Christopher Doyle

Biography

Doyle was born in Sydney, Australia in 1952. He left his native country on a Norwegian merchant ship at the age of eighteen, after which he took on a number of odd jobs including as a Kibbutz-nick cowboy in Israel, homeopathic doctor in Thailand, and “green agriculturalist” in India work. In the late seventies, Doyle was “re-birthed” as Du Ke Feng, which means “like the wind.” Following his time as a language student in Taiwan and having found work as a photographer, he was hired as a cinematographer on Edward Yang’s That Day, on the Beach in 1983.

Since his “birth in art,” Du Ke Feng has worked on over fifty Chinese-language films. He is best known for his collaborations with Wong Kar-Wai, including Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love and 2046 (the latter of which saw Doyle walking off set mid-way through production). He has collaborated with other Chinese filmmakers on projects including Temptress Moon, Hero, Happy Together, and Dumplings. As his "alter ego" Christopher Doyle he has made more than twenty in various other languages and film cultures, working as director of photography on Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho, Liberty Heights, Last Life in the Universe, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Paranoid Park, The Limits of Control.

He also wrote, shot, and directed Warsaw Dark, Away with Words starring Asano Tadanobu, and Hong Kong Trilogy: Preschooled Preoccupied Preposterous, an experimental portrait of three generations of Hong Kong people. He is currently filming The White Girl, another tribute to his adopted hometown of Hong Kong, with co-director Jenny Suen.

On May 26th, 2017 Doyle was honored during the 70th Cannes Festival with the “Pierre Angénieux ExcelLens in Cinematography” award, in tribute to his rich and influential career. The ceremony was co-hosted by filmmaker Olivier Assayas and actress Juliette Binoche, among others.

Awards

Among Doyle's sixty awards and thirty nominations are the Technical Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for In the Mood for Love, as well as the Osella d’Oro for Best Cinematography for Ashes of Time at the Venice International Film Festival.

Feature films

That Day, on the Beach (1983) – directed by Edward Yang

Soul (1986) – directed by Kei Shu

Noir et blanc (1986) – directed by Claire Devers

My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (1987) – directed by Patrick Tam

Her Beautiful Life Lies (1989) – directed by Tony Au

Days of Being Wild (1991) – directed by Wong Kar-wai

The Peach Blossom Land (1992) – directed by Stan Lai

Mary from Beijing aka "Awakening" (1992) – directed by Sylvia Chang

Red Rose White Rose (1994) – directed by Stanley Kwan

Ashes of Time (1994) – directed by Wong Kar-wai, awarded the Osella d'Oro for Best Cinematography at the Venice International Film Festival

The Red Lotus Society (1994) – directed by Stan Lai

Chungking Express (1994) – directed by Wong Kar-wai

The Peony Pavilion (1995) – directed by Chen Kuo-fu

Fallen Angels (1995) – directed by Wong Kar-wai

4 Faces of Eve (1996) – directed by Kwok-Leung Gan, Eric Kot and Jan Lamb

Yang ± Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema (1996) – directed by Stanley Kwan

Temptress Moon (1996) – directed by Chen Kaige

First Love: The Litter on the Breeze (1997) – directed by Eric Kot

Motel Cactus (1997) – directed by Ki-Yong Park

Happy Together (1997) – directed by Wong Kar-wai

Psycho (1998) – remake, directed by Gus Van Sant

Liberty Heights (1999) – directed by Barry Levinson

Away with Words (1999)

In the Mood for Love (2000) – directed by Wong Kar-wai, awarded the Grand Technical Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as Best Cinematography Awards by the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics

Made (2001) – directed by Jon Favreau

Hero (2002) – directed by Zhang Yimou, awarded Best Cinematography Awards by the New York and Chicago Film Critics Circles and the National Society of Film Critics and at the Hong Kong Film Awards

The Quiet American (2002) – directed by Phillip Noyce

Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) – directed by Phillip Noyce

Green Tea (2003) – directed by Zhang Yuan

Last Life in the Universe (2003) – directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

2046 (2004) – directed by Wong Kar-wai, awarded Best Cinematography Awards by the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics

Perhaps Love (2005) – directed by Peter Chan

The White Countess (2005) – directed by James Ivory

McDull, the Alumni (2006) – directed by Samson Chiu

Dumplings (2006) – directed by Fruit Chan

Invisible Waves (2006) – directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Lady in the Water (2006) – directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Paranoid Park (2007) – directed by Gus Van Sant

Downloading Nancy (2008) – directed by Johan Renck

The Limits of Control (2009) – directed by Jim Jarmusch

Ondine (2009) – directed by Neil Jordan

Ocean Heaven (2010) – directed by Xue Xiao-Lu

Passion Play (2010) – directed by Mitch Glazer

Love for Life (2011) – directed by Gu Changwei

Tormented (2011) – directed by Takashi Shimizu

Underwater Love – A Pink Musical (2011) – directed by Shinji Imaok

Magic Magic (2013) – directed by Sebastián Silva

American Dreams in China (2013) – directed by Peter Chan

Ruined Heart! Another Love Story Between a Criminal and a Whore (2014) – directed by Khavn

Port of Call (2015) - directed by Philip Yung

Hong Kong Trilogy: Preschooled Preoccupied Preposterous (2015)

Endless Poetry (2016) - directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky

You Mean The World To Me (2017) - directed by Saw Teong Hin

The White Girl (2017, in production)

Short films

The Boat-Burning Festival (1979) – directed by Chang Chao-Tang

wkw/tk/[email protected]′55″hk.net (1996) – directed by Wong Kar-wai

Six Days (2002) – directed by Wong Kar-wai

Three (2002) – segment "Going Home," directed by Peter Chan

Eros (2004) – segment "The Hand," directed by Wong Kar-wai

Three... Extremes (2004) – segment "Dumplings," directed by Fruit Chan

The Madness of the Dance (2006) – directed by Carol Morley

Meeting Helen (2007) – directed by Emily Woof

White Sand (2011) – directed by Tsien-Tsien Zhang

Linda Linda (2012) – directed by Tsien-Tsien Zhang

A Good Story (2013) – directed by Martin-Christopher Bode

Allergic to Art (2014) – directed by Christopher Doyle and Jenny Suen

Feature films

Away with Words (1999)

Izolator aka "Warsaw Dark" (2008)

Hong Kong Trilogy: Preschooled Preoccupied Preposterous (2015)

The White Girl (2017, in production)

Short films

Home / Movie (1981)

Paris, je t'aime (2006) – segment "Porte de Choisy"

Videos

Dumbass on YouTube (2013) – musicvideo with lyrics by Ai Weiwei, music by Zuoxiao Zuzhou