], Painted Faces remains a charming, gorgeously lensed slice of Hong Kong history, and certainly one that no Jackie Chan/Samo Hung/Yuen Biao fan should pass up."[3]

Accolades

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Awards and nominations
Ceremony Category Recipient Outcome
8th Hong Kong Film Awards Best Film Painted Faces Nominated
Best Director Alex Law Nominated
Best Actor Sammo Hung Won
Best Screenplay Alex Law, Mabel Cheung Nominated
Best Cinematography David Chung Won
Best Film Editing Kwong Chi-leung, Yu Tun Nominated
25th Golden Horse Awards Best Feature Film Painted Faces Won
Best Director Alex Law Won
Best Actor Sammo Hung Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Lam Ching-ying Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Alex Law, Mabel Cheung Won
Best Film Editing Kwong Chi-leung, Yu Tun Won
Best Original Film Score Lowell Lo Won
Best Sound Design Shaw Brothers Recording Studio,
Golden Studios, Tsui Ping-kwong
Won

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Fu, Poshek; Desser, David (2002). The Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity. Cambridge University Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-521-77602-8. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  2. ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  3. ^ Savlov, Marc (6 August 1993). "Painted Faces". The Austin Chronicle. Austin Chronicle Corp. Archived from the original on 19 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
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