Renowned Hong Kong art director and stylist Park Ruomu, known as the “queen behind the scenes,” passed away suddenly on Christmas Day, December 25th, at his home in Beijing at the age of 65. Park began his career in film in 1982 and served as a multimedia lecturer at City University of Hong Kong and as an art director for advertising productions. He worked on films such as “Rouge,” “Three Women,” “The Actress,” “Red Rose White Rose,” and more, earning 11 nominations and 5 wins for Best Art Design and Best Costume Design at the Golden Horse Awards. He was also nominated for the British Academy Film Award for Best Costume Design for his work on “Lust, Caution”, and his most recent art direction project was Chen Chong’s new film “Inglish.”
Park’s most remarkable achievement was in “The Actress,” where he designed costumes for three characters played by Maggie Cheung. The cheongsam and wallpaper in the film were in a collage style, symbolizing the fragmented destiny and emotions of the characters, helping Maggie Cheung become the first Chinese actress to win the Berlin Film Festival’s Best Actress award.
Park’s skillful craftsmanship in creating leading female characters in films like Anita Mui and Li Xiaolu also earned him the title of the “queen-maker behind the scenes.” Despite living in Beijing for many years, he never worked on commercial films.
According to sources, Park Ruomu had dinner with friends just a few days before his passing, showing no signs of any health issues. The sudden loss of Park, who was only 65 years old, has led to speculation that it could be due to health problems or illness. The mainland China pandemic, which has been ongoing for months and continues to spread, remains severe. Due to the Chinese Communist Party’s concealment and censorship of information, the truth behind the outbreak is difficult to ascertain.
Mainland actress Yang Wanting expressed disbelief at the news of Park Ruomu’s passing, as they had recently chatted not long ago. Chat records shared by Yang showed that they had discussed a movie, during which Park Ruomu said, “Death is not scary, but living wonderfully is.” Less than two weeks later, Park Ruomu unexpectedly passed away.