The Bund 《上海灘》

[Ghaleon]

THE BUND II and THE BUND III were shot using the same techniques as the original, so the overall flavor is the same. However, it seems less refined in II and III. In I, TVB was extremely careful to not only establish the elements, but to also make sure they were well-coordinated for specific artistic effects. In II and III, the elements are all still there, but the coordination is not quite as intense or on-target. That's not to say they were sloppy, but some of the magic was missing.

Yes I do like the artistic direction of Bund I, feels like a classic. Well one more DVD left, 8 more episodes to go HMK is in revenge mode now. Let's see how the last third of Bund I plays out. I actually kind of miss HMK's white glove. He looked pretty cool with that. Now he just has a black bandage on his wounded finger. I have to admit that it took me a while to get rid of LD's H7G image. Now he slowly turning into a good villain.

[Ken Cheng]

Yes I do like the artistic direction of Bund I, feels like a classic. Well one more DVD left, 8 more episodes to go HMK is in revenge mode now. Let's see how the last third of Bund I plays out. I actually kind of miss HMK's white glove. He looked pretty cool with that. Now he just has a black bandage on his wounded finger. I have to admit that it took me a while to get rid of LD's H7G image. Now he slowly turning into a good villain.

Yeah, when I first saw LOCH '82, it was hard for me to reconcile that the same actor who was playing North Beggar Hung 7 Gung also played Fung Ging Yiu in THE BUND. Fung Ging Yiu was so diabolical, and Hung 7 Gung was so jovial. Just goes to show how versatile and skilled an actor Lau Dan is because he pulled off both characters (and many others in various other series) very convincingly.

Costume Note:

Remember what Hui Mun Keung dressed like in his early days in Shanghai, when he was running that nightclub with Ah Lik: usually a light grey suit with a red necktie. Symbolism: Mun Keung was an independent man, so he dressed as he liked, and the colors were light because he was working towards a bright dream at the time.

When he worked for Fung Ging Yiu, Mun Keung ditched the straight ties for bowties and the gangster-style suit for more of a respectable businessman's suit. He even combed his hair differently (again, more like a respectable corporate businessman than an overt gangster). This is because during this phase of his life, Mun Keung had to function (at least publicly) as a respectable businessman (because Fung Ging Yiu's organization, at least on the surface, was a respectable and legitimate business enterprise). So Mun Keung had to dress accordingly. NOTE: after Mun Keung leaves Shanghai, Ah Lik begins to dress in this manner, suggesting that he has taken over Mun Keung's old role in Fung Ging Yiu's organization.

When Mun Keung returns to Shanghai, he's dressed very similarly to how he did when he was an independent gangster in the early episodes (including the slicked back hairstyle). The one difference was the COLOR of the suits. Whereas the earlier Mun Keung wore greys and beiges, he now wears BLACK...showing that he has returned to where he started, but with a darker, crueler edge.

[NetDragon]

Yeah...and they keep that commercial bumper through II and III.

They actually use the same flying title logo commercial bumper for part III also? I thought part III used a new logo, seen in the youtube clip I posted some weeks ago..?

[Ken Cheng]

They actually use the same flying title logo commercial bumper for part III also? I thought part III used a new logo, seen in the youtube clip I posted some weeks ago..?

I think I've seen it both ways in Part III, actually.

[Ghaleon]

Remember what Hui Mun Keung dressed like in his early days in Shanghai, when he was running that nightclub with Ah Lik: usually a light grey suit with a red necktie. Symbolism: Mun Keung was an independent man, so he dressed as he liked, and the colors were light because he was working towards a bright dream at the time.

When he worked for Fung Ging Yiu, Mun Keung ditched the straight ties for bowties and the gangster-style suit for more of a respectable businessman's suit. He even combed his hair differently (again, more like a respectable corporate businessman than an overt gangster). This is because during this phase of his life, Mun Keung had to function (at least publicly) as a respectable businessman (because Fung Ging Yiu's organization, at least on the surface, was a respectable and legitimate business enterprise). So Mun Keung had to dress accordingly. NOTE: after Mun Keung leaves Shanghai, Ah Lik begins to dress in this manner, suggesting that he has taken over Mun Keung's old role in Fung Ging Yiu's organization.

