Hong Kong director and screenwriter Alex Law died on July 2 at the age of 69. Law was best known for his work in Echoes of the Rainbow, Painted Faces and An Autumn’s Tale.
According to the South China Morning Post, Law died on Sunday with his long-time partner Mabel Cheung by his side. Cheung is also a director and has worked on many projects with Law.
Law and Cheung created some of the most famous Hong Kong films, among them, The Migration Trilogy. Their movies were known for being realistic and romantic, tapping into the nostalgia of Hong Kong pre-1997.
Another breakthrough film for the pair was Illegal Immigrant, which was released in 1985. This was the first of the Migration Trilogy series, which highlighted the plight of the Chinese diaspora.
The film was written by Law and directed by Cheung and revolved around the story of illegal immigrants in New York’s Chinatown. This was followed by An Autumn’s Tale in 1987, a romantic drama set in New York with Chow Yun-Fat, Cherie Chung and Danny Chan.
The third film in the series was Eight Taels of Gold in 1989 which was about a man returning to China after spending years living abroad as an illegal immigrant.
Later on, Law directed Painted Faces, a biopic of Peking Opera legend Master Yu. He won the best director prize for the movie at the 25th Golden Horse Film Awards.
In 2010, Law directed and Cheung produced the very famous Echoes of the Rainbow, set in the 60s, the film revolved around a working-class family. That film won him a Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
Born in 1952, Alex Law Kai-yui studied at the University of Hong Kong, graduating in 1976 with a degree in Chinese and English studies and comparative literature. He went on to do his master’s in film at New York University, where he met Cheung. This was the beginning of what was to become a lasting relationship, both personally and professionally.
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