Wong Kar-wai's favorite actor brings his melancholy and eternal elegance to films from increasingly diverse backgrounds.
After an initial foray into Hollywood (Shang-Chi(2021), Tony Leung Chiu-wai stars in a European art film: Silent Friend, by Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi. At the beginning of Silent FriendTony Leung is at the end of the table, in an old beer tubInvited by his new university colleagues to discover traditional German cuisine, Tony Leung, with his enormous pint of beer in hand, looks ill at ease. And indeed, his character—a Chinese professor of neurology invited to a prestigious German university—will not digest the fatty meat and potatoes served in his honor very well. Tony Leung is not cut out for... beer tubsOne imagines him more at the bar of a luxury hotel, sipping a neat whisky in a tuxedo. Tony Leung is class personified. Perhaps the most elegant man in the world, if we are to believe the aficionados of...In the Mood for LoveWith his tailored brown or midnight blue suits, or his long, flowing trench coat, he walks in the rain, looking solitary and melancholic. In this cult film by Wong Kar-wai, supposedly set in the 1960s, Tony Leung embodies a timeless elegance, a gentle and understated masculinity. It is this classic refinement, this discreet gentlemanly air, never flashy and profoundly timeless, that characterizes Tony Leung's style. More than an actor, he is an icon, almost an idea. Having Tony Leung in a film adds an extra touch of class to the work. Like a meal with a white tablecloth, or champagne served in crystal glasses. The discreet Chow Mo-wan ofIn the Mood for Love does not have much in common with the millennia-old warlord Xu Wenwu in the American blockbuster Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
This also has nothing to do with the seriousness of neuroscience. Silent FriendTony Leung is an actor capable of portraying a wide variety of roles. But they all share the same melancholic elegance. Chow Mo-wan is a wounded lover, Xu Wenwu experiences his immortality as a perpetual mourning, and the protagonist of Ildikó Enyedi's film contrasts his frustration as a scientist confined during Covid with the majestic calm of a great, ancient tree. These characters are all, in a way, Tony Leung himself.
He was born in the early 1960s in the British colony of Hong Kong as Leung Chiu-wai – the name he still uses in Chinese productions, and combined with his Anglo-Saxon first name "Tony" in Western films. He was a childhood friend of comedian Stephen Chow (now known for his comedy films, such as... Shaolin SoccerTony Leung began his acting career at the age of 20 on the advice of the latter. Before cinema, television opened its doors to him: he first hosted children's programs on TVB, Hong Kong's main channel, before playing a young man aspiring to become a policeman in Police Cadet, a series that will make him famous throughout the peninsula. It is there that he meets Maggie Cheung – another great actress who will often share the screen with him –, who was also a newcomer at the time.
Tony Leung was then spotted by major Chinese-language filmmakers. He acted for Hou Hsiao-hsien (The City of Sorrows), John Woo (Indestructible), but also and especially Wong Kar-wai. For the Chinese filmmaker with the ever-present dark glasses, he plays a memorable role as a poker player at the end of Our Wild Yearsbut, above all, plays a tired and melancholic policeman in Chungking Express – a role that obviously recalls that of Police CadetIt must be said that he wears the uniform well. This led to a significant collaboration with the filmmaker – four films – which also saw him playing a gay expat in Argentina. Happy Together that a great martial arts master in The Grandmaster.
Perfectly bilingual in Cantonese and English, he nevertheless hesitated to succumb to the allure of Hollywood, fearing it would harm his Hong Kong career. While he agreed to star in a Marvel production in 2019, his first Hollywood film, he hasn't launched a true American career, unlike his compatriots Jackie Chan or Jet Li. It must be said that Tony Leung primarily seeks to work with filmmakers who possess a distinctive style and a refined approach, mirroring the characters he creates. Whether in the United States, China, or Europe. With Silent Friend, a German film directed by a Hungarian, as profound as it is sophisticated, it has found an ideal setting.
