Wang Toon

Wang TongorWang Toon(born Wáng Zhōnghé, April 14, 1942) is a Taiwanese director who started his career as anart directorandproduction designerand later became a film director and educator.

He started working in theCentral Motion Picture Corporation( trung ảnh cổ phần công ty hữu hạn ) in the department for art and costume design in 1966. He won the13th Golden Horse Awardfor best art direction in 1976 forForever My Love,directed by Pai Chingjui ( bạch cảnh thụy ).

He demonstrated his talent as a film director with his first feature,If I Were for Real( nếu ta là thật sự ), which won him four awards, including Best Narrative Film, Best Leading Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay in the 18th Golden Horse Award in 1981.

Between 1981 and 2015 he directed 13 feature films, 2 animation feature films, and 1 documentary.His achievement and contribution to Taiwan cinema for almost 60 years was recognized by the 56th Golden Horse Lifetime Achievement Award presented to him in 2019.

Wang Tong was also devoted to education. He took a teaching position in the Department of Filmmaking at theTaipei National University of the Artsin 2007 and served as the Chair from 2010 to 2013 and 2017 to 2019. He retired from the university in 2019 and was awarded the Art Education Contribution Award ( nghệ thuật giáo dục cống hiến thưởng ) by theMinistry of Education( giáo dục bộ ) in 2022.

Life and career

Wang Tong was born in Anhui, China in 1942 and moved to Taiwan with his family in 1949 because of theChinese Civil War.He studied at theNational Taiwan College of Arts( quốc lập nghệ thuật trường dạy nghề ) from 1962 to 1965, under the guidance of teachers such as Long Sihliang ( long tư lương ), Gao Yifeng ( cao một phong ) and Wu Yaozong ( Ngô diệu tông ). When he was young, Wang was nourished by inspiring journals, such as Juchang ( kịch trường; Theatre Magazine) and Wenxue jikan ( văn học tập san quý; Literature Magazine), and his association with contemporary poets and painters, includingChen Yingzhen( trần ánh thật ) and Wei Tiancong ( úy thiên thông ), andHuang Chunming( hoàng xuân minh ) at Cafe Astoria ( minh tinh quán cà phê ). It was there that Wang Tong read the manuscript of the novel Days of Watching the Sea ( xem hải nhật tử ) by Huang Chunming, which he later adapted into a popular feature filmA Flower in The Raining Night( xem hải nhật tử ).

Wang Tong got a chance to join the production team ofSongfest( sơn ca nhân duyên ) as art assistant when Director Yuan Qiufeng ( Viên thu phong ) came to Taiwan to his this feature film in 1963. Realizing that he was good at art design and his work could bring him higher income than his classmates who worked as art teacher, Wang decided to join the film industry for his career.

Wang entered Central Motion Picture Corporation in 1966 and was placed under Johnson Tsao Chuang-Sheng ( tào Trang Sinh ), from whom he learned to improve his aesthetic skills and the details about film production, such as architecture, space, makeup, costumes, and color. He had worked for many major directors at that time, includingLee Hsing( Lý hành ), Ting Shanhsi ( đinh thiện tỉ ), Pai Chingjui,Sung Tsunshou( Tống tồn thọ ) and Richard Chen Yaochi ( trần diệu kỳ ) as the art director of their films. An avid learner, he also grabbed whatever opportunities he could have to learn from other directors he admired, such asLi Hanhsiang( Lý hàn tường ) and King Hu ( hồ kim thuyên ) to polish his production skills.

Wang Tong made his debut feature film,If I Were for Realin 1981 while continuing to work as an art director for his own films and for other directors. In 1983, he directedA Flower in the Rainy Night,which was adapted from Huang Chunming's novel,Days of Watching the Sea.The film was a box office success and won two 18th Golden Horse awards: Lu Hsiaofen ( lục tiểu phân ), who was known for her roles as sexy revenging woman, for the Best Leading Actress and Ying Ying ( anh anh ) for best supporting actress.

Wang’s next filmRun Away( giục ngựa nhập lâm; 1984) is praised for its realistic style, which makes it very different from previous martial art films in the 1960s and 1970s. HisSpring Daddy( mùa xuân lão ba; 1985) is a film about a family composed of mainland veteran father and Taiwanese mother, a social phenomenon depicted in many films of the 1980s.

Wang subsequently made three films about Taiwan’s history from the colonial time of the 1920s to the civil war between the nationalist and communist parties in the mid 20th century:Straw Man( người bù nhìn; 1987),Banana Paradise( chuối thiên đường; 1989), andHill of No Return( không nói gì đồi núi; 1992). These films, all realistic depictions of the life experiences of local Taiwanese and mainland immigrants, are also known as Wang’s Taiwan trilogy.Red Persimmon( hồng quả hồng; 1995) is an autobiographical film based on his childhood memories. Wang’s 12th featureA Way We Go( tự do môn thần; 2002) is a contemporary dark comedy about three socially marginalized young men finding no way to go in globalized urban Taipei. After 13 years, Wang’s last filmWhere the Wind Settles( trong gió gia tộc; 2015) picks up the same topic of Chinese Civil War to tell the story of a group of mainland refugees forming a new family in Taipei after 1949.

Wang Tong was actively involved in the production of animation films. In 2002, he joined Wang Film Productions Co. Ltd. ( hoành quảng cổ phần công ty hữu hạn ), founded by his elder brother Wang Zhong-yuan ( vương trung nguyên ). He madeThe Fire Ball,( Hồng Hài Nhi: Quyết chiến Hỏa Diệm Sơn; 2005), an adaptation of Chinese novelJourney to the West.The film won the Best Animated Feature in the 42nd Golden Horse Award and the Best Animated Feature in the 50th Asia Pacific Film Festival. The other filmA Story about Grandpa Lin Wangunfortunately failed to come to fruition.

