Li Han-Hsiang

Directing

Li Han-Hsiang

Born 1926-04-23 · 中国, 辽宁

Richard Li Han Hsiang (Chinese: 李翰祥; pinyin: Lǐ Hànxiáng; 7 March 1926 in Jinxi, Liaoning - 17 December 1996 in Beijing) was a Chinese film director. Li directed more than 70 films in his career beginning in the 1950s and lasting till the 1990s. His The Enchanting Shadow, The Magnificent Concubine, and Empress Wu Tse-Tien were entered into the Cannes Film Festival in 1960, 1962, and 1963 respectively. Li also won the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards for his work on the movie Xi Shi in 1965. Most of his movies in the 1970s and 1980s were Chinese historical dramas. He died in Beijing due to a heart attack. He was seventy.

Acting credits

Passing Flickers poster
6.8

The main characters - the arrogant, harassed director, the sexy starlet, or naïve actors are familiar enough stereotypes. Along the way however, there is some fun to be had as more humorous incidents occur on the sound stage, together with dashes of nudity. Some of the events are presumably inspired by real life experiences, others have a distinct air of wishful fabrication. The over-the-top Kung Fu star, deserted by director and crew as he goes through his pointless extended routine, for instance. Or the action heroes, sweating in furs while they dutifully munch through their meal scene, 'snow' falling outside in studio land.

Passing Flickers

1982

Sinful Confession poster
4.0

Arguably the funniest of the four famous Hui brothers, Michael has a tour-de-force vehicle in this naughty little comedy playing four different characters, each one in a compromising situation. And the laughs do come big and hearty as Hui bounces his cheeky humour off a terrific large supporting cast including the sophisticated Hu-chin and the lovely Pai Hsiao-man. Keeping the Benny Hill-style hi-jinks afloat is stalwart Shaw director Li han-hsiang who manages to switch flawlessly between these cheeky flings and his period epics.

Sinful Confession

1974

The Dog-Murderer poster
9.0

1952 HK crime film.

The Dog-Murderer

1957

The Orphan Girl poster
10.0

Loosely based on Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre.

The Orphan Girl

1956

A Moment of Bliss poster
NR

The film tells the story of a woman who grew up in China's warlord era and suffered from war and love failure.

A Moment of Bliss

1952

The Moon-Blanch'd Land poster
NR

An early Musical by the Hsin Hwa Motion Picture Company.

The Moon-Blanch'd Land

1952

No artwork available
NR

An early Drama by the Daai Wa (Da Hua) Film Company

Happy Encounter

1952

Behind the camera

Madame Bamboo poster
4.3

Sin Pal and Hei Sin Lam star in this erotically charged film about two women who are both driven into a life of prostitution but for very different reasons. The first story involves a husband who punishes his wife for cheating; in the other story, a teenager must escape a strange betrothal to an 8-year-old boy.

Madame Bamboo

1991

Madame Bamboo poster
4.3

Sin Pal and Hei Sin Lam star in this erotically charged film about two women who are both driven into a life of prostitution but for very different reasons. The first story involves a husband who punishes his wife for cheating; in the other story, a teenager must escape a strange betrothal to an 8-year-old boy.

Madame Bamboo

1991

The Golden Lotus poster
7.0

Golden Lotus is based, in part, on Jin Ping Mei, a famous erotic novel of ancient China. Li Han-Hsiang adapted part of the story into this film, which starts with Hsi Men Ching, a successful merchant, wooing Pan Chin Lien, the beautiful wife of one of the townspeople.

The Golden Lotus

1974

The Golden Lotus poster
7.0

Golden Lotus is based, in part, on Jin Ping Mei, a famous erotic novel of ancient China. Li Han-Hsiang adapted part of the story into this film, which starts with Hsi Men Ching, a successful merchant, wooing Pan Chin Lien, the beautiful wife of one of the townspeople.

