# Mr. Six (老炮儿)
**Mr. Six** (老炮儿; also released as *Fading Wave*) is a 2015 Chinese action-drama film directed by Guan Hu (管虎) and co-written with Dong Runnian (董润年), in which an aging Beijing street tough played by the director Feng Xiaogang (冯小刚) tries to rescue his estranged son from a gang of wealthy young racers led by the son of a corrupt official.[1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/Mr.-Six/oclc/961186228) • [2](https://ent.ifeng.com/c/7e25mouSYEB) The film premiered as the closing film of the 72nd [Venice Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/venice-film-festival), opened in mainland China on 24 December 2015, and earned Feng Xiaogang the Best Actor award at the 52nd Golden Horse Awards before its Chinese release.[2](https://ent.ifeng.com/c/7e25mouSYEB) • [3](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2016-01/11/content_1646644.htm)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Guan Hu (director and co-screenwriter) with Dong Runnian; produced by Huayi Brothers Media[1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/Mr.-Six/oclc/961186228) |
| Principal cast | Feng Xiaogang, Zhang Hanyu, Xu Qing, Li Yifeng, and Kris Wu (Wu Yifan)[1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/Mr.-Six/oclc/961186228) |
| Release | Closing film of the 72nd Venice Film Festival (9 September 2015); mainland China release 24 December 2015[2](https://ent.ifeng.com/c/7e25mouSYEB) |
| Running time | 137 minutes (some festival and Hong Kong listings give 136)[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_six) • [5](https://bc.cinema.com.hk/adhoc/hkaff_2015/hkaff2015_booklet.pdf) |
| Box office | Passed 700 million RMB within 12 days of release and finished above 900 million RMB[6](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0111/c87423-28037984.html) • [7](https://media.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0411/c40606-28264447.html) |
| Major awards | Golden Horse Best Actor (Feng Xiaogang, 52nd edition); Golden Rooster Best Screenplay (Guan Hu and Dong Runnian, 2017); Directors' Guild annual film and director awards (2016)[3](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2016-01/11/content_1646644.htm) • [8](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%80%81%E7%82%AE%E5%84%BF/15891954?fromModule=lemma_starMap-top&lemmaFrom=starMapTop&structureClickId=15891954&structureId=783743685633ef2674f17da8) |
| Audience scores | 8.5 on Douban and 9.1 on Maoyan shortly after release; 83% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer[3](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2016-01/11/content_1646644.htm) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_six) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and title
The title refers to a Beijing slang word for idle old hoodlums of the hutong (Beijing's old narrow alleyway neighborhoods), the men who once ran the old neighborhoods.[2](https://ent.ifeng.com/c/7e25mouSYEB) Mr. Six, called Sixth Master (六爷), was once notorious among them; by the film's present he lives quietly, keeping a pet myna bird and following a personal code of old-fashioned propriety, insisting on respectful address, returning a stolen wallet's ID cards to its owner, and leaving money for down-on-their-luck old friends.[3](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2016-01/11/content_1646644.htm)
The conflict begins when his estranged son Bobby ([Li Yifeng](https://www.edgepedia.org/li-yifeng)) is kidnapped after damaging the car of a government official's son ([Kris Wu](https://www.edgepedia.org/kris-wu)).[1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/Mr.-Six/oclc/961186228) When Six tries to settle the matter by traditional methods and is humiliated, he summons his retired gang, including the old friends played by Zhang Hanyu, Xu Qing, and Liu Hua, to apply old-school tactics.[1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/Mr.-Six/oclc/961186228) • [2](https://ent.ifeng.com/c/7e25mouSYEB) The confrontation ends on a frozen lake, staged with slow motion, a 360-degree circling camera, and aerial shots of the cracked ice.[3](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2016-01/11/content_1646644.htm)
## Themes
Guan Hu summarized the film as "the story of one man struggling against an era," and said he wanted to tell society the stories of his father's generation and his old friends.[6](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0111/c87423-28037984.html) • [3](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2016-01/11/content_1646644.htm) The film sets the old Beijing world of courtyard houses and hutong codes against a fast-changing city, and Chinese commentary read it as an elegy for old Beijingers whose rules no longer apply; in that reading, Six's defeat by the new order is settled in advance.[3](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2016-01/11/content_1646644.htm) Reviewers abroad placed it in the aging-tough-guy tradition: the Film Society of Lincoln Center's New York Asian Film Festival notes described it as a story of a man grown old in a world with no room for him, about who earns, commands, and loses respect, and the [South China Morning Post](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-china-morning-post) compared its tone to [Clint Eastwood](https://www.edgepedia.org/clint-eastwood)'s *Unforgiven*.[9](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/mr-six/) • [10](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/film-tv/article/1902804/film-review-mr-six-chinese-director-feng-xiaogang-stars-gangster?module=inline&pgtype=article)
The film also drew criticism at home. Detractors argued that it glamorized old street thugs, that none of its characters turns to the police or the law, that its language was coarse, and that a plotline of reporting the corrupt official to the discipline authorities was added to pass censorship; the casting of pop idols such as Kris Wu, Li Yifeng, and TFBoys was called a commercial concession.[3](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2016-01/11/content_1646644.htm) Guan Hu replied that Six is a common man of principle rather than a hoodlum, that casting the idols was a commercial choice that also let audiences see why they command such followings, and that the scene of an ostrich running down a road was meant to add a flying, even magical sense of vitality.[3](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2016-01/11/content_1646644.htm)
