Chow Yun-Fat on TVB
shang hai tan
shanghai beach
The Bund
opening theme (.mp3 format)
newspaper ad for movie version of The Bund
principal cast:
nbsp;nbsp;Chow Yun-Fat
nbsp;nbsp;Ray Lui Leung-Wai
nbsp;nbsp;Gigi Chiu Nga-Chi
nbsp;nbsp;Lau Dan
This show has it all. Whether you like action, romance, mystery or
drama, there's something for you in every episode. From the opening
notes of the theme song to the freeze-frame over which the credits roll,
this is a series that grabs you, draws you into its world and doesn't let
go until it's through with you. One of the best
television shows I've ever seen, in any language. At 25 episodes in
length, the series is fast-paced but long enough to give us time to really feel
as if we have lived in the underworld of 1930's Shanghai.
The series opens with a young Hui Man-Keung
(Chow Yun-Fat), newly arrived
in Shanghai with only a few meagre possessions in his suitcase. Just
released from incarceration for his part in a student rebellion, Hui
Man-Keung has set out to seek his fortune. Stepping
into the wrong place at the wrong time, he becomes embroiled in a street
brawl and by accident meets the young street vendor Ding Lik (Rau Lui
Leung-Wai) . Hui and Ding
become fast friends quickly, though the two are worlds apart both in
experience and temperment; Hui is worldly, sophisticated and a fervent
patriot while Ding is simple and understands the world in terms of
his personal relationships. Though both are basically kind, Hui has
another dimension to him, a deep and brooding sadness and a desperate
belief in a set of principles which seems to foreshadow his fate.
After intervening in a crisis in which Fung Ching Ching (Gigi Chiu Nga-Chi),
a local beauty and
schoolage daughter of an underworld boss is threatened, Hui (and by
association Ding)
is drawn into the service of Boss Fung (Lau Dan). Hui's wits and Ding's
unquestioning allegiance to both Fung and Man-Gor, as Hui comes to be called,
make them
valuable assets to the Fung organization and they rise quickly in both
status and Fung's esteem. It's not only the eye of the elder which looks
upon Man-Gor with favor, but also that of Ching Ching; after a while, Man-Gor loves
her with a passion out of legend... but because of his nature, he cannot tell
her the depth of his feelings.
It is more than his love of Ching-Ching that motivates Man-Gor's character
though, and when Boss Fung shows that he loves profit more than his country,
Man-Gor thwarts a deal between Fung and a beautiful but deadly Japanese arms dealer.
When Fung finds out that Man-Gor is responsible for the deal going awry, he
puts a price on Man-Gor's head and names him as an enemy, forcing Man-Gor
to flee far from Shanghai - and Ching Ching.
Ding, left with his loyalty to Fung questioned by Man-Gor's defection, proves
his fealty to Fung in a particularly ghastly way. With Man-Gor absent from the
scene, Ding becomes Lik-Gor and begins to exhibit some of the cunning that was
present in his former partner, but without the passion or wit. Cold in business
he is still a simple man at heart and is swayed by both the power of Fung and
the beauty of Ching Ching. With Fung's tacit approval, he begins to woo the
broken-hearted girl; Ching Ching, though he heart still belongs to Hui Man-Keung,
warms toward Lik-Gor and thereby sets in motion a sequence of events which
eventually leads to tragedy.
One of the most famous television series in history, this is what truly brought
Chow Yun-Fat to the attention to millions. Though he is from Hong Kong, the
people of Shanghai adopted him as one of their own; during one personal appearance,
it was said that the crowds were so thick that not even water could
pass through. People climbed trees just to get a glimpse of "Hui Man-Keung" pass
by. The depth of suffering of Hui Man-Keung seemed to touch all who saw it then,
and the series is still remarkably fresh today. Obviously heavily influenced by
Mario Puzo's The Godfather (even with some music lifted from the film) it
has its own unique, and very Chinese, perspective on love, death and honor.
The English title of the series, The Bund, refers to part of the west bank
of the Huangpu River and famous as a center of finance and culture. Many beautiful
buildings were erected during the time in which the series was set and are a sign
of the flowering of one of China's foremost cities.
Gigi Chiu Nga-Chi, the Miss Hong Kong of 1973, began her television career in
1976 with Killer 1, which also starred Chow Yun-Fat. She has appeared
in other classic television series such as 1978's Heaven Sword and Dragon
Sabre with Adam Cheng and The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain with
Ray Lui Leung-Wai. Other than The Bund and Killer 1, she was in
one other series with Chow Yun-Fat, Radio Tycoon. She has also worked in
Taiwanese television and made five films.
Ray Lui has appeared in quite a number of films, one of the most famous of
which is To Be Number One; he also appeared in God of Gamblers III:
Back To Shanghai (one of the God of Gamblers films which did not star
Chow Yun-Fat) and in both Lord Of East China Sea films. He is still
active in Hong Kong films.
If at first the inclusion of music with some rather odd roots - from the
film score to The Godfather as mentioned above to the song Time by
Pink Floyd (yes, Pink Floyd) - seems a little strange, just keep watching and
you will see that somehow or another, it all fits, fits just as precisely as
a jigsaw puzzle. This series has that knack of being able to lift references,
themes and even famous trademarks from other sources and make them into a new
and completely satisfactory whole. Not plagarism and not homage, it's the work
of some really great television cooks making an incredibly rich and inviting
dish out of what others might have just served up as left-overs.
The television series was condensed into two feature films, which were shown in Asia and
in Chinatowns across the United States. The ad shown in the link above was for
Part 1 of this movie version, taken from a 1983 newspaper ad for a Shaw Brothers theatre in Washington, D.C.
This series has been released on VCD officially by TVB and not-so-officially by other companies.
For some INEXPLICABLE REASON, the official release has been slashed to fit onto 16 discs.
The Bund image gallery
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