Btw AC, I think you need to put a warning when mentioning movies like lust caution because it's a literal semi porn movie, as there are under age audiences in RU-vid.
@DmX With all due respect about Liu (I do hope he'll prove the naysayers wrong), Leung is much more well-known among Asians and probably many westerners for his serious roles. Among pan-Chinese fandom we basically joke that Leung is the protagonist instead of Liu.
Tom Hiddleston must be thrilled to see Tony Leung in the MCU, I remember he said years ago that he loved the movie In the Mood for Love as it was one of the most romantic films he’s ever seen
He was doing all the acting with just his eyes in Shang-Chi, it's honestly the best performance I've seen from a Marvel film and one of the best performances this year! I honestly hope he gets some award recognition for this role.
Yeah I feel like he should have had lots more screen time to properly explore the character. Maybe I'm just used to movies with Tony Leung that give us countless scenes focused on trying to work out was hes thinking and feeling
@Joseph the fight he had with her, you can see the precise moment he goes from seeing her as an enemy to “she’s pretty!” to “oh, she’s a match for me” to “I really want her” and then his sadness when she vanishes after he falls in the water.
@@hothotheat3000 Yeah! That was beautiful, it's like they were having a ballroom dance inside their fight. I was personally talking about the moments when he's sitting in his chair, thinking about her.
Once I sat at the dinning table next to his about 15yrs ago in Hong Kong. The female restaurant manager came to serve him and just stared at his eyes for like 15 seconds unable to otter a single word, just freeze at the spot and smile non sensually. That's how powerful his eyes is. OMG
Fun fact: in Asian markets, the Marvel Legends action figure of Wenwu sold out faster than any other Shang-Chi toy Ppl are buying that toy purely because it's a toy of Tony Leung
Usually Hasbro's US office sends their 3D files of their toys to Hong Kong office whom will then transfer them to china factories without giving any comments, but with Tony Leung's figure, for the first time the Hong Kong office asked the US headquarter if they are allowed to improve the head sculpt file by themselves, because they are all fans of Tony and they believe they can make it better. As result it's one of the best Hasbro Marvel figure in likeness, and in many Asian cities its first release was sold out in less than a week .
The man displayed so much emotion without even saying a word at times. Truly the best performance Marvel has ever gotten out of someone, not to say there haven't been great performances from other actors in the MCU, but this felt like another whole level! I honestly hope he gets some award recognition for this role.
@@JosephDutra There's a cut they didn't put into the movie, only in Trailer. The line is "Be careful how you speak to me. Boy!" Speak without cursing, yelling, threatening but terrifying as fuck.
Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung are the two most remarkable actors from Hong Kong. They are not "movie stars." They are both artists. Leung's female counterpart is the incomparable Maggie Cheung. These three represent the best of the best Hong Kong artists.
There are so many from yesteryear. I'd add the late Anita Mui who was severely underrated as an actress. And the retired Brigitte Lin as well. They just don't make them like they used to... sigh.
@DmX Yea lol no offense, they are fine actors in their own rights, but if we're being super super picky here, they don't even come close to the calibre of acting with the top 5-6 legendary HK roster :p
I'd say at least 50% of box office revenue are from people who aim to see Tony Leung. My elderly mom doesn't even speak English, and she has no interest in movies whatsoever, but one random day she suddenly told me she wanna see Shang Chi, because Tony Leung is on the posters.
I met Tony Leung once when I was still a small kid visiting the kids show "430穿梭機", or some events related to that show... not sure, but anyway, he was one of the hosts. God, I need to dig out that photo I took with him. Of course I don't remember any details about that day, but I still remember he's a very warm hearted big brother to all the kids there. He's magnificent, as an actor, and as a human being.
@@ZilLonO Luckily you did not meet Stephen Chow as he was also featured in that kid show. Chow had the reputation of bullying kids all the time. BTW please dig up those pictures you took with Tony Leung 🙂
In the West or more mainstream may not recognize Tony Leung in the upcoming Shang Chi. But to true cinephiles and major movie buffs we do know. He is actually the most well known compared to the other actors again not to everyone but to real cinephiles. Having him in a Marvel movie the closest I can compare of his casting is like that of Sir Ian Mckellen as Magneto in the X-Men movies.
@@PtR-ec1wz I agree I was told Al Pacino and Christopher Walken both great actors starred in one of the worst films ever called Gigli. I also know as much as I love the Marvel Movies there were some pretty weak ones in particular Captain Marvel and Thor 2 Dark World not that bad but not as good as the others. I really do hope Shang Chi can work the fact they made characters I know but are not major fans of like Black Panther ,Doctor Strange, and Thor into good films make me hope they can do the same for Shang Chi just keeping my fingers cross.
