Chen Kun-hou

Chen Kun-hou( Trần Khôn hậu ) is a veteran cinematographer, who started his career in the 1960s. He won his first best cinematography award at Golden Horse Awards in 1978 forHe Never Gives Up( đại dương mênh mông trung một cái thuyền ), directed byLee Hsing( Lý hành ). In the early 1980s he began to direct his own films in collaboration withHou Hsiao-hsien( hầu hiếu hiền ). After series of urban comedies, he made quite a few representative films of theTaiwan New Cinema,such asGrowing Up( tiểu tất chuyện xưa; 1983), which won him the best director award at the Golden Horse Awards,His Matramony( kết hôn; 1985), which won him the second best cinematography award at Golden Horse Awards, andMy Favorite Season( nhất tưởng niệm mùa; 1985), andOsmanthus Alley( hoa quế hẻm; 1987). He is awarded for his life achievement in Taiwan cinema at the 60th Golden Horse Awards in 2023.

Career

Chen Kun-hou was born inTaichungin 1939. He was enrolled inCentral Motion Picture Corporation(CMPC; trung ương điện ảnh công ty ) in 1962 to learn cinematographer. His uncleLai Cheng-ying( lại thành anh ) was an established cinematographer there at CMPC already. He started as an apprentice and was promoted to cinematographer in 1971. His first film as a cinematographer isStory of Mother( mẫu thân 30 tuổi; 1973), in which his cinematography adds a tragic-realistic tone this highly accalimed film by Sung Cun-shou’s ( Tống tồn thọ ). He worked with Lee Hsing for many of his films in the late 1970s, includingHe Never Gives Up,Good Morning Taipei( sớm an Đài Bắc; 1979),The Story of A Small Town( tiểu thành chuyện xưa; 1979), andMy Native Land( nguyên hương người; 1980). He won his first best cinematography award at Golden Horse Awards for his cinematography inHe Never Gives Upin 1978.

Starting from 1979, Chen Kun-hou and Hou Hsiao-hsien teamed up to produce six films in the style of romantic urban comedy by taking turns to be the director, four of which directed by Chen areSpring in Autumn( êm trời đẹp cảnh thu; 1980),Lover on the Wave( ta đạp lãng mà đến; 1980),Longing( nhảy nhảy một chuỗi tâm; 1981),andSix Is Company( tiếu như thải điệp phi phi phi; 1982) and the other two directed by Hou areCute Girl( chính là lưu lưu nàng; 1980) andCheerful Wind( Phong nhi lẹp xẹp dẫm; 1982). These films copied the successful formula of Qiong Yao’s literary romantic films to cast popular stars, such asChin Han( Tần Hán ),Kenny Bee( chung trấn đào ),Joan Lin( lâm phượng kiều ),Feng Fei-fei( phượng phi phi ), and Shen Yan ( Thẩm nhạn ), to present light-hearted urban romance accompanied by namesake theme songs and other interlude songs. Two of the six films were arranged to premiere in theaters during the Chinese new year holidays,Cute GirlandCheerful Wind,both project the new year blessing of “May you be happy and prosperous” ( cung hỉ phát tài ) at the end of the film on the screen.

In 1982, Chen Kun-hou, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Hsu Shu-zhen ( hứa thục thật ), and Chang Hua-kun ( trương hoa khôn ) formed Evergreen Film Company ( vạn niên thanh ảnh nghiệp công ty ).The company’s first filmGrowing Up,a collaboration with CMPC and directed by Chen, was a big success at the box office (NT$6,309,066 in Taipei City),and it won the best feature film, best director, and best script at the Golden Horse Awards in 1983.The company also producedThe Boys from Fengkuei( phong quầy tới người; 1983), directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien with Chen as the cinematographer. The film was Hou’s important first film with artistic consciousness of film form but it was also the last film he and Chen collaborated on.

After Chen Kun-hou parted ways with Hou Hsiao-hsien, he was productive as a key director of the Taiwan New Cinema and made six films, mostly adaptations of literary works, from 1984 to 1988, includingOut of The Blue( tiểu ba ba không trung; 1984),His Matrimony,My Favorite Season,Drifters( lưu lạc thiếu niên lộ; 1986),Osmanthus Alley,My Mother's Teahouse( xuân thu trà thất; 1988).He won another best cinematography award at the Golden Horse Awards in 1985 forHis Matrimony.

