Film News

The Bund, May 6, 2008
Li Jun

The world's foremost martial arts choreographer Yuen Wo Ping is often called Eighth Master. However, among his siblings, he's the eldest brother. How did he come to be known as Eighth Master within the entertainment circle?. Yuen Wo Ping explains, this is because when he joined the film industry in the stunt profession when he was over ten years old, there were 8 sworn brothers then, and he was the youngest.

-- Hands of the Dragon --

Earlier on, Philip Ng was in India for three months to shoot the US-India co-production Hands of the Dragon. Philip Ng, who stars as Jack Lee, an elite police force member left for dead in a covert operation but reappears in India later to track down his killers, has non-stop action scenes in the film. However, it was a gruelling experience on the set due to relapse of an old ailment in the waist.

"The film had a very tight schedule, what I did in one day was equivalent to three days' worth of filming. Moreover, I had to fight from beginning to the end. One day, suddenly, while filming, I couldn't move at all. Fortunately, the production got a Chinese physician who applied acupuncture on me. After the treatment, I was mobile again. It was miraculous." says Philip Ng, whose mindset towards traditional Chinese medical treatment has changed.

He also expresses deeper understanding for Indian culture: "It turns out that there's a great disparity between the rich and the impoverished. Many poor have to live in the streets. I feel my injury was insignificant compared to them, I hope to do something for them in the future."  The Sun, Philip Ng Blog

According to Nilanjan Das, "Working as a consultant for the Hollywood action flick Hands of the Dragon was really interesting. The entire working process and the outcome gave me immense creative satisfaction because of only one reason – it really worked the way it was visualized."

-- Ip Man --
Owing to controversy over the film title, Mandarin Film's martial arts biopic on Yip Man will still be called Ip Man rather than 《一代宗师·叶问》 Grandmaster Yip Man, thanks to unpleasantries from Wong Kar Wai who claimed conflicts with his very version that still remains in development limbo despite being announced several years ago.

Raymond Wong explains, "Actually, all along, we have called our film 《叶问》 Ip Man, but our mainland investors said that Yip Man was a great master of his times, so we changed our title to Grandmaster Yip Man out of respect for him. Yet, this brought about a series of debates over the title. To settle this matter amicably, after discussions with our various investors, movie consultant Yip Chun, director Wilson Yip, we changed back to our original title."

He also believes that it's not worth arguing over a name, "The title is of secondary importance, our main aim in shooting the film is to propagate Wing Chun. All studios should cooperate with and support each other, especially in a time when the film industry is not doing well."

Tony Leung says, "Our film will still be produced. I think Donnie Yen's version will be more focused on martial arts, of younger age, but the Yip Man I'm playing will be more drama-oriented, and it deals mainly with the latter half of his life. The two are definitely completely different works."

Production of Ip Man has wrapped up in Shanghai, after around three to four months of filming. Ip Man, directed by Wilson Yip, featuring action by Sammo Hung and starring Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Lynn Hung, Fan Siu Wong, Xing Yu, Li Qi Long, To Yu Hang, is targeted for a Christmas 2008 release.  Shanghai Daily | Posters: Eastday

-- Missing --
Missing gala premiere was held in Beijing yesterday, graced by Tsui Hark, Guo Xiao Dong and Angelica Lee Sinjie, while Isabella Leong was unable to attend.

Missing, which starts with horror and suspense high on shock factor that has the audience screaming, and changes drastically, with a purposeful mismatch in look and feel, into romance in the last 20 minutes that the audience finds a bit slow yet heartbreaking, is about a marriage proposal underwater that goes awry as the would-be groom Guo Xiao Dong goes missing while the would-be bride Angelica Lee loses part of her ROM, RAM, harddisk, memory card and suffers from mental breakdown. Missing opens in theatres in Asia on June 12.

-- Fist of Legend --

I think the most eagerly awaited upcoming Dragon Dynasty release is probably the long-awaited re-issue of Jet Li’s kung fu classic ‘Fist Of Legend’. An earlier DVD edition of the film featured only the English dubbed American edit. Now we get the chance to give the DD treatment to the last truly great kung fu film of the 90s wu shu wave. It was a great pleasure to sit down with an old friend, director Gordon Chan, to shoot an exclusive video interview in which he discusses the genesis, development and filming of Fist Of Legend.

For those new to the genre, Fist Of Legend is a palimpset of Bruce Lee’s Fist Of Fury, a rich embellishment of an established text. It brought together a unique synthesis of Gordon Chan’s story-telling, Yuen Woo-ping’s choreography and the charisma of action icon Jet Li.  Bey Logan Blog >>More<<

-- Missing --

The underwater ruins off Yonaguni coast are exquisite, invaluable, and captivating beyond imagination. The ruins show the advancement of the civilisation over 10 thousand years ago, before the city was flooded, remaining submerged under the sea to the present day. It makes Tsui Hark wonder why no one has given a serious thought about how the priceless treasure could serve as a warning to us on avoiding a repeat of history.

"Actually, it isn't in my element to do a suspense/mystery. However, as I took a keen interest on the ancient citadel, and also thought that weaving a romantic tale with it would be meaningful, I came up with the story." In Missing, Tsui Hark wishes to show the ancient civilisation, the relationships between (Wo)Man and environment, the thoughts and concerns of people dwelling in city.

Looking at the gradually evanescing remnants of the historical civilisation inevitably reminds Tsui Hark of the crisis the Earth is facing in the 21st century - global warming: melting of Arctic ice at an alarming rate that results in release of methane from the seabed and rising sea level... The Earth is facing such serious global threats. What are the causes. What would happen to our world 50 years later? How could we change our lifestyles to salvage the situation?

-- Missing --

Filming of Missing took place in four major locations - Hong Kong, Shanghai, Japan and Taiwan. Apart from Yonaguni Island, underwater photography was also carried out off a few Taiwanese coasts.

Training in scuba diving began in March 2007. In April, the production arrived in Okinawa, spending a week acclimatising themselves with the water conditions and climate. A Taiwan scuba diving coach Xie and his four assistants were employed to assist in filming, for they are familiar with the underwater conditions in Japan and Taiwan.

-- Forbidden Kingdom --

Having worked with Yuen Wo Ping a number of times, Ngai Sing, who plays Jade Warlord in the recently released Forbidden Kingdom, describes him as one of martial arts directors he most enjoys working with. Whenever Yuen Wo Ping invites him to join a project, he would not turn down him down.

Ngai Sing, who is expected to join Yuen Wo Ping's upcoming directorial project Iron Mask, elaborates, "Yuen Wo Ping's techniques change and improve with the advancement of technology and filmmaking, he is vastly different from some of the older generations who are not receptive to changes or new ideas. Yuen Wo Ping is often willing to listen to suggestions of younger filmmakers, he is willing to employ their creative ideas, and combined with his years of experience in martial arts choreography, re-works on his own ideas. His martial arts direction often tells a story, like a graceful, beautiful ballet.