"Che-Kirk" Wong Chi-Keung: Why?

[Mike Thomason]

http://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?i ... ay_set=eng

I am still wondering, as well as at a loss, as to why we're accreditting Kirk Wong as "Che-Kirk" Wong? He was known by the English name "Kirk" Wong for ALL of his cinematic career, up until this (ironically American) film...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120609/ (even the IMDB credit him as "Kirk" now )

...and suddenly, thereafter, Kirk Wong turns into "Che-Kirk" Wong!

Here's that one-off credit from US production THE BIG HIT (1998):

And here's Kirk's most recent appearance in front of a camera from the interview featurette on Fortune Star's CRIME STORY DVD (produced 2006):


I'm sure nobody will agree with me, but I would like to move that Kirk Wong has his English name reverted back to what it has always been, and the one-off Americanised nonsense name shifted to alias status. If they're still referring to the man by the English name "Kirk" in Hong Kong, right up to now, I don't see why we can't offer him the same courtesy...

[Harlock]

nm

[Mike Thomason]

Well, considering "Che-Kirk" was only ever used once, and for an American production at that (let's face it, American studios have largely never gotten their heads around Chinese names -- hence their insistence on Anglising Chinese names and creditting everything in reverse!), I can't see why we'd want to credit the man the same way?

[Knetan]

hey,

he's even introduced himself on commentaries for The Big Hit and Organized Crime & Triad Bureau as Che-Kirk...perhaps to avoid confusion now that the "new" name was out there.

[Mike Thomason]

hey,

he's even introduced himself on commentaries for The Big Hit and Organized Crime & Triad Bureau as Che-Kirk...perhaps to avoid confusion now that the "new" name was out there.

Well, THE BIG HIT being his one American film, and the OCTB commentary being produced shortly thereafter (circa 1998) by an American company (Tai Seng), I can definitely see why he would have been coerced into using the "Che-Kirk" bastardisation for the American market...considering THE BIG HIT was the only film (general) Americans knew him by at that point.

But for the rest of the world, he was, is and ever shall be known as "Kirk" Wong. As provided in my 2006 visual evidence above -- he's still referred to as "Kirk" Wong in Hong Kong (his home industry). Sorry, but just because the American entertainment industry can't (or won't) come to grips with Chinese naming conventions doesn't mean their slipshod adaptations should be mandated on the rest of the world.

[Brian Thibodeau]

I agree. Flip him back!

[Knetan]

hey,

and speaking of flip, didn't Zhang Ziyi also do one such as she now in AMERICA goes under Ziyi Zhang? No use trying to teach them, just go with it kind of a thing?

[Mike Thomason]

Well, she's still known as "Zhang Zi-Yi" in her home of China and further afield in Hong Kong (as well as outlying Chinese-speaking Asian territories ala Malaysia etc), but as already said the American entertainment industry is terrible when it comes to Anglicising Chinese names against the correct form they should be following.

It's near slain me with hilarity the number of reviews I've read of the new MIAMI VICE film where American reviewers have referred to the lead actress as..."Li Gong"...hahahahahahahaha!

Fools!

[dleedlee]

A quick search indicates English reviews from the UK, UAE, Czech Rep., India, Canada and Ireland make the same error. They must be using the imdb as reference. Of course, the writers could all be Americans, too or using the same press release.

[Brian Thibodeau]

This reminds me of an entry that's always bugged me in the Leonard Maltin film guide regarding one of Chow Yun-fat's movies, the name of which eludes me at the moment.

Generally, the guide refers to actors by their last names, as in "Stallone plays a cop..." or "Roberts is a hooker with a heart of gold..." Even Chinese actors are usually referred to this way in the reviews, except folks like Chow, who get something like "Yun-Fat plays a cop..." while his Chinese co-stars—who if I recall correctly have English first names—are referred to by their Chinese surnames: "Cheung plays this or that..."

I guess if an Asian actor has an English name, it's just that much less work for uninformed critics to figure out which name is the family name and go from there.

[dleedlee]

Here's one vote against resurrecting Donald Chow Yun-Fat.

[Harlock]

nm

[Brian Thibodeau]

SEVENTH CURSE, if I recall correctly.

[Harlock]

nm

[Brian Thibodeau]

...or maybe "Benz" or "Four" or "Tats" or even "Money"

[Knetan]

hey,

they embraced him in Taiwan as Aman, didn't they?

[MrBooth]

Surely if they were trying to westernise his name they'd have stuck with "Kirk Wong"... Che-Kirk is hardly a common American name?

I'd prefer him to be just Kirk Wong in the db too, with Che-Kirk as an alias. is The Big Hit truly the only place he's credited with the Che-? I thought I'd seen it in the wild, and I've never seen that film...

[calros]

if nobody stops me in 15 days i will change it,

[Brian Thibodeau]

Thanks, Che-Carlos!

[calros]

YOu are welcome Che-Bri.