Starting from 1989, Chen Kun-hou began to be involved in TV productions, especially documentaries, such asFeiyue Qingchun( bay qua thanh xuân; 1992) andThe Story of Confucius( Khổng Tử chuyện xưa; 1993). He later went to China and help Chow Ling-Gong ( chu lệnh mới vừa ) establish Fee Tang Stellar Movie-Making Base ( bay vút lên phim ảnh thành; now Mega Jincheng Movie-Making Base) at Beijing.He directed three more feature films from 2008 to 2012, two of them are made in China:Twin Daggers( song tiêu; 2008) andThe Triangle Land( tam giác mà / hạnh phúc tam giác mà; 2012) and one Taiwan production:Colorful Mind( tân lỗ băng hoa: Hài tử không trung; 2009), a remake ofThe Dull-Ice Flower( lỗ băng hoa; 1989),a popular film based on the namesake novel byChung Chao-cheng( chung triệu chính ).

Filmography

Director

Year	Chinese Title	English Title	Notes
1980	《 êm trời đẹp cảnh thu 》	Spring in Autumn
1980	《 ta đạp lãng mà đến 》	Lover on the Wave
1981	《 nhảy nhảy một chuỗi tâm 》	Longing
1982	《 tiếu như thải điệp phi phi phi 》	Six Is Company
1983	《 tiểu tất chuyện xưa 》	Growing Up
1984	《 tiểu ba ba không trung 》	Out of The Blue
1985	《 kết hôn 》	His Matrimony
1985	《 nhất tưởng niệm mùa 》	My Favorite Season
1986	《 lưu lạc thiếu niên lộ 》	Drifters
1987	《 hoa quế hẻm 》	Osmanthus Alley
1988	《 xuân thu trà thất 》	My Mother's Teahouse
1992	《 bay vọt thanh xuân 》		documentary
1993	《 Khổng Tử chuyện xưa 》	Confucious	documentary
2008	《 song tiêu 》	Twin Daggers
2009	《 tân lỗ băng hoa: Hài tử không trung 》	Colorful Mind
2012	《 tam giác mà 》/《 hạnh phúc tam giác mà 》	The Triangle Land

Cinematographer

Year	Chinese Title	English Title	Notes
1969	《 bạc cô 》	Silver Maid
1971	《 tinh trung báo quốc 》	The Decisive Battle
1973	《 mẫu thân 30 tuổi 》	Story of Mother
1975	《 thứ bảy hẹn hò 》	A Saturday Date
1977	《 yên nước lạnh 》	The Glory of The Sunset
1978	《 khói sóng giang thượng 》	Love On A Foggy River
1978	《 đại dương mênh mông trung một cái thuyền 》	He Never Gives Up
1978	《 toái tâm lan 》
1979	《 bi chi thu 》	A Sorrowful Wedding
1979	《 sớm an Đài Bắc 》	Good Morning, Taipei
1979	《 tiểu thành chuyện xưa 》	The Story of a Small Town
1979	《 cự tuyệt liên khảo tiểu tử 》	The Boy Who Refused to Take the Entrance Examination
1980	《 gió tây cố hương 》	The Blind Love
1980	《 êm trời đẹp cảnh thu 》	Spring in Autumn
1980	《 nguyên hương người 》	My Native Land
1980	《 ta đạp lãng mà đến 》	Lover on the Wave
1981	《 chính là lưu lưu nàng 》	Cute Girls
1981	《 hoan hỉ oan gia 》	Intimate But Quarrelsome
1981	《 nhảy nhảy một chuỗi tâm 》	Longing
1982	《 tiếu như thải điệp phi phi phi 》	Six Is Company
1982	《 ở kia bờ sông cỏ xanh thanh 》	Green Green Grass of Home
1982	《 Phong nhi lẹp xẹp dẫm 》	Cheerful Wind
1983	《 phong quầy tới người 》	The Boys From Fengkuei
1983	《 tiểu tất chuyện xưa 》	Growing Up
1983	《 nhi tử đại thú bông 》	The Sandwich Man
1984	《 tùng tùng kỳ nghỉ 》	A Summer at Grandpa’s
1984	《 tiểu ba ba không trung 》	Out of The Blue
1985	《 kết hôn 》	His Matrimony
1985	《 nhất tưởng niệm mùa 》	My Favorite Season
1988	《 xuân thu trà thất 》	My Mother's Teahouse
1988	《 eo biển hai bờ sông 》	People Between Two CHINA
1990	《 chúc phúc 》	Promising Miss Bowie
1992	《 bay vọt thanh xuân 》		documentary

Awards and honors

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result	Ref.
1978	15th Golden Horse Awards	Best Cinematography	He Never Gives Up	Won
1979	16th Golden Horse Awards	Best Cinematography	The Story of A Small Town	Nominated
1983	20th Golden Horse Awards	Best Director	Growing Up	Won
1984	21st Golden Horse Awards	Best Cinematography	The Boys From Fengkuei	Nominated
1985	22nd Golden Horse Awards	Best Cinematography	His Matrimony	Won
		Best Director		Nominated
2023	60th Golden Horse Awards	Lifetime Achievement		Won

External links

• Chen Kun-houatIMDb