Christopher Doyle

Camera

Christopher Doyle

Born 1952-05-02 · Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Christopher Doyle is an Australian-Hong Kong cinematographer who often works on Chinese language films. He has won awards at the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival, as well as AFI Award for cinematography, the Golden Horse awards (four times), and Hong Kong Film Award (six times). Doyle is an affiliate of the Hong Kong Society of Cinematographers. Doyle was born in Sydney, Australia in 1952. He left his native country on a Norwegian merchant ship at the age of eighteen, after which he took on a number of odd jobs including as a Kibbutz-nick cowboy in Israel, homeopathic doctor in Thailand, and “green agriculturalist” in India work. In the late seventies, Doyle was “re-birthed” as Du Ke Feng, which means “like the wind.” Following his time as a language student in Taiwan and having found work as a photographer, he was hired as a cinematographer on Edward Yang’s That Day, on the Beach in 1983. Since his “birth in art,” Du Ke Feng has worked on over fifty Chinese-language films. He is best known for his collaborations with Wong Kar-Wai, including Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love and 2046 (the latter of which saw Doyle walking off set mid-way through production). He has collaborated with other Chinese filmmakers on projects including Temptress Moon, Hero, Happy Together, and Dumplings. As his "alter ego" Christopher Doyle he has made more than twenty in various other languages and film cultures, working as director of photography on Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho, Liberty Heights, Last Life in the Universe, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Paranoid Park, The Limits of Control. He also wrote, shot, and directed Warsaw Dark, Away with Words starring Asano Tadanobu, and Hong Kong Trilogy: Preschooled Preoccupied Preposterous, an experimental portrait of three generations of Hong Kong people.[5] He is currently filming The White Girl, another tribute to his adopted hometown of Hong Kong, with co-director Jenny Suen. On May 26, 2017 Doyle was honored during the 70th Cannes Festival with the “Pierre Angénieux ExcelLens in Cinematography” award, in tribute to his rich and influential career. The ceremony was co-hosted by filmmaker Olivier Assayas and actress Juliette Binoche, among others.

Acting credits

Paranoid Park poster
6.5

A teenage skateboarder becomes suspected of being connected with a security guard who suffered a brutal death in a skate park called "Paranoid Park".

Paranoid Park

2007

Comrades, Almost a Love Story poster
7.9

Jun arrives in Hong Kong from mainland China, hoping to be able to earn enough money to marry his girlfriend back home. He meets the streetwise Qiao and they become friends. As friendship turns into love, problems develop, and although they seem meant for each other they somehow keep missing out.

Comrades, Almost a Love Story

1996

Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks poster
6.8

The fantastic story of how an ancient martial art, Chinese kung fu, conquered the world through the hundreds of films that were produced in Hong Kong over the decades, transformed Western action cinema and inspired the birth of cultural movements such as blaxploitation, hip hop music, parkour and Wakaliwood cinema.

Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks

2019

Andromedia poster
4.9

After his daughter Mai is killed in an auto accident, a genius programmer recreates her in the form of a computer program called AI. His jealous brother-in-law, wanting to get his hands on the technology for profit, sends his client to steal it and Mai’s father is killed in the process. Learning of her capture, Mai’s old friends race to free AI from her captors so that she won’t fall into the corporate clutches that threaten to erase her soul.

Andromedia

1998

Grit & Polish: Heroines from Hong Kong poster
NR

Female characters in martial arts films from Hong Kong: the women who played them and the directors who wrote the scenarios and directed the films.

