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Meetings with Wu Jing in Hengdian, the City of Films

Author :  Ninnie, in Chinese

Date :  22 -24 August 2001

Translation :  Martial Arts Movies and TV Series - Wu Jing

Original Compilation :  Jing Wu Men

Fantasy, Mystery and Romance

The Martial Arts World

When we visited Wu Jing, he was reading Twin Dragons of Tang Dynasty by Huang Yi, a rather enchanting novel which he discovered recently. He mentioned that it won't be easy making a drama serial based on this novel . On the one hand, Huang Yi's works are full of science fiction fantasies, and it would have to partially rely on computer generated images. On the other hand, since it's called Twin Dragons, to find two persons with neck and neck martial arts ability is no easy matter. However, Wu Jing added, "It might be possible if Zhao Wen Zhuo and I were to work together in this show."

[Ed: Yeah, to  find two person whose necks are of same length, width, diameter and shape is akin to searching for a needle in the haystack. But with a powerful magnet, it would be a breeze. Sure, the air displaced by a teeny-weeny needle moving towards the magnet is not sufficient to brew up a storm, only a breeze perhaps... Cut the crap. Crap is intangible, you couldn't even feel it, how do  you cut it...]

Wu Jing also discussed about Gu Long's novels when talking about Whipped Horse Roaring Amid the West Wind. He said that Feng Si-Niang is a very eye-catching character in Xiao Shi-Yi Lang. Feng Si-Niang's glamorousness in Whipped Horse Roaring Amid the West Wind is actually an attempt at imitating the kind of sensation portrayed by Maggie Cheung in the New Dragon Gate Inn, but we thought that the former was overdoing it.

Wu Jing also said that Die-Wu was Meng Xing-Hun's lover in Shooting Star, Butterfly and Sword while Ming-Yue Xing was a villainous character of shimmering colours in Edge of the World, Bright Moon and Sabre. Wu Jing thought that, Gao Yu-Han from Whipped Horse Roaring Amid the West Wind is a more unique character than Ming Yue-Xing. I nodded in agreement, saying that Yu Fei-Hong made the right choice in playing Gao Yu-Han, as she was particularly photogenic, sometimes, I felt Meng Xing Hun was not as .... (I couldn't think of an adjective at that time)

"... effervescent!" added Wu Jing in the nick of time.

Yeah, it was that kind of feeling. But I did not forget to express that Meng Xing-Hun gave me a sense of more ordinary and down-to-earth feeling.

"Then, I have achieved my goal!" declared Wu Jing with amour propre.

Wu Jing felt that when shooting a wu-xia production (wu - martial arts, xia - chivalry, thus a production focusing on martial arts and chivalry), one has enter the purportedly world of wu-xia as described by Jin Yong, Gu Long and imagine what one would do when being thrown into such a situation? The world of martial arts is very broad - it's a grown-up's tales, and what one should do could encompass a very broad horizon. It would be very difficult for one who is wanting in understanding the meaning of wu and xia, to produce a truly good wu-xia pian (pian - script, production).

Unfortunately, drama production companies nowadays are more concerned more about commercialisation, profit-making, and they thought wu-xia pians are nothing but fights, bloodsheds, hanging on wire-harnesses and toying around with some special effects. They are not concerned about whether the cast can really fight, since doubles would be doing the fights. They have barely scratched the surface of  wu-xia, having neglected the real meaning of wu-xia, the gallantry of the pugilists. It's the type of feeling, understanding of wu-xia that enables one to hold control over the entertainment market.

The Romance of Qiong Yao

I wonder how we ended up talking about Qiong Yao''s novel. Perhaps we were under the impression that Wu Jing reads only wu-xia novels and wouldn't have perused anything by Qiong Yao. But it gave us a start on hearing from Wu Jing that "I have read some of her novels." Wu Jing described Qiong Yao's works as a land of dreams. Inquisitively, I enquired if Wu Jing would accept Qiong Yao's drama offers should she approach him.

"Would she approach me?" faltered Wu Jing, but he continued, "If she does give me such an offer, why not?"

It worried us to a great extent, "Please don't!"

"You must have not seen her shows before."

"The lines are so mawkish, it won't be natural."

Wu Jing interrupted, "If I were to act in her shows, I can speak the lines more naturally."

According to Wu Jing's thinkings, the scripts are dead, but the lines depend on the actors to become alive. According to him, after going through a script and catching its gist, one should be using one' own words to express the lines during shooting. The most essential part is communication - communicating one's thoughts with the relevant actors, the directors, the script-writers.

As to Qiong Yao's dramas, Wu Jing felt the the most important thing is the mood: how to use lightings, sceneries and camera positioning to create the mood. When everything is handled with immaculacy, a romantic atmosphere could be easily portrayed. Paying attentively to Wu Jing's speeches, all of us were inevitably brought into his realm of romantic settings.

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