Celebrity Biographies
Ringo lam
His unexpected disappearance, still active, and relatively young, since he was 63 years old, has shocked the stalwarts of Asian cinema. In the 1980s and 1990s he became one of the great representatives of the Hong Kong industry, influencing later filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, who considered him one of his masters, and like other illustrious compatriots he was signed by Hollywood.
Ringo Lam was found dead by his wife, at his home in the city of Ma On Shan , in the New Hong Kong Territories, on the morning of Saturday, December 29, 2018, according to Chinese media, which did not offer more information.
Born on December 8, 1955, when the demarcation was a British protectorate, Lin Lingdog (his real name) enrolled at the age of 18 in the TVP Actors Training Program, a prestigious institution. There he met Chow Yun-Fat , over time one of the most requested oriental performers, who over time would be under his baton. But after small roles in middling films, he discovered that he was more interested in directing than acting, so he went to study directing at York University, in Toronto (Canada).
Producer and actor Karl Maka recruits him at the last minute to direct Yam yeung choh , a fantastic drama, in 1983, after disagreements with the originally planned director, Leong Po-Chih. “I wasn’t very interested, but I needed to eat, and I agreed, but I think I did the best I could,” he recalled in an interview. After making good friends with Maka, he shot the comedies Jun zi hao qiu and Oi san yat ho for him again , and the good reception of these titles allowed him to move on to the genre that really interests him, action, with Never Die Twice . , fourth installment of the popular Zui jia pai dang saga .
It is followed by City on Fire , with the aforementioned Yun-Fat, as an undercover policeman in a gang of criminals, considered one of the keys to the international success of Hong Kong productions, along with A Better Tomorrow , by John Woo , also with the same actor. Tarantino has praised Lam’s film on several occasions, his source of inspiration for Reservoir Dogs .
He would no longer leave the cinema of shots and clubs, with films like Total Contact, Prison on Fire or Twin Dragons , where he put himself at the service of Jackie Chan, the top star of the place. Like Yun-Fat, Woo, and others, he agreed to move to the United States, where he debuted in Full Throttle , starring Jean-Claude Van Damme , who played a policeman investigating the death of his twin. Despite the fact that the script wasn’t much, the truth is that Lam drew attention due to his dynamic staging. He repeated with the Belgian karate fighter in Replicant , from 2001, and Salvaje , from 2003.
After that he decided to take a break of several years. “Above all, to observe people and learn more about them. She wanted to look for resources, material, and themes that were worth doing in the movies.” Like Woo, his films from the movie mecca did not have the expected impact, so he ended up returning to Hong Kong. After the United Kingdom returned him to China in 1997, the local film industry failed to maintain the international pull of yesteryear, so his latest works, Tiet sam gok, Mi cheng and Sky on Fire went unnoticed. He leaves unfinished a segment of Baat Bou Bun , a series of feature films reconstructing the history of Hong Kong from 1940 to the present.