Grit & Polish: Heroines from Hong Kong

2001

1:99 Shorts poster
6.3

Shorts made by 11 directors in order to fight against the SARS epidemy that occurred in China and Hong Kong in 2003. The shorts were produced by the Information Service Departement of the Government of HK SAR. The aim was to bring back confidence to the HK popuation. The running-time is 1 to 2 minutes for each short.12 Short films: 1-"Rhapsody", director: Johnny To and Wai Ka-fai; 2-"My Sow Is Not Feeling Well", director: Fruit Chan; 3-"Smile", director: Teddy Chen; 4-"Of a Cause" (Animation) director: Tsui Hark; 5-"Hong Kong - A Winner", director: Stephen Chow; 6-"Who's Miss Hong Kong?", director: Joe Ma; 7-"Family of Heroes", director: Alex Law and Mabel Cheung; 8-"Until Then", director: Gordon Chan and Dante Lam; 9- "McDull 1:99" director: Brian Tse; 10-"Spring, 2003", director: Peter Chan; 11-"A Glorious Future", director: Andrew Lau and Alan Mak; 12-"Making of 1:99", director: Wong Shou-Ping.

1:99 Shorts

2003

Pinku Eiga: Inside the Pleasure Dome of Japanese Erotic Cinema poster
9.0

Documentary on one of the most famous branches of Japanese filmmaking, the erotic Pink film genre, known as Pinku Eiga, and the closely related Roman Porno cult films series produced by notorious Nikkatsu studios from 1971 to 1988.

Pinku Eiga: Inside the Pleasure Dome of Japanese Erotic Cinema

2011

McDull, the Alumni poster
5.7

In McDull, the Alumni, our protagonist has grown up. He is no longer the little boy who banters with his mates at school. How he wishes he could just go on bantering all day long with his mates at the renowned Flower on the Spring Field Kindergarten. But that is not to be. Like all grown-ups, he has to grapple with harsh reality. McDull and his mates are scattered all over the place. Each one of them has to find his or her own path. In each of their hearts, they know they have failed. Meanwhile, life goes on in the kindergarten. Someone strums a guitar and the pupils chime in to the song: Puff the magic dragon, lives by the sea… A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys. With hindsight, McDull believes this could well be the maxim of the Flower on the Spring Field Kindergarten alumni.

McDull, the Alumni

2006

Psycho Path poster
7.2

Documentary on the making of Gus Van Sant's "Psycho." Featured at the Berlin Film Festival, 2000.

Psycho Path

1999

In the Mood for Doyle poster
4.0

Christopher Doyle is one of the best known and most acclaimed directors of photography in world cinema. Born in Australia, he sees himself as an Asian citizen rather than a Westerner. His artistic contribution to the films of Wong Kar-wai, Zhang Jimou and Fruit Chan films, among others, is indisputable. Filmed in DV and Super8, this documentary is a kind of wild and stylized road movie -- from Bangkok to Hong Kong, via New York. The camera follows this eccentric and outrageous artist as he gives us his thoughts on his past and present work. From the recent sets of Invisible Waves by Thailand's Pen ek Ratanaruang, and M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the Water, to the locations in Hong Kong where he shot some of his most famous pictures, such as In The Mood for Love and Dumplings, Chris Doyle talks about his cinematic fascination for Asian culture.

In the Mood for Doyle

2007

逆旅與幻象 poster
NR

Early collaboration between Chang Chan-tang and Christopher Doyle documenting the friendship of their inner circle in Taiwan during the early 80s.

逆旅與幻象

1984

Carry On Yakuza poster
9.0

Charlie Chan is a boxer who goes to Japan to take on a local hotshot in the ring. A gang of yakuzas pressure him to take a dive, but Charlie beats his opponent senseless instead, resulting in a life-or-death chase in which Charlie and his coach try to escape from the angry gangsters. They are spared by the yakuza boss Yakoda, and their eagerness to impress him leads them to pretend that they are the leaders of an influential triad organization known as the Marlboro Gang. That gang doesn't really exist, and their ruse only leads them to further endangerment after Yakoda is murdered by one of his employees. Yakoda's widow sends their daughter (who speaks Cantonese) to Hong Kong so that she won't be next on the hit list, and Charlie -- still pretending to be a powerful triad gangster -- agrees to protect her. He and his friends must save the girl from assassination attempts and kidnapping along the way, as well as coming to the rescue of Yakoda's widow.

