The Faces of Wong Kar Wai: Mark Li Ping-bing and William Chang Suk-ping
by remi mourany
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Mark Li Ping-bing
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Born in Taiwan, Mark Li Ping-bing began his career in 1977 and has served as the cinematographer for over seventy films in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and internationally. Known for his use of natural light, film, and elegant camera movements, he has won more than twenty awards, including the Technical Grand Prize at Cannes for In the Mood for Love (2000). Since 1984, he has been the primary cinematographer for leading Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien, contributing to most of his films: The Assassin (2015 - Cannes: Best Director Award), The Flight of the Red Balloon (2007), Three Times (2005), Café Lumière (2003), Millennium Mambo (2001), Flowers of Shanghai (1998), Goodbye South, Goodbye (1996), The Puppetmaster (1993) for which he won the Golden Horse Award for Best Cinematography, Dust in the Wind (1986), and A Time to Live, A Time to Die (1985).
In Hong Kong, Li Ping-bing worked with Ann Hui on My American Grandson (1990), Summer Snow (1995) (Golden Horse Award for Best Cinematography), and Eighteen Springs (1997). He also lit The Vertical Ray of the Sun (2000), Norwegian Wood (2010) by Tran Anh Hung, and Air Doll (2009) by Hirokazu Kore-Eda. He received a César nomination for Renoir (2012) by Gilles Bourdos. At the Berlin Film Festival, he won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for Crosscurrent (2016) by Yang Chao. He was featured in the Taiwanese documentary Let the Wind Carry Me (2009) and published a photo collection titled A Poet of Light and Shadow (2009).
William Chang Suk-ping
ART DIRECTOR
William Chang, along with Christopher Doyle, is a key collaborator of Wong Kar-wai, having worked with him from the start of his career. He studied film in Canada before becoming the most sought-after art director and set decorator in Hong Kong. He created the stunning sets for Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983), The Lovers (1994), and The Blade (1995) by Tsui Hark. He also worked on The Homecoming (1984) and Red Dust (1990) by Yim Ho, and The Peach Blossom Land (1992) by Stan Lai. Besides being the art director for all of Wong Kar-wai's films up to The Grandmaster (2013), William Chang edited Chungking Express (1994) and Happy Together (1997) in collaboration with Wong Ming-lam.
In 1995, he produced and edited Out of the Blue, the debut feature by singer-DJ Jan Lamb. He designed the distinctive vintage qipaos worn by Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for Love, giving the character Su Li-zhen her unique charm and elegance.
