Seven Swords at Cannes, Dubbing in Three Languages, Press Conference

-- Seven Swords Press Conference & Fan Chat --

On May 16 afternoon, Tsui Hark and Sina inked a deal appointing Sina as the official web portal for Seven Swords 《七剑》 media and publicity. All information regarding Seven Swords, such as photos, trailers and news, will first be published on Sina. After signing the deal, a 5-min behind-the-scenes footage was shown. Then a press conference and a fan chat were held.

Tsui Hark says that he had a cameo as a shepherd living in the vicinity who waves at The Seven Swords as they go down Mt Tian. However, the scene did not make it to the final cut for Tsui Hark wants a tighter pace. On the other hand, Tsui Hark is lending his voice to one of the twelve bounty hunters under Wind-Fire's command who has but a few lines. Tsui Hark also says that Akira Kurosawa and his films, such as Seven Samurai, have great impact on him and his works, and he intends to make a hexalogy or even septalogy out of Liang Yusheng novel Seven Swords from Mount Heaven 《七剑下天山》. The first movie, based on the characters and premise from the source material, is basically a creative extrapolation of events that come before the novel.

"The characters in Seven Swords are not quite successful in love. All of them, Lu Yi, Charlie Yeung Choi Nei, Donnie Yen, Leon Lai and Sun Hong Lei face many obstacles in their pursuits of love. Actually, I want to create a heartwarming effect. Putting aside their setbacks in love, of being lovelorn, they gain a renewed strength, The Seven Swords would come together to rectify injustices, stepping out of a personal world into one of altruism." reveals Tsui Hark. As opposed to family values of Once Upon a Time in China, Seven Swords accentuates the sense of incumbency of knights-errant, and the filming technique used stands out considerably as it tends towards reality.

Much has been debated over the suitability of casting non-wuxia-esque Leon Lai. Tsui Hark replies, "Leon Lai does not have the look of a swordsman, but that's what makes wuxia world so fascinating. The old-school wuxia movies tend to typify certain types of pugilists, and everything feels the same. So, I feel that it's important to have Leon Lai around." In response to another enquiry on it being an oversight for not recruiting Jet Li, Tsui Hark says, "It might be a great pity that we didn't get Jet Li, but it might give a different feel without Jet Li. Actually, I might want to work with Jet Li on my next project. I'd announce it at a later time."

While the full version of Seven Swords failed to make it to Cannes as it's still in post-production concurrently in Beijing, Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Tokyo, a 15-min promo reel was sent instead. However, Tsui Hark intends to bring the movie, along with the cast, to 62nd Venice Film Festival (August 31 - September 10). Post-production expects to be completed in two months and the film opens across major cities in Asia on July 29. A grand premiere will be held in Changsha.  Sina

Photos and videos: Signing the Contract, Fan Chat

-- Seven Swords to Open Venice Film Festival --

On being contacted, Tsui Hark's wife See Nan Sun confirms that Seven Swords has received the invitation to open 62nd Venice Film Festival (August 31 - September 10). She adds that they need to finish post-production and get the green light from China censorship authority before formally accepting the offer. There were many films competing keenly to open Venice Film Festival, with the strongest Chinese contender being Chen Kaige's The Promise. See Nan Sun believes that The Promise is also a fine film, she feels that it doesn't matter which work gets chosen as long as Chinese films bring honour to the country. She hopes to see more Chinese films gaining worldwide recognition.

Apart from some special effects, the most important aspect of post-production for Seven Swords is digital transfer, part of the film needs frame-by-frame colour processing, which can take a minimum of ten weeks. This will help produce the best visuals, and is being handled by the special effects house from Lord of the Rings.

According to See Nan Sun, Tsui Hark already had the script for the sequels right in his head before production of Seven Swords began. After completion of Seven Swords, they'd be planning the second movie, "If time permits, we hope to begin production by the end of the year, for the filming location could be affected greatly by the weather."  Shanghai Youth Daily

-- Seven Swords in Three Languages --

Donnie Yen, who is in Beijing to do Mandarin dub for his character Chu Zhao Nan, reveals that he is lending his voice for Mandarin, Cantonese and Korean versions of Seven Swords. He says that dubbings for Cantonese and Korean versions have already been completed in Hong Kong. As Korean was practically alien to him, Donnie Yen had a language teacher to guide him through. "Chu Zhao Nan carries an air of inscrutability, his feelings are very complex, you can never tell what he is up to from his voice. So, I wish to use different intonations to express his different moods." Donnie Yen elaborates. Originally, they had wanted to hire a voice actor for Chu Zhao Nan for the Mandarin dub, but Donnie Yen feels that he is better able to convey the subtle emotions of the character. Donnie Yen also says that when filming SPL, he had it in mind to challenge Ong-Bak.  Beijing Star Daily, Sohu | Photos: Sohu, Videos: Sohu A, B