About Director Ringo Lam
Ringo Lam directing the cast on the set of Prison on Fire II
About Director Ringo Lam
Just who is Ringo Lam?
For those who are unfamiliar with his films, Ringo Lam in my opinion is one
of the best directors to come out of Hong Kong, largely contributed to the
fact that he is one of the most original directors in Hong Kong. One who
doesn't imitated from the best but rather set the standard and trend for
future inspiring directors. Ringo recently brought his talents over to
Hollywood, following the footsteps of Hong Kong director John Woo to direct
the 1996 hit
Maximum Risk .
(starring Jean Claude-Van Damme)
Ringo Lam may be best known for his On Fire series which has earned
recognition for being some of the most realistic films ever made.
His 1987 crime drama City On Fire
not only helped actor Chow Yun-Fat
earned a Hong Kong academy award for best lead actor and also inspired
writer-director Quentin Tarantino to make a startling debut with
Reservoir Dogs in 1992. Prison On Fire is also one of the
best prison movies to come out of Hong Kong
Known mainly as an action-film director, Ringo's film offers some of the
most realistic action sequences ever filmed. His 1992 action film,
Full Contact introduce the bullet point-of-view (POV) style which
has since become one of Ringo's unique trademarks. Full Contact not
only stands out as an action film but it's impressive visual settings helped
make it one of the most stylized and cinematically self-conscious film.
Ringo Lam on comparsions to John Woo
"I myself would never compare myself to
John Woo
I find his stuff very different from mine. His stuff is more heroic and mine
is more realistic.Very different.
And my action stuff tends to look more realistic.If I remember properly,
my characters never do any flipping while they shoot! [Laughs] "
Ringo Lam on his fav leading man, Chow Yun Fat
"We joined the same actors' training class in 1973 and we have been friends
for so many years. He understands me very much and I understand him very
much.He's very easy-going guy and he knows that I'm some sort of evil or a
devil when I'm shooting on the set. And that's fine because he understands
why: What I'm looking for is making the right movie."
Ringo Lam on his unique style of film-making
"What I like to do is make up the story according to a formula and then break it
down again,try to mess it up out of control. You shift it around and the
audience will lose direction.
They will find their emotions out of control. They will become more involved.
I push the audience, that;'s the way I make stories."
Ringo Lam on the Tiannamen Square Massacre
"After all the bloodshed in Beijing, everybody is crying and showing so much
emotions in the media. Almost every fifteen minutes the television repeats the
same news.Everybody is so sad. OK, I feel sad too. But the thing lasted too long.
After two-three weeks, I said "Can we break for awhile? Let's have the Dragon
Boat Festival" All of sudden, everybody came after me. I said "I'm sorry" and I
went to Singapore and stayed there for a month. There were threats sent to my
company.After that,all my movies didn't get a good response"
About This Fansite
Finally, my second website is finally up and running, yet again dedicated to
another talented action film director, Ringo Lam.
I started working on this webpage about the same time as I first took
interest in Ringo Lam works but the idea never materialise until now.
The reason this webpage took so long to materialise is because there was never
enough information on Ringo Lam and his films on the internet, thus making it
difficult for me to get insides on his latest films and pictures.
However I have decided to continue work on it, regardless of the fact because
I have a deep respect for Ringo Lam and like what I did with my
John Woo fansite ,
I feel I should express it in some form.
click here to return