Tony Leung Chiu-wai
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Best Actor
As Director He, Hidden Blade
Jury Citation
Tony Leung Chiu-wai's performance in the film is steady, nuanced and relaxed. He renders with depth and force the complexity that multiple identities give the character, with richly layered emotional expression and an inner life that builds step by step. His accomplished work in both dramatic and action scenes draws the audience in, and marks a new breakthrough within his mature personal style.
Hidden Blade: Synopsis
In the 1940s, Shanghai is in its "Orphan Island" period. Rival forces are intricately entangled; their members go by surname only, and from different positions they shape the course of history. The No. 76 secret service, based in the foreign concession, is a sinister agency that takes orders from the Wang Jingwei puppet government and serves Japanese imperialism. Mr. He (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), director of No. 76, is a smooth talker who keeps up an appearance of calm as he moves between Watanabe (Hiroyuki Mori), head of the Japanese special service, and the opportunist Minister Tang (Da Peng), yet his smile seems to hide something deeper. Agents Mr. Wang (Wang Chuanjun) and Mr. Ye (Wang Yibo) are friends who serve political power, until a few Japanese corpses turn their fates. Unable to bear the pressure of revolution and the threat of death, Mr. Zhang (Huang Lei), a former member of the underground Party, suddenly defects, and his betrayal brings the intrigue to a head.