When Mun Keung returns to Shanghai, he's dressed very similarly to how he did when he was an independent gangster in the early episodes (including the slicked back hairstyle). The one difference was the COLOR of the suits. Whereas the earlier Mun Keung wore greys and beiges, he now wears BLACK...showing that he has returned to where he started, but with a darker, crueler edge.

Wow I didn't even notice the costume bit. Nice subtle touch by the filmmakers. Was there any other symbolism in the series besides the costume? You can actually write an essay analyzing the film from a humanities and arts point of view

Yeah HMK has a darker crueler edge now. Finally, I was waiting for this
5 more eps to go...

[Ken Cheng]

Wow I didn't even notice the costume bit. Nice subtle touch by the filmmakers. Was there any other symbolism in the series besides the costume? You can actually write an essay analyzing the film from a humanities and arts point of view

One other one is the sets...particularly the contrast between Fung Ging Yiu's house/office and Lip Yan Wong's house/office.

Fung Ging Yiu has no patriotic qualms. For his personal wealth/power, he is more than happy to sell out to foreigners (i.e. the French and the Japanese). Hence, his home and office decor is all in French Rococo style, and half of this thugs wear Western suits.

Lip Yan Wong uses patriotism and nationalism as his front for gaining wealth/power. Hence, his home and office decor uses traditional Chinese redwood furnishings. Lip's muscle is the Chin Woo Martial Arts School, the bulwark of Chinese martial arts in Shanghai.

[almo89]

Lip Yan Wong was a douchebag. He wasn't as badass as Mr. Fung.

[Ghaleon]

One other one is the sets...particularly the contrast between Fung Ging Yiu's house/office and Lip Yan Wong's house/office.

Fung Ging Yiu has no patriotic qualms. For his personal wealth/power, he is more than happy to sell out to foreigners (i.e. the French and the Japanese). Hence, his home and office decor is all in French Rococo style, and half of this thugs wear Western suits.

Lip Yan Wong uses patriotism and nationalism as his front for gaining wealth/power. Hence, his home and office decor uses traditional Chinese redwood furnishings. Lip's muscle is the Chin Woo Martial Arts School, the bulwark of Chinese martial arts in Shanghai.

Nice catch there... I also noticed that DL's quarters is pretty plain and drabby maybe symbolizing DL's depressing marriage. I don't like how DL treats his wife He's one of the most jealous dudes i ever seen in a serial. That dude gets jealous at every little single thing. He's even worse than some girls i know I guess initially FCC liked his puppy-eyed innocent devotion to her. It's also quite interesting to see the scenes between FCC and HMK given the long history between the two.

[almo89]

Nice catch there... I also noticed that DL's quarters is pretty plain and drabby maybe symbolizing DL's depressing marriage. I don't like how DL treats his wife He's one of the most jealous dudes i ever seen in a serial. That dude gets jealous at every little single thing. He's even worse than some girls i know I guess initially FCC liked his puppy-eyed innocent devotion to her. It's also quite interesting to see the scenes between FCC and HMK given the long history between the two.

Ding Lik is insecure. He's in a way intimidated by HMK. HMK is so much more well educated and sometimes he felt he wasn't as good as him.

[Ken Cheng]

Nice catch there... I also noticed that DL's quarters is pretty plain and drabby maybe symbolizing DL's depressing marriage. I don't like how DL treats his wife He's one of the most jealous dudes i ever seen in a serial. That dude gets jealous at every little single thing. He's even worse than some girls i know I guess initially FCC liked his puppy-eyed innocent devotion to her. It's also quite interesting to see the scenes between FCC and HMK given the long history between the two.

