Liu Weiqiang [Andrew Lau]:

A Film-Maker’s Film-Maker

Liu Weiqiang 刘伟强 [Andrew Lau] makes movies — lots of them. He doesn’t talk much about them, is never credited as writing them, and (with one exception, Infernal Affairs 无间道, 2002) tends not to have books written about them. He’s neither an “auteur” (in the arty sense of the term) nor a director with an immediately recognisable signature. He just makes movies — well-crafted, visually appealing mainstream entertainment that more often works than not and invariably contains something of interest — a top-end journeyman film-maker whose name on a production is enough to merit watching it.

In his 40-odd years in the industry, Liu has worked on over 100 feature films – almost half (46) as director, around 70 as d.p. and around 40 in some kind of production role, as well as finding time to pop up in a handful of small roles. (One of these, the emperor in his own The Guillotines 血滴子, 2012, he took on, very creditably, when he couldn’t get the Mainland actor he wanted.) As a mainstream Hong Kong director, he can’t fail to be known for his punchy crime and action titles; but that’s not all Liu can do, and it’s not necessarily the best of him, either. Internationally, he’s most known for the Infernal Affairs trilogy (2002-03, see left) and Young and Dangerous 古惑仔 sextet (1996-98, see below left), though crime films actually make up less than half his output as a director. Among the rest are representatives of almost every genre, including fantasy/martial arts (The Storm Riders 风云    雄霸天下, 1998; A Man Called Hero 中华英雄, 1999; The Duel 决战    紫禁之巅, 2000), horror (Ghost Lantern 人皮灯笼, 1993; The Park 咒乐园, 2003), romance (Dance of a Dream 爱君如梦, 2001; Look for a Star 游龙戏凤, 2009), relationship dramas (Sausalito 一见钟情, 2000; A Beautiful Life 不再让你孤单, 2011), and even a Category III film (the above-average Raped by an Angel 香港奇案之强奸, 1993).

As he’s primarily a director/d.p. rather than a director-writer, Liu has a career that defies convenient classification or identifiable themes. But it’s one which has consistently expanded the borders of the territory’s film-making inbetween creating some of its biggest box-office franchises and individual hits. On a technical level, his neon/noirish look for the first Infernal Affairs (supervised in the lab by noted d.p. Christopher Doyle 杜可风) and his greeny-bluey look for City on Fire 龙虎风云 (1987, dir. Lin Lingdong 林岭东 [Ringo Lam]) were at least partly responsible for the films’ artistic success. He’s also ventured into 3-D on both horror movie The Park and costume action-drama The Guillotines.

From strictly local beginnings, Lau has ridden the changing fortunes of Chinese-language cinema during the past decade beyond Hong Kong’s borders. He’s made an English-language crime thriller, The Flock (2007), with Richard Gere and Claire Danes, as well as a second, Revenge of the Green Dragons (2014), set in New York with Martin Scorsese as executive producer. He’s shot in California (Sausalito, with Zhang Manyu 张曼玉 [Maggie Cheung] and Li Ming 黎明 [Leon Lai]), the Netherlands (Daisy 데이지, 2006, with South Korean stars) and Japan (Initial D 头文字D, 2005, with Taiwan actor-singer Zhou Jielun 周杰伦 [Jay Chou], see left). And in recent years he’s embraced the concept of a Greater China cinema, with Mainland-shot blockbusters (Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen 精武风云    陈真, 2010; The Guillotines; The Last Tycoon 大上海, 2012, on which he was officially billed as just producer/d.p.) and the Beijing-set romantic drama A Beautiful Life, a rare example of a Hong Kong director capturing the Mainland Zeitgeist.

[During the past decade he’s almost entirely worked on Mainland blockbusters, from The Founding of an Army 建军大业, 2017, through airline thriller The Captain 中国机长, 2019, to Covid drama Chinese Doctors 中国医生, 2021. Even his latest film, the Hong Kong-set The Dumpling Queen 水饺皇后, 2025, was shot in a Mainland studio and centred on a Mainland-born character. Liu is one of the few Hong Kong-born film-makers to be fully accepted in the Mainland, and was the subject of a special exhibition at Dongguan Cultural Centre, in Guangdong province, that ran for 10 days in Aug 2017. He himself opened it on 18 Aug, see left.]

Liu was born in Hong Kong on 4 Apr 1960, one of six children of a construction worker, and grew up in the New Territories. He became interested in photography, as well as learning guitar at Catholic church, and devoured a cinema that in the 1970s was breaking beyond Asia following the success of Li Xiaolong 李小龙 [Bruce Lee]. It was another Golden Age for the territory which, with China still closed off, profited by representing “Chinese culture” on the international stage through its action and martial-arts movies.

