Film News

What are your five favorite martial arts films of all time, and why?
Donnie Yen: (I like) Enter The Dragon and Fist Of Fury, because they star my all-time idol, Bruce Lee. Prodigal Son,, starring Yuen Biao, directed by Sammo Hung. In terms of Wing Chun kung fu on camera: Sammo set the bar with that one. And we're trying to raise it (the bar) again with our new film, 'Yip Man'.

(I like) Drunken Master, with Jackie Chan, directed by my Sifu, Yuen Woo-ping. That created a whole new style of kung fu comedy. Heroes Of The East, by Lau Kar-leung. This is a classic Shaw Brothers film about a kung fu master who marries a Japanese woman, and finds he has to fight her relatives, all of whom know different Japanese arts. (It's a) Great concept, and someone should remake it. (It's not technically a kung fu movie, but I loved the last Rocky film, Rocky Balboa! Very touching, and the last fight was amazing.)

You must get along with Wilson Yip. Flash Point is one of many collaboration with him and you have more collaborations ('Yip Man') in the works.
Donnie Yen: I have a great time working with Wilson. We did SPL (Killzone), Dragon Tiger Gate, Flashpoint and now we're shooting Yip Man. (As I mentioned above, Painted Skin was directed by Gordon Chan). Wilson's very quiet, very focused. When we work together, he really helps me keep on track in terms of the story and character development. We make a great team, and I hope to work with him again!

Tell us more about your latest project, 'Yip Man'!
Donnie Yen: We're shooting 'Yip Man' now, in Shanghai. Sammo Hung is the action director. I've wanted to do this film for years. I've been training in Wing Chun kung fu, and especially working on the wooden dummy, so I can do justice to this story and this character. We have the full support of Yip Man's family, which is great. Having just done Flash Point, it's great to do a completely different style of action for this film.