Wang was promoted to be the director of Central Motion Picture Corporation Studio ( trung ảnh sản xuất xưởng ) in 1997. Under his helm the company established the first and exclusive high-tech post-production studio in Taiwan's film industry, with synchronous recording cameras, lighting equipment, and computer editing capacity. Wang also established Taiwan's first dolby recording studio, Central Motion Pictures Corporation Dolby Recording ( trung ảnh đỗ so phòng ghi âm ). At the same time, he also worked as the chairman of theTaipei Film Festivalfrom 1997 to 2002. Turning to 2003, when he served as the CEO of the executive committee of the Golden Horse Awards ( Đài Bắc kim mã triển lãm ảnh chấp hành ủy ban ), he has established the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion ( kim mã sang đầu ) which brings regional and international industry professionals to Taiwan with the purpose of developing international joint ventures and cross-productions.

Wang Tong was also devoted to education. He took a teaching position in the Department of Filmmaking at the Taipei National University of the Arts in 2007 and served as the Chair from 2010 to 2013 and 2017 to 2019. He retired from the university in 2019 and was awarded the Art Education Contribution Award ( nghệ thuật giáo dục cống hiến thưởng ) by the Ministry of Education ( giáo dục bộ ) in 2022.

Filmography

Source

Feature film

Year	Chinese title	English title
1981	Nếu ta là thật sự	If I Were for Real
1981	Cửa sổ ánh trăng không chuẩn xem	Don't Look at The Moon Through The Window
1982	Phần trăm mãn điểm	One Hundred Point
1982	Khổ luyến	Portrait of A Fanatic
1983	Xem hải nhật tử	A Flower in The Raining Night
1984	Giục ngựa nhập lâm	Run Away
1985	Mùa xuân lão ba	Spring Daddy
1987	Người bù nhìn	Straw Man
1989	Chuối thiên đường	Banana Paradise
1992	Không nói gì đồi núi	Hill of No Return
1995	Hồng quả hồng	Red Persimmon
2002	Tự do môn thần	A Way We Go
2015	Trong gió gia tộc	Where the Wind Settles

Documentary

Year	Chinese title	English title
2007	Tính trẻ con bảo bối	Tongxin Baobei

Animated feature film

Year	Chinese title	English title
2005	Hồng Hài Nhi: Quyết chiến Hỏa Diệm Sơn	The Fire Ball

Screen play

Year	Chinese title	English title
1995	Hồng quả hồng	Red Persimmon

Art director

Year	Chinese title	English title	Notes
1976	Lá phong tình	Forever My Love
1976	Truy cầu theo đuổi	The Chasing Game
1976	Thúy hồ hàn	The Spring Lake
1977	Yên nước lạnh	The Glory of The Sunset
1977	Mỉm cười	The Smiling Face	Corporate with Chi-Ping Chang
1977	Ái tặc thuyền	A Pirate of Love
1978	Khói sóng giang thượng	Love On A Foggy River
1978	Nam hài cùng nữ hài chiến tranh	The War of the Sexes
1979	Hôm qua vũ rả rích	The Misty Rain of Yesterday's
1979	Sư muội xuất quan	The Woman Avenger
1979	Kết hôn tam cấp nhảy	Jiehun Sanjitiao
1979	Bi chi thu	A Sorrowful Wedding
1979	Lao tới	Chongci
1979	Tuý Quyền nữ điêu tay	No One Can Touch Her
1979	Vong ưu thảo	A Girl Without Sorrow
1980	Một cây que diêm	Yigen Huochai
1980	Một đôi ngốc điểu	Poor Chasers
1980	Mười chín tân nương bảy tuổi lang	Shijiu Xinniang Qisuilang
1980	Nhạn Nhi về	Flying Home
1980	Ta đạp lãng mà đến	Lover On The Wave
1980	Tình yêu tránh né cầu	Twin Troubles
1981	Giận phạm thiên điều	Offend the Law of God
1981	Nếu ta là thật sự	If I Were for Real
1981	Cửa sổ ánh trăng không chuẩn xem	Don't Look at The Moon Through The Window
1983	Xem hải nhật tử	A Flower in The Raining Night
1983	Thiên hạ đệ nhất	All The King's Men
1984	Giục ngựa nhập lâm	Run Away	Corporate with Chin-Tien Ku and Shung-Man Lam
1989	Chuối thiên đường	Banana Paradise	Corporate with Chin-Tien Ku and Bo-Lam Lee
1991	Mật Tông uy long	The Tantana
1993	Dị vực 2 một mình	End of The Road

Producer

Year	Chinese title	English title
1995	Cá cảnh nhiệt đới	Tropical Fish
2002	Màu lam đại môn	Blue Gate Crossing

Awards and honors

Source

Year	Name	Award	Category	Outcome
1976	Forever My Love	13rd Golden Horse Award	Best art direction	Won
1978	The Glory of the Sunset	15th Golden Horse Award	Best art direction	Nominated
1981	If I Were for Real	18th Golden Horse Award	Best art direction	Nominated
1983	All the King's Men	20th Golden Horse Award	Best costume design	Won
			Best art direction	Nominated
1985	Run Away	22nd Golden Horse Award	Best makeup & costume design	Won
			Best art direction	Won
1987	Strawman	24th Golden Horse Award	Best director	Won
1989	Banana Paradise	26th Golden Horse Award	Best makeup & costume design	Nominated
1992	Hill of No Return	29th Golden Horse Award	Best director	Won
1996	Red Persimmon	33rd Golden Horse Award	Best director	Nominated
2007		11st National Award for Arts		Won
2019		56th Golden Horse Award	Lifetime achievement award	Won
2023		9th Art Education Contribution Award		Won