She holds citizenship from China (Hong Kong) and Canada. Lau started her acting career in TVB, before going on to achieve success in films. She was especially notable in the 1980s for her girl-next-door type roles in films.
Lau was born in Suzhou, China, in 1965. She moved to Hong Kong at the age of fifteen, and joined TVB’s acting classes. She has been in a relationship with Tony Leung Chiu-wai since 1989. The couple married on 21 July 2008 at the Uma Paro resort in Bhutan.
Lau made her on-screen debut in The Duke of Mount Deer (1984). She skyrocketed to fame following her role as a wealthy heiress in one of Hong Kong’s most-watched ever series, Looking Back In Anger (1989).
Lau then expanded to films. She was nominated at the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress for her role in Her Beautiful Life Lies (1989). She received acclaim for her role in Days of Being Wild (1991), one of her many collaborations with film director Wong Kar-wai. Despite being embroiled in tabloid scandals, Lau’s impressive turn as vivacious cabaret dancer in the film put the focus back onto her talent. She continued to showcase her versatility with impressive performances in martial arts epic Saviour of the Soul (1991), biopic Center Stage (1991), cross-dressing comedy He’s a Woman, She’s a Man (1994) and offbeat romance Gigolo and Whore (1994). Following parts in the wuxia classic Ashes of Time (1994) and James Bond pastiche Forbidden City Cop (1997), Lau once again attracted the attention of various awards juries with her measured portrayals of bisexual silk factory owner Wan in Intimates (1997) and a prostitute in 19th Century epic Flowers of Shanghai (1998).
Her roles as Hon Sam’s wife in the two Infernal Affairs sequels and an android in Wong Kar-wai’s 2046 (2004) further increased Lau’s international recognition. Lau then stepped in the shoes of Sarah Jessica Parker for the Hong Kong version of Sex and the City, named Sex and the Beauties (2004). She won rave reviews for her performances as unhappily-married Rose in the low-budget thriller Curiosity Kills the Cat (2006) and as Wu Zetian in the blockbuster Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010). She received a Best Actress nomination at the Cannes Film Festival for her role as a rich housewife abandoned by her husband in Bends (2013).
Based on the tragic true story of China’s first prima donna of the silver screen, Ruan Lingyu, chronicling her rise to fame as a movie actress in Shanghai during the 1930s. *** International superstar Maggie Cheung (In the Mood for Love) embodies tragic screen siren Ruan Lingyu, known as the “Greta Garbo of China,” in this unconventional biopic by Hong Kong New Wave master Stanley Kwan (Rouge). Praised for her moving and emotive onscreen presence, … Read more
A power struggle between the Queen’s treasonous lover and a princess occurs amid musical numbers, slapstick battles, and martial arts acrobatics. The Legend of the Condor Heroes is a spoof of Louis Cha’s famous classic. The story opens with the Queen of the Golden Wheel Kingdom having an affair with her cousin West Poison, who are both plotting to take over the kingdom. The 3rd Princess uncovered their treachery, but West Poison defeated her. She … Read more
A woman blinds a martial arts master and his pupil vows revenge on her. She is forced to abandon her loved ones without explanation in order to protect them from her ill-intentioned pursuer.
Music producer Sam and his cross-dressing protege Wing have finally professed their love for another, but now what?
Wing is a devoted fan of popular singer Rose who is involved in a topsy-turvy relationship with her charismatic producer Sam. Willing to go to any length to meet Rose, the willowy Wing disguises herself as a man, and with a twist of fate is chosen to be the next budding star for the record company.
Yuen scorns his father, who he thinks is too generous and forgiving. Through a flashback/time travel gimmick, Yuen meets his parents during their joyous courtship. Yuen comes to understand and admire his dad, and reflect on his own moral defects. *** Yuen despises his father, believing him to be overly generous and forgiving. Yuen meets his parents during their happy courtship thanks to a flashback/time travel gimmick. Yuen begins to appreciate and admire his father, … Read more
Bear and Satay are two cops who got moved to the Cop Shop Babes brigade, where they can chat up policewomen. But bomb expert Fireball wants to revenge from the Cop Shop Babes chief (Carina Lau) and the girls.
A gambler is targeted for murder during the wedding of his daughter to his protege. Rainbow, Ken’s daughter, is marrying his pupil, Vincent, at a wedding ceremony in Macau. Vic and Mark, two of Ken’s closest friends, have been invited to the wedding. Mark receives a phone call from Michael Chen on the day of the wedding, warning him that a mysterious tycoon has hired soldiers to assassinate Ken. The wedding is soon ruined, and … Read more
Following his confrontation with the nefarious DOA organization, Ken (Chow Yun Fat) is looking forward to going back to enjoying his retirement. His rest is cut abruptly short when his protégé Vincent (Shawn Yue), who’s now working for Interpol, asks for Ken’s help in taking down the real mastermind behind DOA, Aoi. The two head to Thailand, where DOA’s former chief accountant Mark (Nick Cheung) has escaped with his daughter.
