Pang brothers
Danny Pang Phat Oxide Pang Chun | |||||||||||
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| Born | |||||||||||
| Years active | 1997–present | ||||||||||
| Spouse | Oxide: Angelica Lee | ||||||||||
| Awards | Asia-Pacific Film Festival Best Editing 2004 Infernal Affairs II Hong Kong Film Awards – Best Editing 1999 The Storm Riders 2003 Infernal Affairs | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
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Danny Pang Phat and Oxide Pang Chun, collectively known as the Pang brothers, are a filmmaking duo of screenwriters and film directors. The pair are twins, born in Hong Kong in 1965. Among their films is the hit Asian horror film The Eye, which has spawned two sequels, as well as a Hollywood version also titled The Eye and a Hindi film called Naina. Besides working in Hong Kong, the pair frequently work in the Thai film industry, where they made their directorial debut as a team, Bangkok Dangerous.
Early life
The Pang brothers grew up at Ka Wai Chuen in Hung Hom when they were young and studied at Kiangsu-Chekiang College (Shatin). The elder brother, Oxide, graduated from New Method College later.
Early career
Oxide, the older of the two by 15 minutes, started his career in Bangkok, at Kantana Group's film labs as a telecine colorist.[1] He made his first film, the experimental karmic thriller Who Is Running?, in 1997. It was Thailand's entry for Academy Award for the Best Foreign Film for the 71st Academy Awards in 1998.
Danny is well known as a film editor, and has worked on a number of Hong Kong films, including The Storm Riders and the Infernal Affairs series.
They first teamed up to write and direct the Thai film Bangkok Dangerous in 1999. The film won the FIPRESCI Award at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated for best film and best editing at the Thailand National Film Association Awards.
They then made The Eye, which gained the Pangs wider critical acclaim. They made two sequels, The Eye 2 and The Eye 10. An American remake of The Eye was produced by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner, and stars Jessica Alba.
Aside from The Eye and other horror films, the Pangs made two more edgy Thai crime films in the same vein as Bangkok Dangerous, Danny with 1+1=0 and Oxide with Som and Bank: Bangkok for Sale. Together the three crime films form a loose "Bangkok Trilogy".
Working style
When the Pangs work together, they direct scenes in the film independently of each other. Oxide Pang explains:
In a shooting location there is always only one Pang at a time; it helps us save our energy. One day I'll be shooting, the other, Danny will. I know a lot of people are amazed, but we do have a strong connection, I guess, as twins. And we have a lot of meetings on the script, we sit down in front of a storyboard and we have the same visuals conception.[2]
Other films
Their 2006 horror film, Re-cycle, was the closing film in the Un Certain Regard competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.[3] The film reunited the brothers with Angelica Lee, the star of The Eye.
Among their other projects are a Hollywood-backed, English-language film, a thriller called The Messengers, starring John Corbett, which was released in theatres on 2 February 2006, and a remake of Bangkok Dangerous starring Nicolas Cage.
Oxide produced a remake of Who Is Running? in 2005, called The Remaker, with Mona Nahm directing. He has completed a solo project, Diary, released in 2006. Another solo project for Oxide is The Detective, starring Aaron Kwok, about a detective trying to find a woman, with the only clue being a photograph of her.[4]
Danny also completed a solo project, Forest of Death, a thriller about an enchanted forest. Another solo project by Danny, In Love with the Dead, opened in Hong Kong cinemas on 29 November 2007.[5]
Both Diary and Forest of Death, as well as Re-cycle, were picked up for distribution in the United Kingdom by Image Entertainment.[6] Currently they are working on the Thailand horror flick The Child's Eye,[7] which is shot in 3D.[8] Danny Pang directed solo the Chinese thriller film Fairy Tale Killer.[9]
Personal lives
In February 2010, Oxide Pang married Angelica Lee, the award-winning actress from The Eye, after dating for 7 years. Their wedding was held at the Pangkor Laut Resort.[10] Oxide also has a 13-year-old daughter from his previous marriage.
Filmography
Danny and Oxide Pang
- Bangkok Dangerous (1999)
- The Eye (2002)
- Sung horn (Omen) (2003)
- The Eye 2 (2004)
- The Eye 10 (2005)
- Re-cycle (2006)
- The Messengers (2007)
- Bangkok Dangerous (remake, 2008)
- The Storm Warriors (2009)
- The Child's Eye (2010)
- Out of Inferno (2013)
Oxide Pang
As director
- Who Is Running? (1997)
- Bangkok Haunted (2001)
- One Take Only (Som and Bank: Bangkok for Sale) (2003)
- The Tesseract (2003)
- Ab-normal Beauty (2004)
- Diary (2006)
- The Detective (2007)
- Basic Love (2009)
- The Detective 2 (2011)
- Sleepwalker (2011)
- Conspirators (2013)
- Detective Gui (2015)[11]
- My War (2016)
- The Big Call (2017)[12]
- Crisis Route (TBD)
Danny Pang
As director
- 1+1=0 (Nothing to Lose) (2002)
- Leave Me Alone (2004)
- Forest of Death (2006)
- In Love with the Dead (2007)
- Fairy Tale Killer (2012)
- The Strange House (2015)[13]
As editor
- The Storm Riders (1998)
- Infernal Affairs (2002)
- Infernal Affairs II (2003)
- Infernal Affairs III (2003)
- The Park (2003)
- Sung horn (Omen) (2003)
- The Eye 2 (2004)
- Bar Paradise (2005)
- The Messengers (2007)
References
- ^ Ho, Karl. 9 August 2002. "Seeing dead people", Straits Times/Asia News Network via Nation Weekend, page 8 (print edition).
- ^ Jessop, Sonia Kolesnikov (July 13, 2006). "Pang brothers see eye-to-eye on horror", International Herald Tribune, retrieved July 14, 2006.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Re-cycle". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
- ^ Oxide Pang's The Photo becomes The Detective becomes C+ Detective, gets trailer Archived 5 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Twitchfilm.net, retrieved on 18 September 2007
- ^ Danny Pang's ‘In Love with the Dead’ opens November Archived 30 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Twitchfilm.net; retrieved 29 October 2007
- ^ Business Wire (14 June 2006). "Image Entertainment (UK) Helps Secure Distribution Deal to 'Re-Cycle,' 'Diary' and 'Forest of Death'", via Yahoo!, 14 July 2006.
- ^ "Teaser poster for the Pang bros horror THE CHILDS EYE 3D". Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- ^ "Pang bros horror THE CHILDS EYE 3D opening in June?". Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- ^ Danny Pang Tells Twisted, Bloody 'Fairy Tale Killer'
- ^ The Star Online (8 February 2010). "Angelica is teary-eyed on big day" Archived 10 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine, via The Star Online, 8 February 2010.
- ^ "宅女侦探桂香 (2015)". movie.douban.com (in Chinese). douban.com. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ Shackleton, Liz (1 November 2017). "AFM 2017: The buzz titles from Hong Kong and China". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
- ^ "通灵之六世古宅 (2015)". movie.douban.com (in Chinese). douban.com. Retrieved 1 June 2015.