Ding Lik is insecure. He's in a way intimidated by HMK. HMK is so much more well educated and sometimes he felt he wasn't as good as him.

As almo observed, Ding Lik suffers from a deep-seated insecurity. For all his toughness, he knows that he doesn't have the sophistication or class to match up to Hui Mun Keung. Thus, he's frustrated and irked by Ching Ching's continued devotion to Mun Keung. Ding Lik's relationship with Hui Mun Keung is best characterized as a love/hate relationship: he obviously loves his brother...his "Mun gor," who lifted him out of poverty, helped to get his career started, and taught him so much. At the same time, though, Ah Lik also resents his brother because Mun Keung is so much that Ah Lik feels he can never be. He feels that he'll always be in Hui Mun Keung's shadow.

These feelings persist in Ah Lik until Part 2. After Part 2, we really see Ah Lik become mature and come to terms with his insecurities. In Part 3, Ah Lik isn't insecure anymore. He has become his own man and is no longer in anyone's shadow.

I think that if Mun Keung could have seen Ah Lik in Part 3, he would have been very, very proud of the man Ah Lik became. Heck, by the end of Part 3, you could almost say that Ah Lik became a better man than even Mun Keung was.

But the thing is: you have to go through that journey with Ah Lik. His early days are frustrating because you think he'll never learn. As his personal losses and tragedies pile up, however, his wisdom accumulates.

More symbolism in THE BUND:

When Hui Mun Keung left Shanghai for Hong Kong, what did he travel in? A COFFIN. This was Cheung Gwai's way of smuggling Mun Keung out of Shanghai, but on a symbolic level, it also symbolized Mun Keung's "death" and "rebirth." This was the "death" of Hui Mun Keung, the Shanghai gangster, and the birth of Hui Mun Keung, the settled family man in Hong Kong. Hence, the coffin opening up and Mun Keung rising from the coffin as the train left Shanghai and went to Hong Kong.

Of course, a darker version of the Shanghai gangster Mun Keung was reborn after his family in Hong Kong was murdered by Fung Ging Yiu's assassin.


Symbolism of names:

Hui Mun Keung: "Mun" means education and culture in Chinese, while "Keung" means strength. These are the essential qualities of the Hui Mun Keung character: he is cultured and refined (the "mun"), but he is also very strong (the "keung"). His character is a blend of grace and strength.


Ding Lik: The Chinese characters for "ding" and "lik" are among the easiest to write, each involving very few pen strokes. That's Ah Lik's character: uneducated, simple, and blunt. "Ding" is the lowest grade one can get at a school using the Chinese system of grading, while "lik," of course, is strength. Ding Lik is all about simple brutality: he doesn't have the "mun" that Hui Mun Keung does for a more sophisticated approach (although he acquires this later on through growth and development).

[Ghaleon]

^^ Nice symbolism! I like the fact that TVB took great care to make their sets, props and costumes match the storyline and character development.

So I finally finished The Bund! The last two episodes were kick a$$. CYF did a great job in his role. It's not suprising that he became a household name after this series. Right from the first scene he was already a charismatic superman. But you get to see his character develop through good and rough times. By the end he was sorta like a gangsta sage with lot of street smarts and great understanding how the underground system works. I can't imagine how Bund II and III will fare without CYF (not to mention AC as well) !

I have to agree that TVB spent lot of effort making sure the scenes were perfect. This involved matching the scene with the appropriate music, costumes, props, scenery, and script. This type of artistic direction is rare these days. Most series have scenes that feel exactly the same with one another even if the tone is supposed to be different. The character development was also top-notch. All the characters developed naturally within the bounds of the plot. I also loved the overall atmosphere of the series. It has a "Godfather" and a "Film Noir" type of feel. Characters were multilayered and complex and the world they lived in required them to make morally ambiguous decisions. The overall tone of the series was definitely downbeat (especially the ending). It was a rough, dangerous and gritty atmosphere. You don't feel this in TVB series anymore.