The Golden Lotus

1974

The Amorous Lotus Pan poster
5.6

Helmed by the aesthetic Li Han-hsiang, The Amorous Lotus Pan features former Blue Jeans band member Shan Li-wen in a dual role as Wu Sung and Hsimen Ching. The reverse narrative tells the story of Wu Sung, who was pardoned from prison and seek the libidinous Pan Chin-lien (Huang Mei-tsing) to avenge his brother's death. The remorseful Pan recounted her pathetic life, which began when she was traded to the rich Changs as a maid. But she was raped by her master and flirted with Hsimen Ching and other gentleman callers

The Amorous Lotus Pan

1994

The Amorous Lotus Pan poster
5.6

Helmed by the aesthetic Li Han-hsiang, The Amorous Lotus Pan features former Blue Jeans band member Shan Li-wen in a dual role as Wu Sung and Hsimen Ching. The reverse narrative tells the story of Wu Sung, who was pardoned from prison and seek the libidinous Pan Chin-lien (Huang Mei-tsing) to avenge his brother's death. The remorseful Pan recounted her pathetic life, which began when she was traded to the rich Changs as a maid. But she was raped by her master and flirted with Hsimen Ching and other gentleman callers

The Amorous Lotus Pan

1994

The Golden Lotus: Love and Desire poster
6.6

A corrupt local official, Xi Men Qing, who lusts after women and money, pursues his brother's young wife, Lee Ping Er. Ping finds Men attractive, and under her drunken husband's nose, she and Men work their way through the illustrations of a pillow book, the "Golden Lotus." Men pursues the same feat with his fourth concubine, Pan Jing Lien, who lives in the compound next to Ping. Jing's jealousy compounds a tale of humiliation, childbirth, death, and depravity. Does karma or enlightenment await anyone?

The Golden Lotus: Love and Desire

1991

The Golden Lotus: Love and Desire poster
6.6

A corrupt local official, Xi Men Qing, who lusts after women and money, pursues his brother's young wife, Lee Ping Er. Ping finds Men attractive, and under her drunken husband's nose, she and Men work their way through the illustrations of a pillow book, the "Golden Lotus." Men pursues the same feat with his fourth concubine, Pan Jing Lien, who lives in the compound next to Ping. Jing's jealousy compounds a tale of humiliation, childbirth, death, and depravity. Does karma or enlightenment await anyone?

The Golden Lotus: Love and Desire

1991

Empress Wu poster
6.4

The renowned Li Li Hua plays Wu Ze Tian, the most famous woman in China's four thousand year history.

Empress Wu

1963

Empress Wu poster
6.4

The renowned Li Li Hua plays Wu Ze Tian, the most famous woman in China's four thousand year history.

Empress Wu

1963

The Ghost Story poster
8.1

An old man of the village tells kinky ghost stories to a few of it's inhabitants after all the kids have gone to bed. What follows are stories that have horror elements and some soft-core nudity thrown in.

The Ghost Story

1979

The Ghost Story poster
8.1

An old man of the village tells kinky ghost stories to a few of it's inhabitants after all the kids have gone to bed. What follows are stories that have horror elements and some soft-core nudity thrown in.

The Ghost Story

1979

The Warlord poster
6.4

No list of the screen's comic geniuses would be complete without Michael Hui Kwun-man. He created a hilarious and lovable comic persona that was both uniquely Asian but also universally beloved. This, his first film, not only showcased his incomparable sense of humor but revolutionized Hong Kong comedy. Evoking Chaplin, he plays a warlord in early 20th Century China, but makes the role his own with both laughs and some of the sexiest ladies on the Shaw Brothers lot.

The Warlord

1972

The Warlord poster
6.4

No list of the screen's comic geniuses would be complete without Michael Hui Kwun-man. He created a hilarious and lovable comic persona that was both uniquely Asian but also universally beloved. This, his first film, not only showcased his incomparable sense of humor but revolutionized Hong Kong comedy. Evoking Chaplin, he plays a warlord in early 20th Century China, but makes the role his own with both laughs and some of the sexiest ladies on the Shaw Brothers lot.

The Warlord

1972

Four Moods poster
6.8

Directed by some of most well known Chinese-language directors of the time, the portmanteau film Four Moods was an attempt to alleviate Li Han-hsiang’s financial troubles during the late 1960s. Arguably one of his best works, King Hu’s short Anger is an adaptation of the famous Peking opera San Cha Kou; set to opera instrumentation and stylishly shot, the film deftly captures the tense showdown between political schemers, avengers and vagabonds inside an inn. Li Han-hsiang’s Happiness, inspired by the Strange Tales of Liaozhai, tells a tale of reprieve for a kind-hearted ghost, while Pai Ching-Jui’s Joy and Lee Hsing’s Sadness both explore the fateful encounters between mortal men and ghostly women.