@@PtR-ec1wz but at least we will be able to see somehing extraordinary,what does a real actor as Tony,an exquisite actor do in that kind of movie.I never saw a Marvel Movie but I want to see Tony Leung in this one,What is stranger to me is to see Tony as a toy.But I can tell you finally I accpted the Beatles as toys ,I had to because it was a present of my children and then they bought me a DAvid Bowie toy!
You should binge both "in the Mood for Love" and "2046" together. You can see the changes of the character in both movies even it is the same character. His acting is also terrific in "The GrandMaster", particularly in the Asian Version. It is a total different movie.
I from Taiwan, thanks for letting people know about《A city of sadness》. It was truly a hard time in our history and the movie portrayed it so good, really means a lot.
He's incredible in Shang-Chi, and his most impactful moments are when he's completely still and just about to cry, but never actually does, his eyes just well up and it's so controlled and so powerful.
Nah..Tony is more asian Deniro..Al has surely done some great eye acting like in scent of a woman..bt Al is mostly a dramatic actor with the signature wildness in him.
There is this interesting instance shared by Wong kar wai in his book. The first time they worked, tony was this young, naïve yet confident, in the beginning phase of his fulfilling career. In the first shot itself, WKW took several re takes, Tony's self confidence took several beating, even for a simple scene his skills were not able to satisfy the maverick director. After a night of deep long introspection, tony strived to understand the thought mechanics of WKW and that was the seed which blossomed into a long magical journey of one masterpiece after another. They both work best when they collaborate together along with Christopher Doyle. Match made in heaven.
Rumor says there's a lot of unused footage from Days of Being Wild and many of them with Tong Leung, which were supposed to be used in the never-made sequel.
@@WalkerMachine even the first cut of chunking express is longer and quite different, the first story continues with a kind of tryst between the cop and raincoat lady. I saw it in you tube with those extended scenes
I think that WKW saw in Tony the seed of a growing flower that after their common work together arrived to a mature fruit,sorry for my poor methafore,but I also think thagt in these common work WKW became a deeper and best director.They came to film Happy together in Buenos Aires,where I live.It seems that Kar is not any easy to work as generally there is a basic script that is changing all them time.For Tony who finally , because of the development of his character, it was the heavier burden.H thought that he was coming for two weeks that became three month or more,.Leslie had a previous contract for a musucx tour and everybody knew he was living soon.But Tony was as all of them in a foireing and quite different country,without knowing when the movie was going to end.It was his great professionalism and his effort to contribute to the film that made all this happen.What I m trying to sat is that for those series of movies that Kar did,Tony was also creating the character at the same time he was writing and rewiting the script.And the result was the Cannes awaed as best director for WKW.I think you are meaning the same,anyway,we agree that it was a match made in heaven.,I ve heard Tony saying that that was his favouite film(Happy Together)but it was a big sacrifice and transformation for all of them.
I legit didn’t know who this man was before. as soon as Shang chi ended, me & my brother could not stop talking about him! OMG this man totally mesmerized me! And now I’m binge watching every yt video about him & after watching this I’m on my way to watch his movies 😭 I loved him in Shang chi, one of the best villains in mcu!
You gotta give Andy Lau a chance then. Andy is the general in “the Great Wall” with Matt Damon but he is just as big as Tony Leung in China. Watch Andy Lau’s movie “killer” as he plays the antagonist. :)
@UCB5z-FhINdQGiGZaVR8joEA ^^^yes that one is pretty awesome too. Andy as the antagonist and Takeshi Kaneshiro as the protagonist. And then…!!! Once you appreciate Takeshi also, you must watch Red Cliff after that as has Tony Leung and Takeshi as the main leads! ❤️
Yea I fell for him hard after Shang Chi. I'm going to look up his other work too because he's such an amazing actor I feel like it's not right only knowing him from a Marvel movie (even though I absolutely loved the movie and his role)
I was looking for this comment Simu's handsome & Tony Leung is even more good-looking 😅😍. He's almost 60 years old & still has people(including me) swooning over him, my gosh.
@@TrinhNguyen-sh4fj Of course. I never said that we like him just for being handsome. Tony is a legendary & versatile actor. His looks are just a bonus. He's also a really cool person. Hence why we swoon 🤣.
seriously with his current age look at his presserence in that shang chi movie feel overwhelming charismatic.... that hardly now days to get from hk cinema...