We have Carina Lau has Selina the lead actress who is a psychoanalyst, who hangs out with her friends (Athena Chu has an erotic story for woman, Yoyo Mung has a multi-restaurant owner who likes the dangerous side, and Pinky Cheung whose dad is a triad boss goes retirement and know how to fight). The story begins when Selina’s ex came to her and asks her to take care of her wild daughter (Cecilia Cheung … Read more
Based on a popular TV series. Pop Superstar Leon Lai is Billy Kay, a white-collar office worker with no future who has decided to break up with his equally floundering girlfriend. Now, six years have passed and Billy is a successful billionaire.
The prequel to Taylor Wong’s With or Without You finds Prince being raised as a trained assassin by his “father.” Meanwhile, he falls in love with Tweedy, a singer who teaches him how to love.
A 12-year-old boy from America experiences the clash of cultures and the generation gap when he visits his grandfather in Shanghai.
Warlords, warriors and statesmen wage a battle for supremacy in this fantasy tale based on the hit video games and the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.”
In 2055, a meteorite, which brings a fast-growing alien vine named “Pandora”, crashes down on a barren Earth ravaged by pollution and global warming. “Pandora” purifies the planet but kills everything in its path.To protect the citizens of their city, the heavily armored military of Hong Kong, armed with the plant’s genetic map, tries but fails to destroy “Pandora” and uncovers a conspiracy.
Dee, the detective serving Chinese empress Wu Zetian, is called upon to investigate a series of strange events in Loyang, including the appearance of mysterious warriors wearing Chiyou ghost masks, foxes that speak human language and the pillar sculptures in the palace coming alive.
One day, Heng saves a woman, Ms. Yip, from drowning in his school’s pool. When she turns out to be Heng’s new substitute teacher, the pair’s mutual loneliness draws them to each other.
Set in Imperial China, Stephen Chiau plays Ling Ling Fat, one of the elite Emperor’s guards in the Forbidden City. However unlike his colleagues he doesn’t know anything about Kung Fu or other martial-arts, but instead uses his time to make futuristic inventions. So when the emperor is kidnapped and the world most beautiful geisha comes to town Fat has to use his brain to get things done.
A Hong Kong bra company breaks tradition by hiring two men, Johnny and Wayne, to design an “ultimate bra” in 3 months…
The film is set in five parts, five seasons that are part of the Chinese almanac. The story takes place in the jianghu, the world of the martial arts. Ouyang Feng has lived in the western desert for some years. He left his home in White Camel Mountain when the woman he loved chose to marry his elder brother rather than him. Instead of seeking glory, he ends up as an agent. When people come … Read more
The movie is set in Hong Kong and the Philippines in 1960. Yuddy, or ‘York’ in English, is a playboy in Hong Kong and is well-known for stealing girls’ hearts and breaking them. His first victim is Li Zhen who suffered emotional and mental depression as a result of Yuddy’s wayward attitude. Li Zhen eventually seeks much-needed solace from a sympathetic policeman named Tide.
A cross-generational look at how denizens of China’s largest city deal with romance and commitment.
An exiled detective is recruited to solve a series of mysterious deaths that threaten to delay the inauguration of Empress Wu. When the mysterious deaths of a series of loyal subjects threaten to delay the 690 A.D. inauguration of Empress Wu, China’s only female leader, she calls the infamous Detective Dee (Lau) back from an exile into which she cast him eight years earlier. Dee accepts the challenge and partners with gung-ho Commander Bei and … Read more
Infernal Affairs III is a 2003 Hong Kong crime thriller film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. It is the third installment in the Infernal Affairs film series, and is both a sequel and a semi-prequel to the original film, as it intercuts events before and after the events in the original.
In this prequel to Mou gaan dou (2002), Chan Wing Yan has just become an undercover cop in the triads while Lau Kin Ming joins the police force. Both the triads and the police find an enemy in a rival crime boss.
A prequel to “Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame”
Shanghai, 2009. After four years of studying, a group of dance students are wished well by their teacher as they start rehearsals for their graduation performance. Meanwhile, 5 members of a 1936 Shanghai theatre troupe, lead by Master Liu, are transported into the present to broaden their horizons.
Set in China during the Warlords Period of the1920s, notorious bandit chief Zhang descends upon a remote provincial town posing as its new mayor, an identity that he had hijacked from Old Tang, himself a small-time imposter. Hell-bent on making a fast buck, Zhang soon meets his match in the tyrannical local gentry Huang as a deadly battle of wit and brutality ensues.
A young security man must prove himself worthy by defending the one object wanted by all the masters of the Martial Arts world – the Magic Lyre!
This story takes place in a city by the Yangzi River where skyscrapers stand around falling slums… In a luxurious apartment an enchanting story of modern China unfolds… As the Chinese economy blooms so does the gap between rich and poor… These events unite an unlikely cast of a lady of noble decency, her power- hungry husband, a manicure store owner, a security guard, and a countryside girl and series of mysterious events haunted them… … Read more
2046 is the sequel to Wong Kar-Wais’ successful box-office hit In The Mood For Love. A film about affairs, ending relationships, and a shared love for Kung-Fu novels as the main character, Chow, writes his own novel and reflects back on his favorite love Su.