In the era when many celebrities shone in Hong Kong film industry, Benny Chan was someone staying out of the spotlight. People tend to talk about “a singer less famous than his songs”. In the case of Benny Chan, he was less famous than the films directed by him. Though Benny once said he would never receive the Hong Kong Film Awards, he deserved the excellent action film director because of the five nominations awarded to him for the Hong Kong Film Awards. 

 

Since his childhood, Benny Chan had been a die-hard fan of martial arts films, who liked Chang Cheh and Lau Kar Leung of Shaw Brothers, and Bruce Lee of Golden Harvest, the competitor of Shaw Brothers. Probably at that time, the violence aesthetics and romance of male bonding had started to sprout in his heart. 

 

Like many senior film directors in the New Wave period, Benny Chan also started his career in TV. Accidentally but luckily, Benny read a job-vacancy advertisement posted by Rediffusion Television in newspaper in 1980, with Nansun Shi known as “Wise Lady” as one of the interviewers. At that time, Nansun Shi just came to work as Administration Director in Rediffusion Television. Interviewees favored by Nansun Shi often have a bright future. So the inexperienced Benny Chan was employed by Rediffusion Television, who started to work on the next day as a script supervisor on set.   

 

Two years later, Rediffusion Television was acquired because of the investment failure of the parent company. Benny Chan followed the TV master director in favor of him to TVB, where he met Tian-lin Wang nicknamed as the God Father in Hong Kong film industry, and Johnnie To, the No. 1 follower and inheritor of Tian-lin Wang.  

 

Benny Chan worked as the Assistant Director of Johnnie To for nine months. And his first independent directing happened in Johnnie To’s TV play Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain, in charge of the final-episode scene. Though he was only 23 years old at that time, Benny Chan’s ability was quite recognized by Johnnie To. Otherwise, the critically strict Johnnie would not give such an important scene to the hands of Benny.   

 

In 1990, Benny Chan directed his first film A Moment of Romance, which started his destiny of “less famous than films directed by him”. When talking about A Moment of Romance, people would be reminded of Andy Lau wearing jeans, Jacklyn Wu in the white dress, and the Producer Johnnie To before they think of the Director Benny Chan.  

 

A Moment of Romance presents the distinctive atmosphere of romance, which is hidden in the rebellious fury of the lost young generation. Benny Chan was proficient in filming the car racing and explosion scenes. However, enveloped by these special effect scenes, he also had a gentle heart. 

 

This film also brought to Ng Man Tat the title of Best Supporting Actor in the Hong Kong Film Awards, establishing his position as the Golden Supporting Actor. Unfortunately, Ng Man Tat passed away in the year beginning. 

 

In the last year of the 20th century, Benny Chan directed a different police & gangster action film Gen-X Cops, which voiced his concerns about whether young generations could grow into responsible adults in the new millennium. 

 

 

The cast of this film included the most popular new actors at that time, e.g., Nicholas Tse who just received the title of the Best New Actor in Hong Kong Film Awards, the emerging CP Daniel Wu and Stephen Fung, and then lesser-known real actor Sam Lee. More than 20 years have passed. Today, they have become the most famous actors in Hong Kong film industry in the new millennium. 

 

The New Police Story made in 2004 is a major co-production in partnership with the Chinese mainland. In nearly ten years before this, Jackie Chan did not play a role in the Police Story film. It was also the first time for Jackie to bring his classic IP to the Chinese mainland. In the Gen-X Cops, Benny Chan had explored the villain charm of Daniel Wu, whose evil character was exaggerated by Benny in the New Police Story. This role also became a representative one in the career of Daniel. 

 

 

After that, they worked together to produce Rob-B-Hood, which was a nobody Kung Fu comedy, the type of film Jackie Chan had not played for long. In that film, Jackie played a role not completely positive. The cast included Jackie Chan, Louis Tin Lok Koo, Gao Yuanyuan, Charlene Choi and Hong Kong comedy king Michael Hui. The comedy films made by Hui brothers conquered Hong Kong box office for years. Rob-B-Hood was the first co-production played by Michael. Though his era had passed, Michael still had his role to play in the new age as a supporting actor. 

 

 

On August 23 last year, the Director Benny Chan passed away because of disease. His last film Raging Fire became a blockbuster in the summer holiday. Benny was also commemorated in the Beijing Film Panorama - Master Review in the 11th BJIFF. Let us find Benny Chan again in his films.