Lu Hsiao-fen


Lu Hsiao-fen is a Taiwanese actress known for her roles in the woman's revenge subgenre within Taiwanese social-realist cinema. In the later years of her career, she was critically acclaimed as an actress in adaptations of Taiwan nativist novels, most prominently A Flower in the Raining Night.

Early life

Lu Hsiao-Fen was born in 1956 and her given name was Chang Shu-Fen. She was born and lived in Jiufen until she graduated from elementary school. After graduating from vocational school, she attended singing school and performed as a singer on television and at night clubs. She also participated in a singing contest held by Chinese Television System and Hai Shan Record and won first place. In 1980, Lu Hsiao-Fen was cast by Wang Chu-Chin to star in On the Society File of Shanghai, which gave her overnight stardom.

Career

Lu Hsiao-Fen's debut in film was On the Society File of Shanghai, directed by Wang Chu-Chin. The film was an adaptation from the Chinese Scar Literature. In the film, Lu Hsiao-Fen portrays a rape victim of a high-ranking official and his son. In an interrogation scene, Lu Hsiao-Fen briefly opens her shirt, revealing her breasts for about five frames on the screen. Another shocking scene in the film is when Lu Hsiao-Fen cuts across her chest with a knife. The film became sensational because of these visually stimulating scenes. After the success of On the Society File of Shanghai, Lu Hsiao-Fen became a signed actress of the Yung Sheng Film Company, starring in over 10 films with them.
Lu Hsiao-Fen’s performance in On the Society File of Shanghai also led to the production of similar films, such as Woman Revenger, Queen Bee, and The Lady Avenger. These films became a popular subgenre of Taiwan’s Social-Realist Films and were called Woman’s Revenge Films and later Taiwan Black Movies. The most famous female stars of the Woman's Revenge Films were Lu Hsiao-Fen, Lu Yi-Chan, Lu Yi-Feng, and Yang Hui-Shan, and they were called “Three Lu and One Yang”.
In 1983, Lu Hsiao-Fen starred in A Flower in the Raining Night, an adaptation from the short story of Taiwanese Nativist writer Hwang Chun-Ming. In the film, Lu Hsiao-Fen portrays a prostitute, Pai-Mei, who decides to change her destiny and celebrate life by returning to the farming life in the rural area and gives birth to a son. Lu Hsiao-Fen won Best Actress Award of the Golden Horse Award with her performance in A Flower in the Raining Night and transitioned from a sexy film star to a critically acclaimed actress. After the film, Lu Hsiao-Fen starred in many adaptations from Taiwanese Nativist literature, such as Oxcart Filled with Dowry, The First Stitch, and The Scalper.
In 1988, Lu Hsiao-Fen starred in Osmanthus Alley, directed by Chen Kun-Hou. The film is adapted from the novel of the same title by  Hsiao Li-Hung, an important Taiwanese female writer in the 1970s. In 1989, she starred in Richard Chen Yao-Chi ’s Spring Swallow. She won at the Best Actress Award in the Asia-Pacific Film Festival in her performances in both films.
In the 1990s, Lu Hsiao-Fen studied performance in the U.S. and gradually faded out from the silver screen. She still appeared in some Taiwanese-language TV dramas, such as Jin zhi yu ye. In 2003 and 2007, she published two books about practicing Yoga, Lu Hsiao-Fen’s Zen of Life and Zen of Aroma and Happiness.
In 2023, Lu Hsiao-Fen returned to film acting after 20 years as the lead in Day Off, directed by Fu Tien-Yu.

Personal life

In 2005, Lu Hsiao-Fen married Chen Jun-Yuan, a former Taipei City council member. She is a devoted Buddhist and a practitioner of yoga and aromatherapy.

Filmography

Film

  • 1981 On the Society File of Shanghai
  • 1981 The Lady Avenger
  • 1982 The Pink Thief
  • 1982 The Sexy Lady Driver
  • 1982 Exposed to Danger
  • 1982 Kill For Love
  • 1982 The Anger
  • 1982 Crazy Youth
  • 1983 Crisis
  • 1983 Temptation
  • 1983 Women Warriors of Kinmen
  • 1983 A Flower in the Raining Night
  • 1984 Oxcart Filled with Dowry
  • 1984 The first Stitch
  • 1985 Wu Nu
  • 1985 The Pawned Wife
  • 1985 Love, Lone Flower
  • 1986 Rosa
  • 1986 Drifters
  • 1986 The Scalper
  • 1986 Secondhand Goods
  • 1986 Lao Hu Lai Liao
  • 1986 Echo of Sea
  • 1988 Osmanthus Alley
  • 1989 The Digger- For Whom the Suona Blows
  • 1989 Spring Swallow
  • 1989 Boss Noballs
  • 1990 Song of the Exile
  • 1990 A Woman and Seven Husbands
  • 1993 18
  • 1999 Top Gear
  • 2023 Day Off

Television Drama