I can't find any young HK Actors/Actress that can perform as well as Tony Leung's Generations or even Louis Koo, Daniel Wu, Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue's Generation. It feels like the good and great HK Actors and actress stopped on Nicholas and Shawn Generations 😅
As an Asian who have watched quite many film from HK, it is sad to see nowadays HK no longer have any good actors that can shoulder the cinematic industry. The last generation of good actors look like stopped at the era of Louis Koo and Nicholas Tse. But even with them, we can also see some quite obvious gap if we compare with the like of Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung, and those other greats from 80's and 90's.. Now I don't even bother to watch HK films lol
I am Korean. Tony Leung is my best actor since late 1980's. I saw him first at TV Series, The Grand Canal and New Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre. After that I saw almost everything his TV dramas. And movie in Chungking Express. Now he is old and getting more famous. I wish him the best. He has the most handsome eyes and warm heart.
I used to have a Korean friend that watched dubbed TVB series in Korean. She lives in the US in LA. She was a big fan of his and many others from the 80s. I have loved Tony and many other TVB stars since the 80s. Glad that Tony is getting more recognition as he truly deserves it. I saw all of his ancient series in the 80s and am recently watching the modern ones since I did not like modern series back then. Did you see Police Cadet? That was one of his classic dramas and he regarded that as his best work at TVB.
@@TrinhNguyen-sh4fj I know TVB series were very popular among us Vietnamese in North America back in the '80s. I'm a fan of the golden period of TVB with the Five Tigers and of course have watched Police Cadet. That was the first time he was paired with Maggie Cheung.
@@canuck21 Me too but I know Chinese too so I watch in Chinese as well. I watch all series from China in Chinese. I watched police Cadet a number of years ago as I was finally liking modern series. I would have watched it back then when it first came out if I liked modern series. Glad I finally did since I used to like only ancient series.
I kept getting distracted by him in Shang-Chi. His presence is so magnetizing. I was like, hmmmm is this attraction or respect? 🤔🧐 just finished the movie and now I'm binging videos about him haha Thank you for this. 🥰
When I saw the Shang Chi trailer. All I thought was "Tony Leung is the only reason to go see this" After listening to the interview he did about his other works. It kinda shows the difference in preparation the cast has for action in the East compared to the west. I mean 2 weeks training for the fight scenes in Shang Chi compared to what he did for the Grandmaster.
3:02 Ng Man Tat, it was so nostalgic to see him young, it is sad that most people only know him through his comedic performance, the man can act, several of his serious roles were amazing. The man can really portray being poor, sad, and miserable like no one else.
There's an old series where he acted as the villain and one of the good guy (it's a double role). I forgot the title but the main lead was Stephen Chow in his earlier days in the industry.
I was saddened to find out he died earlier this year from liver cancer. He will always be in my Americanized heart as a Hong Kong comedic legend during my impressionable teen years here in the U.S. But yes, now that you mention it he is a good actor b/c I felt it in Shaolin Soccer. That was probably the last recent role I saw him in before finding out about his passing this yr.
'But you might not know who this actor is' Son, that's the only one I DO know. First time I saw Tony Leung was in Hero and then In the Mood for Love. After that I started to see him everywhere. In both on and off the Hong Kong action scene, Tony Leung is a legend.
@@Rodrgo1997 well, I honestly think Hollywood doesn't know how to utilize Asian stars. They squandered Jackie Chan when he started doing Hollywood movies. They put him in this one very serious role and he had a cameo in a Burn Reynolds movie. After that he didn't come back till Rumble in the Bronx hit big. Hollywood just didn't get it. They didn't understand what his appeal was and probably didn't bother to, either. Right now, I think the worst utilized actor from Asia is Lee Byung-hun, who I first saw in I Saw the Devil and is completely miss utilized in his Hollywood roles. He has leading man potential and action Star skills, but they just won't push him.
@@oliverdelica2289 See, I saw Hard Boiled when I was a kid because I loved Van Damme movies and Hard Target was a favorite. I didn't know who he was at the time.
The first movie of his I ever saw was Happy Together, as a kid growing up in India it was really an odd movie to have access to, but I was transfixed by it. By both Tony and Leslie Cheung. Inspite of their volcanic and disastrous love affair in the movie, never felt so connected to onscreen characters before. After that I made it my mission to seek out all the Wong-Kar-Wai movies I could find. My favourite Tony Leung performance from an Wong-Kar-Wai movie is 2046.
Absolutely stunning work. And it is definitely all about eye commumication, isn't it? Between he and she, nary a word was really needed and it worked beautifully.
