Episode 211: Herman Yau: The Ultimate Hong Kong Filmmaker?

## Show Notes

Can a man who makes three to four films a year in every possible genre be considered an auteur? We discuss the worker of Hong Kong movie director Herman Yau and his infamous shocker EBOLA SYNDROME, his sex worker unionization film WHISPERS AND MOANS and his IP MAN films.
## Films Discussed

* Directed by Herman Yau
	+ *The Untold Story* (1993)
	+ *Taxi Hunter* (1993)
	+ *Ebola Syndrome* (1996)
	+ *Troublesome Night III* (1998)
	+ *From the Queen to the Chief Executive* (2001)
	+ *Whispers and Moans* (2007)
	+ *True Women For Sale* (2008)
	+ *The Legend is Born - Ip Man* (2010)
	+ *Ip Man: The Final Fight* (2013)
	+ *Shock Wave* (2017)
	+ *A Home with a View* (2019)
	+ *The New King of Comedy* (2019)
* *Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind* (1980) Dir. Tsui Hark
* *The Taming of Rebecca* (1982) Dir. Phil Prince
* *Working Girls* (1986) Dir. Lizzie Borden
* *Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky* (1991) Dir. Lam Nai-Choi
* *Superfights* (1995) Dir. Tony Leung Siu-Hung
* *Ip Man* (2008) Dir. Wilson Yip
* *Ip Man 2* (2010) Dir. Wilson Yip
* *The Grand Master* (2013) Dir. Wong Kar-wai

## Discussion Notes

* Hong Kong auteur who has made over seventy movies - none of them anyone's favorite!
	+ Comedy, drama, thrillers, horrors, gangster films, family films, and erotica - but not a lot of action films
	+ Takes what is available, makes it is quick as possible, and moves on - but follows his passions every once in a while
		- A 'ten for them, one for me' system
	+ Possibly the 'most Hong Kong' director of his Hong Kong peers
	+ Worked with Golden Harvest to produce Category III films
	+ Never chased international success or critical acclaim
	+ Pro-Democracy and pro-union, which is visible in his films
	+ Wrote a thesis on censorship on Chinese movies, and has a PhD!
* *The Untold Story*
	+ A socially maladjusted cook butchers a family and turns their meat into hamburger
	+ Depicted in lovingly disgusting and violent detail
	+ Made Anthony Wong a star despite it being utterly despicable
* *Ebola Syndrome*
	+ Chef in South Africa contracts Ebola and spreads it to everyone he meets in the most gross and grimy ways possible
	+ Spiritual sequel to The Untold Story - also starring Anthony Wong!
	+ Our hosts find it indefensibly racist, sexist, and vile - but it's exactly what you're looking for in this kind of film
		- One of Yau's most popular and highly rated films
* *Troublesome Night III*
	+ Horror anthology with a lot of ghosts and goofs - which is not all that scary
	+ The Hong Kong horror genre is in love with rituals and when they go wrong
* *The Legend is Born - Ip Man*
	+ Origin story that remixes the Ip Man films that came before and brings back Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao
	+ A great cast for Hong Kong film lovers, and a love letter to the technique of wing-chun
* *Ip Man: The Final Fight*
	+ A melancholy story of the older Ip Man and Hong Kong
	+ A big set movie that doesn't fully commit to being an action film or mood piece
* *Whispers and Moans*
	+ A serious drama about sex workers in Hong Kong, based on interviews conducted by the screenwriter
	+ A passion project of Yau's that treats its subject matter respectfully

## Listener Letters

* Brendan
	+ To Will: do you cordon off your scholarly interest of erotic cinema from your personal life?
		- Will - "I don't surround myself with people who be prudish about that sort of thing"
		- Not as much of an issue as it might seem - though no Shaun Costello movie nights are being organized
* John
	+ Who is your favorite workman-like director?
		- Justin and Will detail their appreciation for the steady hand of Peter Hyams
		- Will - Edward F. Klein, who co-directed most of Buster Keaton's short films, and Sidney J. Furie
		- Justin - Sidney Lumet, John Badham, John Frankenheimer, and Richard Fleischer
		- Auteurs who started as journeymen - Lucio Fulci, John Woo

## Post-Outro Discussion

* Will watched *Ratatouille* and discourse followed
	+ Our hosts discuss the populist support of 'baby movies' and why it's now suddenly 'right' to love massive properties for children and 'wrong' to like smaller films
	+ The issue of people linking their core identities to the works of a corporate juggernaut
	+ The perceived 'elitist' move of watching media outside of your horizons