Mou Tun-fei

{{Infobox person

|name = Mou Tun-fei

|other_names = T. F. Mou
Mou Tun Fei
Tun Fei Mou
Chi Chiang He

|birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1941|5|3}}

|birth_place = Shandong, China

|death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2019|05|25|1941|5|3}}

|death_place = Philadelphia, USA

|occupation = Filmmaker

|years_active = 1966–1995

|known_for = Men Behind the Sun

}}

Mou Tun-fei ({{zh|t=牟敦芾|s=牟敦芾|p=Móu Dūnfèi|w=Mou² Tun¹-fei⁴}}) (May 3, 1941 - May 25, 2019) was a Chinese filmmaker known for directing the infamous 1988 horror film Men Behind the Sun.

Biography

Born on May 3, 1941, in Shandong, China, Mou's family left China for Taiwan in 1949 due to Chinese Civil War. Mou graduated from National School of Arts (now National Taiwan University of Arts) that could not even afford equipment for the students. Mou thus was forced to learn filmmaking by theory alone, mainly by watching films numerous times in theaters and identifying how many cuts the films contained. After graduation, Mou was assistant director on an anti-communist propaganda film called Give Back My Country and then directed numerous Taiwanese films in a style akin to the Italian neorealist movement. His first and second feature I don't dare to tell you (1969) and At the runway's edge (1970) were both banned by Taiwanese government, especially the latter film contained homosexual overtones.{{cite web|url=http://www.hkfilmdirectors.com/en/director/mou-tun-fei|title=Mou Tun Fei|website=The Ultimate Guide to Hong Kong Film Directors|accessdate=17 July 2018}}

In 1977, Mou settled in Hong Kong and joined the Shaw Brothers, his first film there being Gun, a segment in the fifth film of the Shaw’s exploitation true crime series The Criminals. While at the Shaw Brothers, he would dabble in crime (Bank Busters), romance (Melody of Love), horror (Haunted Tales) and kung-fu (A Deadly Secret). However, his most notable work for the Shaw Brothers would be Lost Souls (1980); telling the story of a group of illegal immigrants taken captive and sexually and physically abused by a gang of human traffickers, Lost Souls has often been called a brazen, vicious and outrageous exploitation film and a film that brings Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom to mind.

Mou then left the Shaw Brothers to become the first director from Taiwan to work in the mainland. While working on a children’s kung fu film called Young Heroes, Mou began to hear stories about war atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. One account, of how the Japanese military had performed every manner of horrific experiments on Chinese POWs and civilians while stationed at Unit 731 in Manchuria, particularly grabbed Mou. Thus, he decided to make a film about it. Originally, he wanted to make a documentary, but he then realized that the Japanese army had destroyed or classified most of the photographs and films so he set about making a staged recreation instead. The film that resulted, a collaboration between Hong Kong and the mainland, would be the horror film Men Behind the Sun. After co-directing the hardcore pornographic film Trilogy of Lust with Julie Lee Wa-Yuet, Mou set about making a fourth sequel to Men Behind the Sun, this time visiting the 1937 Nanjing Massacre (or Rape of Nanjing) called Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre which released in 1995.

Filmography

class="wikitable sortable"

! Year

! Chinese title

! English title

! Director

! Actor

! Producer

! Notes

1969

! scope=row|不敢跟你講

! scope=row|I Didn't Dare to Tell You

|{{yes}}

1970

! scope=row | 跑道終點

! scope=row |End of the Track

|{{yes}}

1977

! scope=row |香港奇案之五: 奸魔

! scope=row |The Criminals Part 5: The Teenager's Nightmare

|{{yes}}

|Credited as "Chi Chiang He"

1977

! scope=row |香港奇案之五: 奸魔

! scope=row |Dreams of Eroticism

|{{yes}}

|Uncredited
As part of the "Shaw's Scenario and Direction Group"

1977

! scope=row | 包剪搥

! scope=row |Melody of Love

|{{yes}}

1978

! scope=row |撈過界

! scope=row |Bank Busters

|{{yes}}

1980

! scope=row |碟仙

! scope=row|Haunted Tales

|{{yes}}

1980

! scope=row |大大小小一家春

! scope="row"|One Son Too Many

|{{yes}}

1980

! scope=row |打蛇

! scope=row |Lost Souls

|{{yes}}

|Credited as "T. F. Mous"

1980

! scope=row |連城訣

! scope=row|A Deadly Secret

|{{yes}}

1983

! scope=row |自古英雄出少年

! scope=row |Little Heroes

|{{yes}}

1988

! scope=row |黑太陽731

! scope=row|Men Behind the Sun

|{{yes}}

|Credited as "T. F. Mou"

1995

! scope=row |血戀''

! scope=row|Trilogy of Lust

|{{yes}}

|Pornographic film

1995

! scope=row |黑太陽─南京大屠殺

! scope=row|Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre

|{{yes}}

|Credited as "T. F. Mou"

References

External links

{{IMDb name|id=1004738| name=Mou Tun Fei}}
[http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/9901/offscreen_columns/ManBehind1.html Interview]
{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070821230635/http://kfccinema.com/column/exploitationcinema/exploitationcinema.html The Exploitation Cinema of T.F. Mou]}}

Category:1941 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:Anti-communist propagandists

Category:Chinese anti-communists

Category:Chinese propagandists

Category:Propaganda film directors

Category:Film directors from Shandong

Category:Taiwanese film directors

Category:Hong Kong film directors

Category:Chinese film directors

Category:National Taiwan University of Arts alumni

Category:Taiwanese people from Shandong

Category:Taiwanese anti-communists