@ Batman, thanks for giving us long essays on the artistic and character development aspect of the series If it wasn't for you i would have never bought the Bund DVDs You are definitely the #1 fan of the Bund. You know everything inside-out and outside-in. I think i'm going to take a break from Bund II and Bund III because the end of Bund I was rather depressing. I *love* dark gritty shows but after this Bund I marathon i want to watch something upbeat for now haha. I'll probably go back to the sequels later on when i get into the right mood. If you watch too much Film Noir you start to become a depressing person LOL. So it's definitely the "Godfather of asian television". CYF is a legend.

[almo89]

The ending was pretty sweet eh? The most impressive thing about the Bund was the amazing character development in a 25 episode series. That's tough to do and it didn't feel rushed.

[Ghaleon]

The ending was pretty sweet eh? The most impressive thing about the Bund was the amazing character development in a 25 episode series. That's tough to do and it didn't feel rushed.

The character development was really amazing. It's almost like a great classic movie being played out in a serial. The ending was also equally amazing. The only bad thing is it left me depressed so i have to watch a more upbeat serial now LOL. You know that feeling after you watch a long epic movie with a heavy atmosphere in a theatre? That's how i feel after watching The Bund. Feel a little exhausted.

[Ken Cheng]

^^ Nice symbolism! I like the fact that TVB took great care to make their sets, props and costumes match the storyline and character development.

So I finally finished The Bund! The last two episodes were kick a$$. CYF did a great job in his role. It's not suprising that he became a household name after this series. Right from the first scene he was already a charismatic superman. But you get to see his character develop through good and rough times. By the end he was sorta like a gangsta sage with lot of street smarts and great understanding how the underground system works. I can't imagine how Bund II and III will fare without CYF (not to mention AC as well) !

THE BUND saga definitely loses a huge amount of its power without Chow Yun Fat and Angie Chiu (and let's not forget Lau Dan's Fung Ging Yiu, who was also brilliant). Fortunately, Ray Lui's Ding Lik is still there to give the rest of the saga the necessary gravitas, and many of the formerly minor cast members in the first BUND take on greater roles in BUND II (Cheung Gwai, old Mrs. Ding, and Ching Ching's friend Wong Yeut Kei have much more significant roles in II than they did in I). Additionally, the new characters portrayed by Patrick Tse (Dik Wan Tze) and GiGi Wong (Chu Yin Yin) help to offset the loss of Hui Mun Keung and Ching Ching somewhat (although they really couldn't be replaced).

In Part III, you get more new cast members: Au Yeung Pui San returns as a new character (Ding Lik's new love interest) and Wong Yeun Sun (he who played Sai Mun Chui Sheut in the 1970s LUK SIU FUNG series and Ah Fei in THE ROMANTIC SWORDSMAN) is the new co-lead with Ray Lui. Yeung Kwun plays the new villain. Also in Part III - Felix Wong and Miu Kiu Wai in their first really significant roles in a TVB series. This was a whole three years before they played Gwok Jing and Yeung Hong in LOCH!

I have to agree that TVB spent lot of effort making sure the scenes were perfect. This involved matching the scene with the appropriate music, costumes, props, scenery, and script. This type of artistic direction is rare these days. Most series have scenes that feel exactly the same with one another even if the tone is supposed to be different. The character development was also top-notch. All the characters developed naturally within the bounds of the plot. I also loved the overall atmosphere of the series. It has a "Godfather" and a "Film Noir" type of feel. Characters were multilayered and complex and the world they lived in required them to make morally ambiguous decisions. The overall tone of the series was definitely downbeat (especially the ending). It was a rough, dangerous and gritty atmosphere. You don't feel this in TVB series anymore.

Was it or was it not the Greatest Series Ever Made, Ganryu...just as advertised?

In this day and age, most stuff never lives up to the hype. With THE BUND, however, it's the hype that doesn't live up to the series.

