Painted Faces
1988 Hong Kong film by Alex Law
title: "Painted Faces" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1980s-cantonese-language-films", "1988-hong-kong-films", "1988-drama-films", "1988-films", "best-feature-film-golden-horse-award-winners", "films-about-peking-opera", "films-based-on-actual-events", "films-directed-by-alex-law", "films-set-in-hong-kong", "films-set-in-the-1960s", "films-shot-in-hong-kong", "films-whose-director-won-the-best-director-golden-horse-award", "golden-harvest-films", "hong-kong-drama-films", "shaw-brothers-studio-films"] description: "1988 Hong Kong film by Alex Law" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_Faces" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary 1988 Hong Kong film by Alex Law ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Painted Faces |
| image | PaintedFaces1988.jpg |
| caption | US film poster |
| native_name | {{Infobox Chinese/Chinese |
| c | 七小福 |
| p | qī xiǎo fú |
| j | cat1 siu2 fuk1}} |
| director | Alex Law |
| producer | Leonard Ho |
| Mona Fong | |
| writer | Alex Law |
| Mabel Cheung | |
| starring | Sammo Hung |
| Lam Ching-ying | |
| Cheng Pei-pei | |
| music | Lowell Lo |
| cinematography | David Chung |
| editing | Kwong Chi-leung |
| Yu Tun | |
| studio | Golden Harvest |
| Shaw Brothers Studio | |
| distributor | Golden Harvest |
| Celestial Pictures | |
| Fortune Star Media Limited | |
| released | |
| runtime | 100 minutes |
| country | Hong Kong |
| language | Cantonese |
| gross | HK$14,730,964 |
| :: |
| name = Painted Faces | image = PaintedFaces1988.jpg | caption = US film poster | native_name = {{Infobox Chinese/Chinese|child=yes|hide=no|header=none | c = 七小福 | p = qī xiǎo fú|l=Seven Little Fortunes | j = cat1 siu2 fuk1}} | director = Alex Law | producer = Leonard Ho Mona Fong | writer = Alex Law Mabel Cheung | starring = Sammo Hung Lam Ching-ying Cheng Pei-pei | music = Lowell Lo | cinematography = David Chung | editing = Kwong Chi-leung Yu Tun | studio = Golden Harvest Shaw Brothers Studio | distributor = Golden Harvest Celestial Pictures Fortune Star Media Limited | released = | runtime = 100 minutes | country = Hong Kong | language = Cantonese | gross = HK$14,730,964 Painted Faces () 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. 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.
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
- Sammo Hung as Master Yu
- Lam Ching-ying as Wah
- Cheng Pei-pei as Ching
- John Shum as Stagehand (guest appearance)
- Wu Ma as Film Director (guest appearance)
- Mary Li as Cheng Lung's mother (guest appearance)
- Chung Kam-yuen as Teenage Samo
- Yeung Yam-yin as Child Samo
- Cheung Man-lung as Teenage Cheng Lung
- Siu Ming-fui as Child Cheng Long
- Joseph Koo as Child Yuen Biao
- Wong Kim-wai as Teenage Yuen Biao
Reception
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."
Accolades
::data[format=table]
| Awards and nominations | Ceremony | Category | Recipient | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8th Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Film | Painted Faces | ||
| Best Director | Alex Law | |||
| Best Actor | Sammo Hung | |||
| Best Screenplay | Alex Law, Mabel Cheung | |||
| Best Cinematography | David Chung | |||
| Best Film Editing | Kwong Chi-leung, Yu Tun | |||
| 25th Golden Horse Awards | Best Feature Film | Painted Faces | ||
| Best Director | Alex Law | |||
| Best Actor | Sammo Hung | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Lam Ching-ying | |||
| Best Original Screenplay | Alex Law, Mabel Cheung | |||
| Best Film Editing | Kwong Chi-leung, Yu Tun | |||
| Best Original Film Score | Lowell Lo | |||
| Best Sound Design | Shaw Brothers Recording Studio, | |||
| Golden Studios, Tsui Ping-kwong | ||||
| :: |
References
References
- (2002). "The Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity". [[Cambridge University Press]].
- Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- (6 August 1993). "Painted Faces". Austin Chronicle Corp..
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::