After secondary school, he joined Shaw Bros. studio, where he first worked on the camera crew of Legendary Weapons of China 十八般武艺 (1982, dir. Liu Jialiang 刘家良 [Lau Kar-leung]), and later, as a d.p., notched up two classic Lin Lingdong movies, City on Fire and Wild Search 伴我闯天涯 (1989), plus the first feature of Wang Jiawei 王家卫 [Wong Kar-wai], As Tears Go By 旺角卡门 (1988). (He was later to work with Wang again, shooting the first half of Chung King Express 重庆森林, 1994.) After work like this, as well as commercial fodder such as Where’s Officer Tuba霹雳大喇叭 (1986), Mr Vampire 2 僵尸家族 (1986) and Mr Vampire 3 灵幻先生 (1987), he finally made his directing debut, aged 30, with the action-crime drama Against All 朋黨 (1990), starring Zhang Jiahui 张家辉 [Nick Cheung] and Li Xiuxian 李修贤 [Danny Lee] (see left).

Liu grew to adulthood and first entered the industry when Hong Kong’s shoot-’em-fast-and-stack-’em-high approach to film-making was astonishing the West, then still hidebound by slow, traditional methods and a more literal approach to things like editing. Liu’s background in this period, and his practical, no-nonsense approach, can still be seen in his movies, as well as in others like Bodyguards and Assassins 十月围城 (2009, officially credited to Chen Desen 陈德森 [Teddy Chen]), on which Liu gets a “special thanks”. If your production was falling behind or in trouble, and you needed a fast, reliable pro to step in, Liu was your man.

That attitude has resulted in enduring relationships with like-minded multi-hyphenates like Wang Jing 王晶 [Wong Jing], Wen Jun 文隽 [Manfred Wong] and Chen Kexin 陈可辛 [Peter Chan], as well as with actors like Liu Dehua 刘德华 [Andy Lau] and actresses like Shu Qi 舒淇, with whom he’s so far made nine films each. Liu himself credits his decision to turn director as born of a need to have full control, after being frustrated when directors would okay shots he didn’t like. The most obvious downside — given his background as a d.p. rather than a writer — is that, if the script isn’t right, the finished product often won’t be right either. The original Infernal Affairs, unusually for a Hong Kong film, started production with a fully completed script, to which Liu brought a strong directorial and visual eye; however, the Young and Dangerous series flied more by the seat of its pants, relying on a verismo look, youthful energy and its comic-book origins.

Liu’s Achilles heel is most obvious in big productions like Legend of the Fist (which had four writers) and The Guillotines (six), but significantly is not evident in The Duel, Liu’s finest martial-arts movie (see left), which was written by Wang Jing and Wen Jun, nor in the final collaboration by the trio, the superbly tooled The Last Tycoon. (Though not the official director on Tycoon, Liu did stage at least one major sequence, the Shanghai street bombing.)

Liu’s technical facility has often concealed the fact that some of his best work has been in non-action dramas, providing natural arenas for his actors to shine: Zhang Manyi and Li Ming in Sausalito, rapidly shot in the US during a break in Zhang’s schedule on In the Mood for Love 花样年华 (2000); Dance of a Dream, with its large seasoned cast; and actress Shu Qi in Macau-set rom-com Look for a Star (alongside Liu Dehua) and Beijing-set A Beautiful Life. Since the success of Infernal Affairs, the past two decades have been up-and-down for Liu, but his best work during this period (Star, Life, Tycoon, Captain) shows that his busy career still has a way to run.

[As of mid-2025 he’s reportedly in production on a big-budget espionage thriller, Kashmir Princess 克什米尔公主号, based on the mysterious crash in Apr 1955 of the aforementioned aeroplane in the South China Sea while carrying a CPC delegation to attend the Bandung conference in Jakarta. It stars Chen Kun 陈坤, Wu Yanzu 吴彦祖 (Daniel Wu), Zhu Yawen 朱亚文, Ou Hao 欧豪 and Gao Yuanyuan 高圆圆. Picture above shows Bona Film Group boss Yu Dong 于冬 with Liu at the announcement, as part of a major slate, in mid-2023.]

Working with Liu

Wang Jing 王晶 [Wong Jing]

Liu first met Wang Jing, five years his senior, in 1981 when both were working for Shaw Bros. They first worked together as director and producer on the larky Category III shocker Raped by an Angel 香港奇案之强奸 (1993), which spawned a whole series) and collaborated regularly thereafter until the big-budget The Last Tycoon (2012), on which Liu was credited as producer/d.p. and Wang as director, and From Vegas to Macau III 赌城风云III (2016), on which they were credited as co-directors. In 1995, along with Wen Jun 文隽 [Manfred Wong], the pair set up production company BoB & Partners 最佳拍档 — “BoB”, standing for “Best of the Best”, is also the title of Liu’s 1996 SDU action drama — which produced almost 40 films during 1996-2003, starting with Young and Dangerous 2 古惑仔2之猛龙过江 (1996). (Picture above left shows Liu, Wen Jun and Wang, c. 2009.)