I think i'm going to take a break from Bund II and Bund III because the end of Bund I was rather depressing. I *love* dark gritty shows but after this Bund I marathon i want to watch something upbeat for now haha. I'll probably go back to the sequels later on when i get into the right mood.

OK.

Actually, I'll be watching THE BUND II and THE BUND III really for the first time in their entirety myself. I'd always watched bits and pieces of them during the 1980s and 1990s, but never could get both series all together for the whole thing. So at last, I'll get to see where the saga goes after the death of Hui Mun Keung.

If you watch too much Film Noir you start to become a depressing person LOL. So it's definitely the "Godfather of asian television". CYF is a legend.

As far as I'm concerned, Chow Yun Fat never topped his performance in THE BUND - not in his later TVB series, and not even in his successful movie career. THE BUND was Chow Yun Fat's finest moment as an actor.

Teaser for THE BUND II - we see five minutes of new footage of Chow Yun Fat as Hui Mun Keung in THE BUND II. Note: this is not recycled footage from Part I. Yes, Chow made a five minute cameo in Episode 4 of THE BUND II during a flashback sequence that Ding Lik had of a previously unrevealed conversation that he had with Hui Mun Keung...a conversation that proved to be prophetic. Long ago, Hui Mun Keung had already predicted Ding Lik's future, and only now, after "Mun gor's" death, does Ah Lik really understand what Mun gor was trying to tell him all those years ago.

[Ken Cheng]

The character development was really amazing. It's almost like a great classic movie being played out in a serial. The ending was also equally amazing. The only bad thing is it left me depressed so i have to watch a more upbeat serial now LOL.

It was shocking too. I don't know what audiences expected when THE BUND was first broadcast, but I don't think too many people expected that Hui Mun Keung would just walk out of that nightclub and get gunned down seemingly at random like that. On the other hand, we should have seen it coming: Mun Keung long believed that his destiny was to die violently on the streets of Shanghai. His prophecy came true.

And isn't it just so Shanghai to die in an act of random violence like that?

But in Part II, we discover that Hui Mun Keung's death was not, in fact, so random. New, dark powers are emerging in Shanghai...powers that successfully eliminated Hui Mun Keung, and now set their sights on Ding Lik. Is Ah Lik strong enough survive the evil that killed Hui Mun Keung?

To find out: watch THE BUND II.

[Ghaleon]

THE BUND saga definitely loses a huge amount of its power without Chow Yun Fat and Angie Chiu (and let's not forget Lau Dan's Fung Ging Yiu, who was also brilliant). Fortunately, Ray Lui's Ding Lik is still there to give the rest of the saga the necessary gravitas, and many of the formerly minor cast members in the first BUND take on greater roles in BUND II (Cheung Gwai, old Mrs. Ding, and Ching Ching's friend Wong Yeut Kei have much more significant roles in II than they did in I). Additionally, the new characters portrayed by Patrick Tse (Dik Wan Tze) and GiGi Wong (Chu Yin Yin) help to offset the loss of Hui Mun Keung and Ching Ching somewhat (although they really couldn't be replaced).

I thought CYF was clearly #1 in his performance. His mannerism, facial expressions and aura were very charming. He's a very stylish protagonist. AC also was brilliant in her performance. I especially liked how her character changed ever since she got married. She used to be an upbeat love-sick bird. But near the end she became downbeat like HMK. I thought LD was decent. I was initially bothered by his H7G persona. But slowly his acting convinced me of his role. I thought Ray was just average or maybe that's just because how his character is meant to be.

Was it or was it not the Greatest Series Ever Made, Ganryu...just as advertised?

In this day and age, most stuff never lives up to the hype. With THE BUND, however, it's the hype that doesn't live up to the series.

