Film News

-- Shaolin --

At Shaolin press conference held in Beijing on December 28 to unveil the latest poster and trailer, Benny Chan indicates that it cost 20m yuan to build the Shaolin Temple replica, which recreates every minute details of the actual Shaolin Temple, including the overview, the bricks and tiles, the pillar, such that when they're shooting, they could damage anything during action scenes to create the most realistic results, especially the burning of Shaolin Temple, that scene took them 4 months to prepare and 1 month to shoot.

Jackie Chan feels that he was getting more than he bargained for, "I'm playing a Henan-accented cooking monk who knows no martial arts, it's rather special. I don't think what I did is a cameo, though it was a 7-day shoot, I had to shoot non-stop from 6am morning through midnight to 6am the next day. I was only given one hour's sleep. Initially, I had a bigger role, but I was preparing another film, and they were clashing with each other, so, the director rewrote my part, I'm very glad to be working with him again."

Fan Bing Bing who works very hard for her role, not only requested for the director to add some action scenes for her, but also had to soak in ice-cold water for 3hrs, "The scene I was soaked in water was shot last winter, similar to the temperature right now, at first the director poured some warm water, but the steam was captured on the film too, so they had to change to cold water. As an actress, one should do one's best, everyone was working so seriously, I couldn't be laidback either."  Baidu

Gillian Chung, who was filming The Holy Pearl TV series nearby when Shaolin was in production, dropped by the set for a visit during her break. Gillian Chung, who was in costume for her work, chatted with the director Benny Chan and some of the cast members, like Andy Lau and Nicholas Tse. She was taken aback by the life-size replica of Shaolin, "I have never been to Shaolin Temple, yet I could feel the awe of Shaolin through this set."

And she was also witnessed Xing Yu, Yu Shao Qun and various Shaolin monks standing one-legged atop the poles that were three-storey high, "This is so exciting! Is this Shaolin kungfu? So young, yet such remarkable skills, excellent! It's inspiring me to go through another session of martial arts training!"

Continue reading "Gillian Chung's Pilgrimage to Shaolin + Extended Trailer"

-- Flying Swords of Dragon Inn --
 After filming Flying Swords of Dragon Inn for 2 months, Jet Li has finished his all scenes on Dec 24. (The film is still in production). On the last day, he did 20 shots straight from morning to midnight, including highly demanding action. After the last shot, Jet Li watches the playback with director Tsui Hark, and chats about 3D filming. He says he hardly knew 3D at first, but has now acquired practical experiences on 3D filming, exclaiming that one could never stop learning. Tsui Hark remarks that it's a record have completed 20 scenes in one day for a 3D film. Then Jet Li bids everyone farewell, while he and the director give each other a warm hug. And the crew and cast, including Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, also throw a surprise party to celebrate Guey Lun Mei's birthday, that falls on Christmas, as midnight approaches.
 
 Li Yuan says that doing action scenes continuously for days in Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, reminds him of his days in Legend of Shaolin Kungfu TV series. He has to get up at around 5.30am in the morning as it takes over an hour's journey to arrive on the set, shoots in the daytime, and watches playback at night. Li Yuan, most famous for his role as the monk in the fantastic TV series Legend of Shaolin Kungfu trilogy as well as for playing Danny Chan's main rival in Legend of Bruce Lee TV series, first met Tsui Hark when he auditioned for a role in Seven Swords, Tsui Hark was highly appreciative of his wushu talents, and picked him, but owing to some commercial reasons, the role was given to a celebrity. Still, Tsui Hark invited him to follow him to the set, whereby Li Yuan worked as a stunt-double. Sina

Fan Siu Wong: I have just finished filming Wilson Yip's A Chinese Ghost Story, I'm doing 4 projects right now, two are movies, Tsui Hark's Flying Swords of Dragon Gate and Soi Cheang's The Monkey King, and both 3D movies, so shooting them are more difficult. Because the demands are higher, when we shoot action films in the past, each shot could be shorter, but for Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, they are after longer cuts, and because this is in 3D, the audience will see a sense of depth, this 3D feel is very palpable, if the cuts are too short, it would confound the eyes, cause vertigo, so, we have to do longer takes. The martial arts choreographer tells us that when we fight, we must consider the depth of field too, like the sword, if we put it closer to the camera, the audience would feel as if the sword is right in front of them.

Continue reading "Fan Siu Wong Interview: From Early Days to More Recent Works, including Flying Swords of Dragon Gate"