Four Moods

1970

Four Moods poster
6.8

Directed by some of most well known Chinese-language directors of the time, the portmanteau film Four Moods was an attempt to alleviate Li Han-hsiang’s financial troubles during the late 1960s. Arguably one of his best works, King Hu’s short Anger is an adaptation of the famous Peking opera San Cha Kou; set to opera instrumentation and stylishly shot, the film deftly captures the tense showdown between political schemers, avengers and vagabonds inside an inn. Li Han-hsiang’s Happiness, inspired by the Strange Tales of Liaozhai, tells a tale of reprieve for a kind-hearted ghost, while Pai Ching-Jui’s Joy and Lee Hsing’s Sadness both explore the fateful encounters between mortal men and ghostly women.

Four Moods

1970

Four Moods poster
6.8

Directed by some of most well known Chinese-language directors of the time, the portmanteau film Four Moods was an attempt to alleviate Li Han-hsiang’s financial troubles during the late 1960s. Arguably one of his best works, King Hu’s short Anger is an adaptation of the famous Peking opera San Cha Kou; set to opera instrumentation and stylishly shot, the film deftly captures the tense showdown between political schemers, avengers and vagabonds inside an inn. Li Han-hsiang’s Happiness, inspired by the Strange Tales of Liaozhai, tells a tale of reprieve for a kind-hearted ghost, while Pai Ching-Jui’s Joy and Lee Hsing’s Sadness both explore the fateful encounters between mortal men and ghostly women.

Four Moods

1970

Crazy Sex poster
4.4

Shaw Brothers superdirector Li Han-Hsiang was particularly masterful in two genres: erotica and classic Chinese tales. He combined these two loves in this two-part examination of lust. The first story features an elderly jeweler's adventures with his unsatisfied wife, a handsome neighbor, and the neighborhood bordello. The second is a more modern tale of sex, lies, and videotape.

Crazy Sex

1976

Crazy Sex poster
4.4

Shaw Brothers superdirector Li Han-Hsiang was particularly masterful in two genres: erotica and classic Chinese tales. He combined these two loves in this two-part examination of lust. The first story features an elderly jeweler's adventures with his unsatisfied wife, a handsome neighbor, and the neighborhood bordello. The second is a more modern tale of sex, lies, and videotape.

Crazy Sex

1976

Sensual Pleasures poster
4.8

Sensual Pleasures features a collection of three, ghost story, sexual vignettes starring a viscerally sensual trio of hardcore experience with the well endowed Chen Ping, Chinese adult film legend Shirley Yu and the innocent doe-eyed Shaw Yin-yin.

Sensual Pleasures

1978

Sensual Pleasures poster
4.8

Sensual Pleasures features a collection of three, ghost story, sexual vignettes starring a viscerally sensual trio of hardcore experience with the well endowed Chen Ping, Chinese adult film legend Shirley Yu and the innocent doe-eyed Shaw Yin-yin.

Sensual Pleasures

1978

Moods of Love poster
4.7

Two stories are included in this erotic/romantic anthology. In the first, a Sung-Dynasty (10th-13th century) Buddhist monk is tricked into sexual relations with an unscrupulous female adventurer. He dies soon after with his misdeed on his conscience. In the second, the daughter of a woman who died in a brothel discovers that her mother died an unnatural death and seeks revenge.

Moods of Love

1977

Moods of Love poster
4.7

Two stories are included in this erotic/romantic anthology. In the first, a Sung-Dynasty (10th-13th century) Buddhist monk is tricked into sexual relations with an unscrupulous female adventurer. He dies soon after with his misdeed on his conscience. In the second, the daughter of a woman who died in a brothel discovers that her mother died an unnatural death and seeks revenge.

Moods of Love

1977

Cheat to Cheat poster
7.0

Hong Kong comedy directed by Li Han-Hsiang.

Cheat to Cheat

1973