Nien-Jen Wu
Encyclopedia
Wu Nien-jen is a famous scriptwriter
, director
, and author from Taiwan. He is one of the most prolific and highly regarded scriptwriters in the country and a leading member of the New Taiwanese Cinema, although he also acted in a number of films. He starred in Edward Yang
's 2000 film Yi Yi.
and Edward Yang
. Wu has since wrote more than 70 screenplays that were made into films, and has become one of the leading artists of the Taiwanese Cinema
of the 1980s. Wu has also set the record for winning the most Golden Horse Awards to date (Taiwan's Film Awards), including a collaboration with the internationally acclaimed Hong Kong director Anne Hui on her film Song of Exile, a.k.a. Ketu Qiuhen (1990). His novels and screenplays have also made him one of Taiwan's best-selling authors.
Wu made his directorial debut in 1994 with A Borrowed Life (1994), aka Duo-Sang (1994). The award-winning movie commemorates Wu's Japanese-educated, hard-working coal-miner father. The film won the Grand Prize at The Torino Film Festival
in Italy, and Best Actor and The International Critics Award in The Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece. Martin Scorsese
also has cited Duo-Sang as one of his favorite films, and picked the film as one of the best films of the 1990s. In 1996, Wu wrote and directed his second film Buddha Bless America, a.k.a. Taiping Tianguo (1996), a political satire set in the 1960s. Besides directing and writing, Wu appears in film cameos from time to time. However, it was not until he acted in several beer and food product commercials that his true acting talent was discovered. He was cast as the lead ("NJ") in Edward Yang
's film, Yi Yi (2000), which was critically acclaimed and won several international awards (including Best Director for Yang at Cannes). Currently, Wu runs his own production company Wu's Productions and actively writes, directs, produces and performs in commercials and television programs. He is an artist of many versatile talents, being a published novelist, author, writer and well-respected Taiwanese filmmaker.
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, and author from Taiwan. He is one of the most prolific and highly regarded scriptwriters in the country and a leading member of the New Taiwanese Cinema, although he also acted in a number of films. He starred in Edward Yang
Edward Yang
Edward Yang , along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming Liang, was one of the leading filmmakers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese Cinema. He won the Best Director Award at Cannes for his 2000 film Yi Yi .-Biography:...
's 2000 film Yi Yi.
Biography
Wu was born into a coal miner's family. He started writing short stories for newspapers in 1975, when he was still an accounting major in college. After penning his first screenplay in 1978, Wu entered Central Motion Picture Corporation as a creative supervisor and worked with several leading Taiwanese New Wave directors such as Hou Hsiao-HsienHou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
and Edward Yang
Edward Yang
Edward Yang , along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming Liang, was one of the leading filmmakers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese Cinema. He won the Best Director Award at Cannes for his 2000 film Yi Yi .-Biography:...
. Wu has since wrote more than 70 screenplays that were made into films, and has become one of the leading artists of the Taiwanese Cinema
Cinema of Taiwan
The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of Mainland China and Cinema of Taiwan . Taiwanese cinema grew up outside of the Hong Kong mainstream and the censorship of the People's Republic of China.Taiwanese cinema is deeply rooted...
of the 1980s. Wu has also set the record for winning the most Golden Horse Awards to date (Taiwan's Film Awards), including a collaboration with the internationally acclaimed Hong Kong director Anne Hui on her film Song of Exile, a.k.a. Ketu Qiuhen (1990). His novels and screenplays have also made him one of Taiwan's best-selling authors.
Wu made his directorial debut in 1994 with A Borrowed Life (1994), aka Duo-Sang (1994). The award-winning movie commemorates Wu's Japanese-educated, hard-working coal-miner father. The film won the Grand Prize at The Torino Film Festival
Torino Film Festival
The Torino Film Festival is an international film festival held annually in Turin, Italy. Held every November, it is the second largest film festival in Italy, following the Venice Film Festival...
in Italy, and Best Actor and The International Critics Award in The Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece. Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
also has cited Duo-Sang as one of his favorite films, and picked the film as one of the best films of the 1990s. In 1996, Wu wrote and directed his second film Buddha Bless America, a.k.a. Taiping Tianguo (1996), a political satire set in the 1960s. Besides directing and writing, Wu appears in film cameos from time to time. However, it was not until he acted in several beer and food product commercials that his true acting talent was discovered. He was cast as the lead ("NJ") in Edward Yang
Edward Yang
Edward Yang , along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming Liang, was one of the leading filmmakers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese Cinema. He won the Best Director Award at Cannes for his 2000 film Yi Yi .-Biography:...
's film, Yi Yi (2000), which was critically acclaimed and won several international awards (including Best Director for Yang at Cannes). Currently, Wu runs his own production company Wu's Productions and actively writes, directs, produces and performs in commercials and television programs. He is an artist of many versatile talents, being a published novelist, author, writer and well-respected Taiwanese filmmaker.
Selected Screenplays
- The PuppetmasterThe Puppetmaster (film)The Puppetmaster is a 1993 Taiwanese film directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Based on the memoirs of Li Tian-lu, Taiwan’s most celebrated puppeteer, this story covers the years from Li’s birth in 1909 to the end of Japan’s fifty-year occupation of Taiwan in 1945.-Plot:It tells the story of Li Tian-lu...
(Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 1993) - Song of Exile (Dir. Anne Hui, 1990)
- My American Grandson (Dir. Anne Hui, 1990)
- A City of SadnessA City of SadnessA City of Sadness is a 1989 Taiwanese historical drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It tells the story of a family embroiled in the tragic "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s, during...
(Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 1989) - Dust in the WindDust in the Wind (film)Dust in the Wind ) is a 1986 critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful movie by Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien.This film is based on co-screenwriter Wu Nien-jen's own experiences, and the final part of Hou's coming-of-age trilogy, the others being A Summer at Grandpa's and The Time...
(Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 1986) - That Day on the Beach (Dir. Edward Yang, 1983)
- The Sandwich ManThe Sandwich Man (1983 film)The Sandwich Man is a 1983 Taiwanese film jointly directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wan Ren, and Tseng chuang-hsiang. The script by Wu Nianzhen is based on a story by Huang Chunming entitled "His Son's Big Doll" ....
(Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Tseng Chuang-Hsiang and Wan Ren, 1983)
Actor
- Yi Yi (Dir. Edward Yang, 2000)
- MahjongMahjong (1996 film)Mahjong is a 1996 Taiwanese Comedy film written and directed by Edward Yang. The film stars Chang Chen, Nick Erickson and Virginie Ledoyen.-Cast and roles:*Tang Congsheng as Red Fish*Chang Chen as Hong Kong*Lawrence Ko as Lun-lun...
(Dir. Edward Yang, 1996) - A City of SadnessA City of SadnessA City of Sadness is a 1989 Taiwanese historical drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It tells the story of a family embroiled in the tragic "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s, during...
(Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 1989) - Taipei StoryTaipei StoryTaipei Story is a 1985 film by Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang.The film stars Yang's fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien, and singer Tsai Chin, who Yang subsequently married.It is one of the earliest films of the New Taiwan Cinema.-Synopsis:...
(Dir. Edward Yang, 1985)
External links
- Nien-Jen Wu's official forum in Traditional Chinese, which has been established by one of Wu's TV colleagues.
- Nien-Jen Wu at IMDb