His body control is as crazy as his eyes expression, sharp but smooth at the same time without any extra or unnecessary movements. I mean, Look at him at 7:25
I literally yelled “Yesss!” when u said “Tony Leung’s best performance” at 11:07. The film “Lust,Caution” isss in fact his best performance. What an amazingly charismatic actor! Just brilliant. An all time favourite in the genre.
Same! I bought the DVD when it came out and oooooh it was juicy also. Like they say “if you do it right, you’ll get praised but if you do it wrong, you’ll get judged” pertaining to his nudity. Oh yeah he did it right alright. Lol
@@Mizzlezzlee wow a dvd? Unfortunately, i discovered him late haha n just watched it online. Definitely did not expect the nudity😅 and was quite startled by how he brought the intensity to the character.
Wong Kar Wai and Tony Leung. I honestly can't think of many more legendary pairings in cinema, their films together are MASTERPIECES. Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese, Toshiro Mifune and Akira Kurosawa, Marcello Mastroianni and Federico Fellini, and Ingmar Bergman and Max von Sydow.
Tony Leung is one of my favorite actors. He has one of the most beautiful face and wonderfully expressive eyes. This was a great video essay on the power this man exudes on screen. He is really one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.❤️
Tony Leung has been my favorite non English language actor ever since I first saw him when I was a teen, I think it was in Hard Boiled or Bullet In The Head (yes i was a huge typical 90's Westerner John Woo head in my late teens). He is easily one of my top 5 best actors of all time. He is a true mastermind of acting. I often wish I knew how to speak Cantonese just so I can watch his best works without having to divert my eyes from his performances to read the subtitles. I suspect the main reason I think The Departed is one of Scorsese's weakest works, and pales in comparison to the original Infernal Affairs, is because of what Tony Leung brought to that film . He is criminally underrated outside of the Chinese language speaking domains, but those of us non Chinese who really know of him know full well what a powerhouse genius he is. Great video, I hope it gains the traction it deserves, and helps to get more people onto the masterful catalogue of the living legend Tony Leung.
Even if you only watched 5-6 of the highlights from Tony Leung's filmography, you've already seen the very best films of Hong Kong/Asian cinema. The man's a legend.
That shot of Wenwu (Tony Leung) with the Ten Rings symbol behind him whilst he is glancing below only to dart his sight forward says it all. He is indeed acting with his eyes. Can't wait to watch him again in theaters.
Ive noticed ever since Shang Chi, Tony Leung has got A LOT of attention and many many youtube videos talking about him. He is finally getting the recognition he deserve.
I know right. Suddenly there's this flood of interview videos of him from various sources. After watching several of them, I was like, whoa we're really seeing Tony on youtube huh? Something I never would have imagined before.
Actually he's always been respected in asian cinema and he's an A lister. All asians know him. So it's not true when you said he's finally getting the recognition now. More accurately, he's getting known in the younger generation and in the west now.
I am actually familiar with some of his work, and you’re right. He hasn’t received the accolades he deserves in the western world. I always thought his facial expressions were spot on because of his ability to act with his eyes. Not a lot of actors can match that kind of talent. Thank you for sharing your video essay.
I first saw him in Chunking Express and he immediately became one of my favorite actors. He's great in literally everything I've seen him in -- even if a particular movie didn't work for me, his performance would always be captivating.
I think not only Wong Kar Wai helped Tony Leung to grow into deeper levels in acting, Tony Leung also made Wong Kar Wai's movies so rich and deep and so perfect. I love In The Mood For Love. The on-screen connection between Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung is undeniably beautiful I can't take my eyes off of them. The movie really gets better with age and it feels different everytime I watch it. And let's not forget Stephen Chow auditioned again the following year and got into the same acting school. Tony Leung and Stephen Chow actually appeared in the same movie before, but not a scene together, which was Gorgeous (starring Jackie Chan & Shu Qi).
"I'm sorry, I'm a cop." Seriously, every action and lines from Tony Leung ooze feelings from a master, a character that's real you forget he's an actor.
Fantastic video! Tony Leung is one of the greatest contemporary actors alive, and you've put to words what made his performances utterly charismatic and compelling. Tony Leung's and WKW's collaboration is great and iconic, with the performance, cinematography and direction fascinatingly playing off each other to create spellbinding cinema. Nice to see Hou Hsiao Hsien getting more love! He's stuff is hard to get into (his later works especially) but once placed into his rhythm, he conjures a mesmerising tone that I can only describe as situated between memory and reality. I think Leung's performance is interesting in his last collaborative effort with Hou in the film Flowers of Shanghai. Despite being placed at arm's length by Hou's stubbornly distant cinematography, penchant for naturalism, and just not being given many lines, Tony Leung easily steals my gaze in the scenes that he's in.