Carry On Yakuza

1989

Yesterday You, Yesterday Me poster
NR

Bo finally reaches college, but he apparently still has some growing up to do as his struggles with the opposite sex continues.

Yesterday You, Yesterday Me

1997

Family Day poster
8.5

Struggling to support a wife a son and his sick mother a kind-hearted man is forced to work the streets as a pickpocket.

Family Day

1990

Showtime poster
NR

Shanghai, 2009. After four years of studying, a group of dance students are wished well by their teacher as they start rehearsals for their graduation performance. Meanwhile, 5 members of a 1936 Shanghai theatre troupe, lead by Master Liu, are transported into the present to broaden their horizons.

Showtime

2010

家庭/電影 poster
NR

During his period working in Taiwan, Christopher Doyle made this experimental short film documenting the families of friends around him. This film received an Honorable Mention at the 4th Golden Harvest Awards (1981).

家庭/電影

1981

Wu Xia Pian - Le Festin du Tigre Chinois poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Wu Xia Pian - Le Festin du Tigre Chinois

2013

M on the Bund poster
NR

The last days of M on the Bund, the restaurant that reinvented fine-dining in Shanghai, and its maverick founder Michelle Garnaut. A remarkable three-decade journey in China’s global city, from the changing geo-politics of the new millennium, to the importance of food and community in challenging times.

M on the Bund

2024

Making Paranoid Park poster
NR

Behind the scenes documentary of Gus Van Sant's "Paranoid Park." Felix Andrew: director, cinematographer, editor. Dane La Chiusa: titles and original drawings. Joel Shelton, composer. Additional music: "Songs" by Ethan Rose, "Sangue de Bairro" by Chico Science e Nacao Zumbi. Made in 2006. Length: 27 minutes

Making Paranoid Park

2008

Behind the Blur poster
4.0

An insightful documentary about Thai cinema, which features a colourful and long running film history, yet struggles as the industry attempts to move forward. This film examines the past and focuses on the Thai New Wave since 1997 by combining film clips, and interviews from Thai directors and others artists, like Asian hip-hop sensation Thaitanium, who are trying to create a more personal style of art.

Behind the Blur

2009

I Love Mary poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

I Love Mary

1988

Reflections of Lady in the Water poster
3.5

Explores the nature of creativity and collaboration on the making of this very unique story in an earnest and unexpectedly touching manner.

Reflections of Lady in the Water

2006

No artwork available
NR

A TV movie and part of groundbreaking Taiwan TV series “Eleven Women”

Idle Dream

1981

The Land of the Brave poster
8.0

The "Lost Generation" is an obsolete term against the Land of the Brave, in which the younger generation awakens to the fact that their community and their nation are in need of their dedication for brighter prospects. Permeated with enchanting music and campus folk songs, the film will surely animate lofty sentiments of movie-goers.

The Land of the Brave

1981

Behind the camera

Paris Je T'aime poster
6.8

Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories, each exploring a different aspect of Parisian life. The colourful characters in this drama include a pair of mimes, a husband trying to choose between his wife and his lover, and a married man who turns to a prostitute for advice.

Paris Je T'aime

2006

Paris Je T'aime poster
6.8

Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories, each exploring a different aspect of Parisian life. The colourful characters in this drama include a pair of mimes, a husband trying to choose between his wife and his lover, and a married man who turns to a prostitute for advice.

Paris Je T'aime

2006

Away with Words poster
6.4

A Japanese man and a gay bar-owner in Hong Kong drink beer as they talk about their childhood and experiences.

Away with Words

1999

Away with Words poster
6.4

A Japanese man and a gay bar-owner in Hong Kong drink beer as they talk about their childhood and experiences.

Away with Words

1999

Journey through Images poster
NR

This landmark 1981–82 documentary series consists of weekly 25-minute episodes filmed across Taiwan using an ENG (Electronic News Gathering) camera. It documents local customs and social textures through a distinctly humanistic lens. The project also marks an early collaboration between Christopher Doyle and Chang Chao-Tang.