Wen Jun 文隽 [Manfred Wong]

Liu first met Wen Jun in 1995 after the latter, already an actor-producer-writer-director, had criticised Liu’s Mean Street Story 庙街故事 (1995) on his radio programme. Wang Jing 王晶 [Wong Jing] suggested they all meet up for tea to defuse the situation. The result was the formation of production company BoB & Partners, and Liu and Wen Jun working together on the Young and Dangerous 古惑仔 youth-triad movies, loosely based on a popular comic-book series. The first was originally seen as a one-off film, as it had no established stars, but it tapped into a new youth culture and rapidly became a hit by word-of-mouth, leading to rapidly shot sequels.

Mai Zhaohui 麦兆辉 [Alan Mak]

Liu first worked with Mai Zhaohui, five years his junior, after setting up Base Production in 2002 and making Infernal Affairs 无间道 (2002) its first project. Mai had previously worked as an assistant director and actor, as well as directing a couple of movies including crime drama A War Named Desire 爱与诚 (2000), co-written with Ma Weihao 马伟豪 [Joe Ma] and Zheng Sijie 郑思杰 [Clement Cheng]. On Infernal Affairs, co-written with Zhuang Wenqiang 庄文强 [Felix Chong] (whose romance Stolen Love 别恋, 2001, Mai had recently directed), Liu was senior director and used his connections to get an A-grade cast. Like Young and Dangerous 古惑仔之人在江湖 (1996), the film was never envisaged as part of a franchise, and tested everyone’s ingenuity to come up with sequels (especially Infernal Affairs III 无间道III    终极无间, 2003) after its huge success at a time when the Hong Kong industry was going through hard times. Liu and Mai went on to co-direct speed-racing drama Initial D 头文字D (2005), based on a comic-book series, and the less successful Confession of Pain 伤城 (2006).

(The above is an updated version of an article originally published on Film Business Asia, 18 Mar 2013, with new additions in square brackets.)

Liu Weiqiang: feature films as director

(* = also d.p.)

1990 Against All* 朋党

1991 The Ultimate Vampire* 僵尸至尊

1992 Rhythm of Destiny 伴我纵横

1993 Raped by an Angel 香港奇案之强奸

1993 Ghost Lantern 人皮灯笼

1994 To Live and Die in Tsimshatsui 新边缘人

1995 Lover of the Last Empress* 慈禧秘密生活

1995 Mean Street Story* 庙街故事

1995 Modern Romance 恋爱的天空

1996 Young and Dangerous* 古惑仔之人在江湖

1996 Young and Dangerous 2* 古惑仔2之猛龙过江

1996 Young and Dangerous 3* 古惑仔3之双手遮天

1996 Best of the Best* 飞虎雄心2之傲气比天高

1997 Young and Dangerous 4* 97古惑仔    战无不胜

1998 Young and Dangerous V* 98古惑仔    龙争虎斗

1998 Young and Dangerous: The Prequel* 新古惑仔之少年激斗篇

1998 The Storm Riders* 风云    雄霸天下

1999 A Man Called Hero* 中华英雄

1999 The Legend of Speed* 烈火战车2    极速传说

2000 The Duel 决战    紫禁之巅

2000 Sausalito* 一见钟情

2000 Born to Be King* 胜者为王

2001 Bullets of Love* 不死情谜

2001 The Avenging Fist 拳神 (co-dir. Yuan Kui 元奎 [Corey Yuen])

2001 Dance of a Dream* 爱君如梦

2002 The Wesley’s Mysterious File* 卫斯理蓝血人

2002 Women from Mars 当男人变成女人 (co-dir. Ye Weimin 叶伟民 [Raymond Yip])

2002 Infernal Affairs* 无间道 (co-dir. Mai Zhaohui 麦兆辉 [Alan Mak])

2003 Infernal Affairs II* 无间道II (co-dir. Mai Zhaohui 麦兆辉 [Alan Mak])

2003 The Park* 咒乐园

2003 Infernal Affairs III* 无间道III 终极无间 (co-dir. Mai Zhaohui 麦兆辉 {Alan Mak])

2005 Initial D* 头文字D (co-dir. Mai Zhaohui 麦兆辉 [Alan Mak])

2006 Daisy* 데이지

2006 Confession of Pain* 伤城 (co-dir. Mai Zhaohui 麦兆辉 [Alan Mak])

2007 The Flock

2009 Look for a Star* 游龙戏凤

2010 Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen* 精武风云    陈真

2011 A Beautiful Life* 不再让你孤单

2012 The Guillotines* 血滴子

2014 Revenge of the Green Dragons (co-dir. Andrew Loo)

2016 From Vegas to Macau III* 赌城风云III (co-dir. Wang Jing 王晶 [Wong Jing])

2017 The Founding of an Army* 建军大业

2018 Kung Fu Monster* 武林怪兽

2019 The Captain 中国机长

2021 Chinese Doctors* 中国医生

2025 The Dumpling Queen* 水饺皇后