@Accented Cinema, I am 110% sure 99% of the articles and comments being said on the internet, right now about Tony, uses this video as a reference. Congrats!
I'm so glad I found this video. One of the things I enjoyed in Shang-Chi was Tony Leung's performance. His presence is just on another level and thanks to your video, I have a better understanding of why. Great video!
I was so amazed to see him in the Shang Chi trailer that I was genuinely speechless and couldn't articulate to my friend how amazing it was to see him in it. Hands down one of the best actors of all time and my personal favourite.
i watched in the mood for love for the first time last year, and was blown away by leung's performance. i now feel i have no choice but to watch every movie he was ever in.
I've been his fans like 15 years,he's one of the best actor in Asia,his talent of acting is insane.And he's a very shy guy,he doesn't like the spotlight,he just a pure actor.
12:36 a quick note from what I learned about that scene. Mr. Yee relaxed after he saw the lady/spy was not the lady she was trying to be because he’s done this many times with his wife’s lady friends and hangs out around enough women in “high level of society”, or elite families, to know that real ladies would NEVER have left a lipstick stain on her glasses like that. Some of us still go by that rule today ourselves. He then relaxes because he knew she had something he wants, and he had something she wants - he may or may not know that that is, but he’s cocky enough to go with the flow to get what he wants first and see her unveils herself in due time. That, is character building.
I just love him. The way he dominates a screen without just his eyes and facial expression, is magical. I'm gonna go watch 'Happy Together' again, and cry lol.
What most Western viewers don’t know, is that Tony Leung also put his eyes to great use in comedies and often with hilarious results. If you watched 东成西就… you know what I mean.
Tony Leung with those rings and his fight scenes were the first thing that cought my eyes and made me more excited for the Mandarin and not shangchi ngl
I first knew him from the "Heaven Sword, Dragon Saber" tv series. It made him really famous among my generation, especially with us growing watching his masterpieces
Omy... I can't help just keep smiling throughout the video listening to you explanation... You really are talented in story telling... I can't help but agree with you about Tony Leung awesomeness...
Earlier this year I had watched Chungking express. Just a few days ago I watched Shang Chi and was blown away once again by his acting... What a legend
In The Mood For Love is a phenomenal movie. Painful, beautiful and thoroughly real. Fascinating to hear more about Tony Leung's career because I was so impressed by how fully he inhabited that role.
I remember getting Hero, all excited to see Jet Li and Donnie Yen go at it, as well as favorites Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi. I finished it thinking, “Who is Tony Leung, and where can I see more of him?!”
I'm recently new to chinese cinema, i've seen him in maybe 7 movies and every time he steals the show. My most favourite one is Hero, such a beautiful movie.
Just like to show my immense gratitude for the making of this video. It really helps me to dive back into my Chinese roots that I have forgotten for so long and being an aspiring actor I have finally found a solution to an area where I have been weak at for too long. Thank you Accented Cinema!
As a young Hong Konger I never whatched of the movies you mentioned in the video. But I'll definitely start watching it. WOW Thank you for introducing Tony to the world and to the youths.
I discovered him through Hard Boiled and Bullet in the Head. I always think of that scene in Infernal Affairs where Anthony Wong crashes into the roof, and his reaction . . . brilliant
this breakdown is incredible! i love how you speak on the details that first time viewers would not have picked up on. only 2 mins in, and the video is edited so well
I have loved Tony and many other HK celebrities since the 80s when they were still acting at TVB. I still remember seeing Tony as an extra at the very beginning of his career and then in leading roles in Tvb series. He was truly a fine actor even at the very beginning of his career. He is just a natural born actor. I am just soooo happy that many more people are knowing and liking Tony. He is truly a hidden gem that is finally getting discovered.
He is the same in real life too. I interviewed him once in the 90s as a TV writer. Although we have preset questions, we would usually stray from the original scripts based on the artistes' responses, hoping to capture some impromptu moments. However with him, I almost read the questions from my script one by one, as my brain malfunctioned with him staring straight into my eyes.... I had to control my expressions so much that there was no more capacity for other thoughts 😅
thank you for highlighting Lust, Caution as his best performance. He really has such a huge range of performances that are so memorable and haunting, but if you had to choose one, it would definitely be Lust, Caution. No one could play the role the way he did. It was a fearless performance.