## Production and casting
Feng Xiaogang, one of China's most commercially successful directors, took a rare leading acting role as Mr. Six, his first film lead.[9](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/mr-six/) • [11](https://ent.ifeng.com/c/7e26zHV5FnN) Guan Hu said of his performance that "Feng Xiaogang is Six; I never felt he was acting, it is just himself."[12](https://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-09/18/c_1116607790.htm) The dialogue is heavily in Beijing dialect; Guan Hu acknowledged warnings that dialect might put off southern Chinese audiences but kept it, arguing that a good film travels north and south and that dropping the dialect would make the film's flavor impure.[13](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2015/1230/c22219-27993343.html)
The film premiered at Venice on 9 September 2015, screened in the Special Presentations section at the [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival), and was released in China on 24 December 2015 as a [Lunar New Year](https://www.edgepedia.org/lunar-new-year)-season release.[2](https://ent.ifeng.com/c/7e25mouSYEB) • [12](https://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-09/18/c_1116607790.htm)
## Reception and box office
The film opened strongly but not spectacularly, then rose on word of mouth: it passed 300 million RMB in its first five days, overtook same-season rivals in daily takings, passed 700 million RMB within 12 days, and reached 770 million RMB by 7 January 2016, finishing above 900 million RMB.[13](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2015/1230/c22219-27993343.html) • [6](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0111/c87423-28037984.html) • [3](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2016-01/11/content_1646644.htm) • [7](https://media.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0411/c40606-28264447.html) Douban users rated it 8.5 and Maoyan users 9.1, and commentators credited it with showing that a serious, literary-themed domestic drama could also succeed commercially.[3](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2016-01/11/content_1646644.htm)
Critical response was more divided. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an 83% Tomatometer from 12 reviews and an 80% audience score.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_six) The New York Times critic Nicolas Rapold called the 137-minute story baggy, saying family drama and clumsy plotting drowned out Feng's sharp moments.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_six) Others were warmer: the Seattle Times called it a largely winning portrait of an old gangster in a Beijing overrun with privileged brats, and [The Straits Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-straits-times) rated it a compelling character study meshed with a thriller.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_six)
## Awards
Feng Xiaogang won Best Actor at the 52nd Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, announced in November 2015 while he was singing at a promotional concert in Beijing.[3](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2016-01/11/content_1646644.htm) At the 2016 China Film Directors' Guild annual awards the film took three honors, including annual film and annual director.[7](https://media.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0411/c40606-28264447.html) The 33rd Hundred Flowers Awards in 2016 gave Xu Qing Best Actress and Li Yifeng Best Supporting Actor, with nominations for Guan Hu as director and Feng Xiaogang as actor, and the 31st Golden Rooster Awards in 2017 went to Guan Hu and Dong Runnian for Best Screenplay.[8](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%80%81%E7%82%AE%E5%84%BF/15891954?fromModule=lemma_starMap-top&lemmaFrom=starMapTop&structureClickId=15891954&structureId=783743685633ef2674f17da8) • [14](https://stock.tianyancha.com/an/d6356cd643f6e2ff4fba1ee787063f39.pdf)
## References
1. [老炮儿 = Mr. Six, WorldCat catalog entry (credits, cast, plot summary)](https://search.worldcat.org/title/Mr.-Six/oclc/961186228)
2. [管虎电影《老炮儿》简介 12月24日全国公映, 凤凰网娱乐](https://ent.ifeng.com/c/7e25mouSYEB)
3. [《老炮儿》：一曲"老北京"的挽歌, 人民日报海外版 (2016年1月11日)](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2016-01/11/content_1646644.htm)
4. [Mr. Six, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_six)
5. [Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2015 program booklet](https://bc.cinema.com.hk/adhoc/hkaff_2015/hkaff2015_booklet.pdf)
6. [管虎首次解读"老炮儿"：就是一个人和时代的斗争, 人民网](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0111/c87423-28037984.html)
7. [导演协会表彰大会落幕 冯小刚凭"老炮儿"再获影帝, 人民网](https://media.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0411/c40606-28264447.html)
8. [老炮儿（2015年管虎执导的动作剧情片）, 百度百科](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%80%81%E7%82%AE%E5%84%BF/15891954?fromModule=lemma_starMap-top&lemmaFrom=starMapTop&structureClickId=15891954&structureId=783743685633ef2674f17da8)
9. [Mr. Six, Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York Asian Film Festival 2016](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/mr-six/)
10. [Film review: Mr Six, South China Morning Post (2016)](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/film-tv/article/1902804/film-review-mr-six-chinese-director-feng-xiaogang-stars-gangster?module=inline&pgtype=article)
11. [专访《老炮儿》导演管虎, 凤凰网娱乐 (2015)](https://ent.ifeng.com/c/7e26zHV5FnN)
12. [《老炮儿》导演管虎：期待中国电影市场走向成熟冷静, 新华网 (2015)](https://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-09/18/c_1116607790.htm)
13. [管虎回应争议：六爷最大的对手是这个时代, 人民网转北京日报 (2015)](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2015/1230/c22219-27993343.html)
14. [华谊兄弟2016年度报告 (Hundred Flowers Awards record), 天眼查](https://stock.tianyancha.com/an/d6356cd643f6e2ff4fba1ee787063f39.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2015–2019 films › Crime drama and neo-noir films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license