Journey through Images

1981

The White Girl poster
4.7

A noir fairytale revolving around three outsiders: a mysterious artist on the run from the real world, a street kid who dreams of getting rich and a girl who is allergic to the sun.

The White Girl

2017

The White Girl poster
4.7

A noir fairytale revolving around three outsiders: a mysterious artist on the run from the real world, a street kid who dreams of getting rich and a girl who is allergic to the sun.

The White Girl

2017

My Nostalgia, My Songs poster
NR

My Nostalgia, My Songs is a poetic documentary centered on Lin Hwai-min’s landmark dance work for Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. The music, curated by iconic photographer Chang Chao-tang, weaves Taiwanese folk melodies into reflections on urban migration and collective memory. Through the cinematography and editing of Christopher Doyle, the stage becomes a cinematic space, transforming performance into a sensory meditation on Taiwanese identity and cultural displacement in the 1980s.

My Nostalgia, My Songs

1991

Beautiful 2014 poster
NR

The 2014 edition of an annual short film compilation. Zhang Yuan directs "I love you boss," about the relationship between a wealthy man and his driver. Kang Je-kyu directs "Awaiting," about a South Korean woman striving to reconnect with her husband in Pyongyang. Christopher Doyle does "Education for All," a documentary about the next generation in Hong Kong and Shu Kei's the dream focuses on a bored housewife who fixates on an attractive stranger at the next table.

Beautiful 2014

2014

Love Only poster
NR

Assembling actors and actresses from Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China spread positivity through several stories about love and friendship.

Love Only

2018

家庭/電影 poster
NR

During his period working in Taiwan, Christopher Doyle made this experimental short film documenting the families of friends around him. This film received an Honorable Mention at the 4th Golden Harvest Awards (1981).

家庭/電影

1981

Beijing Bastards poster
6.5

A rock musician looks for his girl-friend who left while pregnant, trying to decide whether to keep the baby.

Beijing Bastards

1993

Typhoon Shelter poster
NR

A ensemble drama set against the backdrop of the typhoon shelters scattered throughout Hong Kong, depicting the day Hong Kong was handed back to China on July 1, 1997

Typhoon Shelter

1998

Warsaw Dark poster
3.5

Prominent cinematographer Christopher Doyle continues to hone his talents as a director with this thriller set in Eastern Europe and inspired by the as-yet-unsolved murder of a Polish politician in 2001. A young prostitute is spending the evening with a prominent Polish official when he's suddenly assassinated in Warsaw. In the aftermath of the hit, the triggerman takes the prostitute to an apartment and subjects her to a complex personality replacement program designed to wipe out any memories she may have retained about the evening's events.

Warsaw Dark

2008

No artwork available
7.0

"I feel like a piece of neon, I'm just a gas inside a tube." — 'Christopher Doyle: Filming in the Neon World' is part of NEONSIGNS.HK — an online exhibition on Hong Kong's neon signs.

Christopher Doyle: Filming in the Neon World

2014

Hong Kong Trilogy: Preschooled Preoccupied Preposterous poster
6.0

A story of Hong Kong told by three generations of real people: 'preschooled' children, 'preoccupied' young people, and 'preposterous' senior citizens.

Hong Kong Trilogy: Preschooled Preoccupied Preposterous

2015

Hong Kong Trilogy: Preschooled Preoccupied Preposterous poster
6.0

A story of Hong Kong told by three generations of real people: 'preschooled' children, 'preoccupied' young people, and 'preposterous' senior citizens.

Hong Kong Trilogy: Preschooled Preoccupied Preposterous

2015

Christine (Film of Her) poster
NR

A man tries to capture her by making a film. She travels through different countries and time zones, telling her life and thoughts. But the closer he tries to get to her, the further away he finds her, and he ends up with a film of his “Her” but not her.

Christine (Film of Her)

1980

Blue poster
NR

Short film accompaniment to photos of Rieko Miura.

Blue

2004

Blue poster
NR

Short film accompaniment to photos of Rieko Miura.

Blue

2004