It was definitely the greatest series i ever watched that's meant to be dark and gritty. As a work of art, The Bund is definitely tops. But i have to be in the right mood to watch it. Wuxia will always be my "guilty pleasure" especially when my mood is upbeat But as a wuxia fan even i have to admit that the art direction and character development far surpasses that of wuxia. The Bund is clearly in the ranks of The Godfather and those classic film noir movies. It's an artsy series with heavy atmosphere and deep multilayered characters. But having said that, Wuxia is pure unadulterated fun

It was shocking too. I don't know what audiences expected when THE BUND was first broadcast, but I don't think too many people expected that Hui Mun Keung would just walk out of that nightclub and get gunned down seemingly at random like that. On the other hand, we should have seen it coming: Mun Keung long believed that his destiny was to die violently on the streets of Shanghai. His prophecy came true.

And isn't it just so Shanghai to die in an act of random violence like that?

But in Part II, we discover that Hui Mun Keung's death was not, in fact, so random. New, dark powers are emerging in Shanghai...powers that successfully eliminated Hui Mun Keung, and now set their sights on Ding Lik. Is Ah Lik strong enough survive the evil that killed Hui Mun Keung?

To find out: watch THE BUND II.

I thought that was the PERFECT ENDING of the series. It would have been a cop-out (to the general downbeat and gritty atmosphere of the series) if HMK lived happily ever after with FCC. So i'm glad it ended the way it did. It's the perfect downbeat ending especially in the romance story arc.

Regarding part II... I hope that white dude with the weird perverted smile gets what's coming to him. I hope DL blasts his sorry a$$

[Ken Cheng]

Regarding part II... I hope that white dude with the weird perverted smile gets what's coming to him. I hope DL blasts his sorry a$$

You won't have to wait long. The first five minutes of THE BUND II could be sub-titled, "THE HUNT FOR HUI MUN KEUNG'S KILLERS!"

Ah Lik makes those guys pay dearly for killing Mun-gor, and he wastes no time doing it. Ah Lik declares war on Mun-gor's murderers, and payback is swift and brutal.

But then, Ah Lik learns that the men who physically murdered Hui Mun Keung were just stooges for someone else...

[Ghaleon]

You won't have to wait long. The first five minutes of THE BUND II could be sub-titled, "THE HUNT FOR HUI MUN KEUNG'S KILLERS!"

Ah Lik makes those guys pay dearly for killing Mun-gor, and he wastes no time doing it. Ah Lik declares war on Mun-gor's murderers, and payback is brutal.

But then, Ah Lik learns that the men who physically murdered Hui Mun Keung were just stooges for someone else...

Sounds a bit like the american TV show 24. Right when the main characters kills off the bad guy, we learn that the bad guy is merely a pawn or flunkie of another yet more powerful and mysterious bad guy. It's like a system of one-ups.

[Ken Cheng]

Sounds a bit like the american TV show 24. Right when the main characters kills off the bad guy, we learn that the bad guy is merely a pawn or flunkie of another yet more powerful and mysterious bad guy. It's like a system of one-ups.

Yep. In Part II, we learn that someone has been watching Hui Mun Keung and Ding Lik (and before them, Fung Ging Yiu and Lip Yan Wong) for some time now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to move in and fill the power vacuum. That someone has waited for the chaos created by the back-to-back eliminations of Fung Ging Yiu and Lip Yan Wong (and now, through his own devices, Hui Mun Keung as well) to isolate Ding Lik and destroy him as his last obstacle to taking over Shanghai himself.

[Ghaleon]

Yep. In Part II, we learn that someone has been watching Hui Mun Keung and Ding Lik (and before them, Fung Ging Yiu and Lip Yan Wong) for some time now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to move in and fill the power vacuum. That someone has waited for the chaos created by the back-to-back eliminations of Fung Ging Yiu and Lip Yan Wong (and now, through his own devices, Hui Mun Keung as well) to isolate Ding Lik and destroy him as his last obstacle to taking over Shanghai himself.

Wow sounds very interesting That's an exciting way to start the sequel making the new villain more menacing and calculating. I'm actually glad to see that FGY is gone in part one. I actually thought he would stay till part 3 based on your posts. That's a huge relief because i love having new villains. It keeps the series interesting.