Director Hou Xiaoxian was exposed to be retired from dementia, and appeared a year ago with a picture exposed, with a thin body and a wooden expression
On October 24, IndieWire media reported that the 76-year-old famous director Hou Xiaoxian has retired due to dementia and can no longer participate in film production.
According to reports, on October 23, film scholar Tony Rayns (Tony Rayns) revealed that Hou Xiaoxian is currently battling dementia and has now retired from the film industry when he screened Hou Xiaoxian's 1985 film "The Time to Live and Time to Die" at the London Garden Cinema. Subsequently, IndieWire confirmed the news. George Crosbert, an insider close to Hou and film curator at Garden Cinema, said the director "definitely won't be working anymore."
The report also pointed out that his family did not disclose Hou's health, and they preferred to protect Hou's privacy, but this is no secret in Taiwan. Now, his office in Taipei has been closed, and all staff, including his right-hand man, Zhang Zhuti, have been dismissed.
According to Taiwan media reports, Hou Xiaoxian has been in poor health in recent years, and was reported to be suffering from Parkinson's disease 3 years ago, saying at the time that he did not remember his director friend and his figure became thin. But then his work partner Zhu Tianwen clarified that Hou Xiaoxian did not have Parkinson's, but was older and did have poor memory. The two are preparing for the new work "On the Shulan River" together, intending to find Shu Qi to star.
Last September, the premiere of the digital version of the 33rd anniversary of "City of Sorrow" directed by Hou Xiaoxian, the absence of Hou Xiaoxian, added to speculation about his health. But on October 24 last year, some media photographed Hou Xiaoxian and Zhu Tianwen waiting on the side of the road together, and the two were chatting hot from time to time, and they didn't seem to have dementia.
However, at that time, Director Hou was indeed very thin, his expression was slightly woody, and his mental state was average.
When getting into the car, it seemed that Zhu Tianwen needed help. As for whether the disease had begun at that time, it is unknown.
Hou Xiaoxian was born in 1947 and is a director, screenwriter, actor and producer. Since directing his first film "It's Slippery Her" in 1980, he has been unreceivable. He has successively directed many works such as "The Man from the Wind Cabinet", "Childhood Past", "Love in Dust", "Daughter of the Nile", "City of Sorrow", "Flowers on the Sea", "The Best Time", "Assassin Nie Yinniang" and many other works, in addition, he also participated in the production of the movies "The Red Lantern Hangs High", "Alice's Mirror", "The 36th Story" and so on. He has won many awards such as the Palme d'Or, Golden Horse Award, Golden Image Award, Golden Lion Award, Golden Tulip Award, Best Director Award, Kurosawa Akira Award and many other awards.
The picture shows Hou Xiaoxian and Tony Leung discussing on the set of "City of Sorrow" that year.
In 2020, Hou Xiaoxian won the 57th Golden Horse Award for Lifetime Achievement.
In 2015, the costume martial arts film "Assassin Nie Yinniang" directed by Hou Xiaoxian and starring Shu Qi and Zhang Zhen was released, and Hou Xiaoxian won the Best Director Award at the 68th Cannes International Film Festival and the Best Director Award at the 52nd Taiwan Film Golden Horse Awards for this film.
It is reported that in the past few years, Hou Xiaoxian has been preparing for the movie "On the Shulan River" and has begun location shooting, but I am afraid that it has not been able to be produced by himself. Therefore, "Assassin Nie Yinniang" may become the last film directed by Hou Xiaoxian.
Hou Xiaoxian is also the executive producer of his long-term art director Huang Wenying's first film "Xuantian God on the Roof of the Car", which starred Lin Aichen, Zhou Yumin, Ruan Jingtian and Zhang Xiaoquan, and will be released in Taiwan this November.
On October 23, "Xuantian God on the Roof" held a publicity press conference in Taipei, director Huang Wenying, Zhou Yumin, Lin Aichen, Ruan Jingtian and others attended, Hou Xiaoxian did not appear, and the name of the producer did not appear on the publicity board behind it.
Hou Xiaoxian's family has not yet responded to the rumors of "dementia", but after the news of his retirement, fans deeply regretted and hoped that he would recover at ease and improve his condition as soon as possible.