Jeffrey Lau

The man who invented profitable nonsense

Jeffrey Lau didn't break into movies to win over European critics. His entry into the Hong Kong film industry had more to do with spreadsheets than art direction. He was working at a marketing and finance company when he decided the real risk was behind the camera.

In 1987 he made his directing debut with The Haunted Cop Shop. That film mixed horror and comedy in such a raw way that audiences were left baffled. But the numbers added up.

And that was his great victory.

Unlike other directors of his generation, Lau understood that cinema was a volume business. In 1992 he founded Jet Tone Films with Wong Kar-wai. The idea was simple (and somewhat schizophrenic). While Wong got lost in endless shoots and existential reflections, Lau churned out commercial hits that kept the company afloat.

Because Lau knew that for art to exist, someone has to pay the electricity bills. So he specialized in mo lei tau, that brand of absurd humor that only makes sense in the context of the former British colony.

The refuge in parody

His relationship with Stephen Chow defined much of the humor we associate with the region today. In 1995 they shot A Chinese Odyssey, a reinterpretation of classical Chinese literature that nearly ruined his reputation. The film was an absolute flop in theaters during its original release.

Nobody could figure out the rhythm.

But time put things in their place through bootleg copies and television broadcasts. The film ended up earning millions in re-releases and became a massive cult favorite in mainland China. Lau wasn't seeking greatness, but he found it by parodying the most sacred myths of his culture.

In 1993 he directed The Eagle Shooting Heroes as an emergency response. Wong Kar-wai had fallen so far behind on shooting Ashes of Time that Lau had to use the same cast to shoot an outrageous comedy in record time. Filming barely lasted a few weeks and saved the studio's finances.

The weight of production

Lau always knew his place was in the boardroom too. In 2004 he served as executive producer on Kung Fu Hustle. His job was to channel the creative chaos of Stephen Chow so the project could be exported to other markets. The film achieved massive global distribution that few Asian titles have matched.

It was a purely logistical decision.

But Lau never fully left directing. In 2016 he returned to his most famous franchise with A Chinese Odyssey Part Three. Critics were not kind, but box office responded with more than 360 million yuan in its first week in China alone.

In 2018 he directed Kung Fu Monster with a budget focused on digital visual effects. The film was shot mainly at studios in Beijing and had a crew of more than two hundred people.