The Posterist (海报师), dir. Hui See-Wai (许思维). 2017.
Yuen Tai-Yung is a Chinese artist known for his creation of iconic Hong Kong movie posters that include notable films of Bruce Lee, the Hui Brothers, Karl Maka, Stephen Chow, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.
Born in Zhejiang in 1941 and raised in Shanghai, Yuen moved to Hong Kong as a teenager. He was working in advertising agencies when, in 1975, he chanced upon a commission to design the poster for The Last Message, the second film of the Hui Brothers (Michael, along with Sam and Ricky).
Yuen would go on to create posters for more than 200 films, including 17 by the Hui Brothers, before he retired and migrated to New Zealand in 1992. The self-taught painter is revered for his cartoonish illustrations, which manage to both portray an uncanny likeness of the film’s stars and an ingenious ability to distill a movie’s plot down to its essence.
The Posterist is a passion project of first-time documentary filmmaker Hui See-Wai, who is the son of comedy legend Michael Hui Koon-Man. Many of the film posters for Michael Hui Koon- Man’s biggest hits were painted by Yuen Tai-Yung.
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