The Bride with White Hair

Born in Hong Kong, Ronny Yan-Tai Yu dreamed of making films since he was a child. At only 9 months of age, Yu contracted polio, resulting in a long recovery that prevented him from developing an active childhood and had to spend much time in isolation. To cope with the loneliness, Yu created fantasy worlds of his own, with furniture as props. As he grew older, his world of escape became the cinema, where he could immerse in grander, more exciting adventures. It was then that his passion to become a director began to grow.

However, as the only son of a traditional Chinese family, film making was cast aside by the time he started college. Under pressure to take up the family business, Yu studied business instead and earned an MBA from Ohio University.

Soon after graduation, a pivotal turning point occurred for Yu. His friend Philip Chan, a police lieutenant with acting ambitions, persuaded Yu to direct The Servant, a screenplay that he wrote based on his experiences in the police force. Yu took up the opportunity and learned the craft as the filming proceeded. The film became the No.1 box office hit for the summer, and Yu’s future seemed destined to be in film after all.

Throughout the 1980s Yu directed and produced many other box office successes in Hong Kong. In 1993, the romantic swordplay epic Bai fa mo nu zhuan (1993) (The Bride with White Hair) established his signature style of kinetically-paced story-telling through sumptuous imagery. Bride was a huge summer hit in Hong Kong, and also became an art house theater favorite in the U.S. and Europe, leading to international critical acclaim. It also won the Grand Prize at the Fantastica film festival in Belgium.

In 1995 came the equally ravishing Ye ban ge sheng (1995) (The Phantom Lover), a love story inspired by the original novel of The Phantom of the Opera, and the Chinese movie Songs of Midnight from the 1920s.

Following these two stunning films, Yu launched his Hollywood career. His flair for visually rich narration appealed immediately to broader Western audiences and has been associated mostly with the horror film genre, as he has revived three franchises – with Bride of Chucky (1998); then Freddy vs. Jason (2003), of the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises, respectively, where its box office total is more than the two franchises’combined earnings.

Never one who confines himself to a genre, Yu went on to direct Huo Yuan Jia (2006) (Fearless), a film starring Jet Li, based on the true story of the martial arts master Huo Yuanjia. —IMDb