Tuesday July 17, 2007
Double ace
By CHOW HOW BAN
Jackie Chan & Jet Li’s new movie
The Forbidden Kingdom sees Chinese kung fu superstars Jackie Chan and Jet Li joining forces.
The world is waiting for the clash of the titans. All eyes are on the first action film featuring two of the most famous Chinese kung fu superstars – Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
“I’m the action director for most of my movies. But this time I decided not to do that. I want to be fair and not impose my own fighting styles in this movie because he (Li) is in it.
“It’s better to have Yuen Wo Ping as our choreographer as he is familiar with both of us,” Chan said during an interview held at a hotel in Hengdian, China, recently.
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Journey to the East: (From left) Rob Minkoff, Liu Yifei, Jackie Chan and Jet Li in Hengdian, China. |
True to form, Chan is ever professional. He takes the film seriously and wants the fight scenes involving him and Li to be as realistic and natural as possible.
Chan said he was “very comfortable” in the fight scenes. He had not had such a good fighting partner for many years since his memorable stunts with long-time friends Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao.
“I have not worked with someone whom I’m comfortable with, in terms of movements, rhythm and natural reactions, in the last 10 years.
“I have done many fight scenes with others but there were usually more than 10 takes, which is a waste of time as the person may forget his moves and unnecessary injuries.
“When I fought with Li, our actions were quick. We also didn’t have to do the same stunt over 20 times, just four times,” Chan explained.
Photography director Peter Pau, the Oscar-winner for international blockbuster Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, confirmed what Chan said.
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Villain: Li BingBing plays Grey-Haired Demoness in The Forbidden Kingdom. |
”So, when they fought on the set, their action was very fast but at the same time their reactions were very different from each other,” said Pau.
The much-awaited The Forbidden Kingdom is produced by Casey Silver and directed by animation master Rob Minkoff. The script is penned by veteran John Fusco, who is no stranger to the industry for his works on cultural myths.
The story is about a young kung fu-crazed American (Michael Angarano) who wishes he knew Chinese martial arts.
When the young man chances upon a mysterious fighting staff in a pawn shop in Boston’s Chinatown, he is transported back in time to ancient China. There he finds himself part of a dangerous quest of returning a lost staff to the Monkey King.
He meets the characters played by Li and Chan and others from classical Chinese fighting novels and legends. Finally, he learns the real meaning of kung fu.
The project came about when Silver approached Li with the idea of doing such a movie. They brainstormed the plot and decided to depart from Chinese classical tales. They wanted it to be a story set in China and about a young man’s dream.
This is the first on-screen collaboration between two of the best Chinese kung fu stars. In fact, Chan and Li had toyed with the idea of collaborating more than 15 years ago but the plan did not materialise.
Many critics have predicted that the film will be just another typical Hollywood production – too commercialised and not reflecting Chinese culture.
The team clarified that the film is not based on the epic, Journey to the West, as rumoured.
“It’s more reasonable to tell the story from a young man’s point of view – his dream. If you want Monk Tang (a calm and credulous character in Journey to the West) to fight, it will be hard to accept in Chinese culture.
“It’s better to leave room for imagination as we can include characters such as the Grey-Haired Demoness and Jade Warlord in the film, so it becomes a totally new story,” Li said.
Pau put it best: “I think this is not Journey to the West. This is Journey to the East because the producer, screenwriter, director and leading actor Michael are Americans. This is their journey to the East and they come to China to search for Chinese culture and take it to the world.”
Before their arrival at Hengdian, a town renowned for its movie studio theme park and supporting film industry, the crew were in Dunhuang, Wuyi Mountain and various places in China for filming.
The main actors and crew assembled at Hengdian where several fight and romance scenes were being shot.
The characters in the film include Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano), Lu Yan (Jackie Chan), Silent Monk (Li), Golden Sparrow (Liu Yifei), Grey-Haired Demoness (Li Bingbing) and Jade Warlord (Collin Chou).
The film is scheduled to be released before the Beijing Olympic Games 2008 to be held next August.
“There are two different forms of storytelling that are popular here,” said Minkoff. “One is the historical form, and the other is fantasy. Some years ago, there were many different films that were dealing with fantasy ideas, images and mythologies; we set our story in the Tang Dynasty era.”
Even though the film features a lot of special effects, Chan assured that the fight scenes, especially those involving him and Li were authentic.
As the devil Grey-Haired Demoness, Bingbing leads her group of killers in forcing Lu Yan and Silent Monk out of their way in the latter’s journey to the mythical mountain where Monkey King is held by Jade Warlord.
Grey-Haired Demoness is supposed to have greater power and fighting abilities than Lu Yan and Silent Monk.
Bingbing is full of nerves as she has never achieved their level in real life.
“They are my favourite actors and I started watching Li’s movies like Shaolin Temple when I was in primary school.
“As the demoness, I have to fight against them on the set. I am very perturbed as you all know that they are 100 times better than me!
“When we were doing the fight scenes, I feared I would hurt them, not to mention that I respect them so much. But after getting to know them, I feel that they are really great people and they would never give you any pressure,” she said.
Liu said she was initially afraid that her lack of experience in martial arts would affect the other actors and filming, but the friendliness of the two superstars put her at ease. ”Not only did Jackie take good care of the actors, he was also very meticulous. He gave us protective gear and caps to wear,” said Liu.
Off screen, Li and Chan were often seen laughing and sharing stories. Chan said they no longer chat about how to make more money but, rather, about charity.
Chan set up the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation in 1988 and Li has his own foundation called The One Foundation.
“He (Li) also talked a lot about Buddhism, which to me, is something I am unfamiliar with. I live by my principles but it’s fun listening to him. I learned a lot from him,” Chan said.
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