In this spectacular and unpredictable epic action-adventure tale, Boston teenager Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano) confronts the toughest journey he has ever faced in his life – one which takes him through ancient China, facing battles with murderous Jade Warriors, the villainous Jade Warlord (Collin Chou) and the indomitable one with no remorse and no conscience – the White-Haired Demoness (Li Bingbing). Last but not least, Jason experiences first love with a revenge-bent female fighter (Liu Yifei).
“Making the first film in which Jackie Chan and Jet Li are starring together is in itself already special. But being both a martial arts film and a contemporary American film makes this film unlike any martial arts film before. All we want to do is to make a good movie; a fun, good movie that will appeal to both the East and the West, and I think we have done it,” surmises executive producer Raffaella De Laurentiis.
Actor Collin Chou rounds up, "This is such a great production combination. We have the world’s best director of photography and action choreographer, the best producers, screenwriter and director. Last but not least, we have the two best martial arts superstars in the world – Jackie and Jet. How do you top this?
“It is pure ingenuity for John to develop such a smart idea for a screenplay. By using the Monkey King as a basis and through adapting and interspersing different characters from the many well-known Chinese legends, he has created a totally unique story. Brilliant.”
The Forbidden Kingdom is thus brought to life as the martial arts action-adventure movie audiences all over the world have all been waiting for.
Unknown to the world, Jet Li and Jackie Chan have actually had two missed opportunities at working together - once fifteen years ago and another time eight years ago. So upon hearing that the other would be involved in The Forbidden Kingdom, it was a strong push factor and serendipitous of sorts as well for the both of them. Chan attests, "Once I heard that Jet had agreed to do it, I agreed right away."
Says Li, "Finally, we get to work together. Of course I am delighted. Before this production, we are already close friends so this has been such a great opportunity. If given a chance, I will definitely work with Jackie again." Chan agrees, "It has been really fun!"
Getting Maestro Yuen Wo Ping Aboard
Getting an action director who could appease the two superstars of martial arts cinema was not easy. As producer Casey Silver says, "The only choreographer who could truly stand in the middle between these two giants and serve each of them, serve the movie, bring credibility and respect from everybody and keep it all real was Yuen Wo Ping."
Jet Li was all for hiring Yuen Wo Ping to do the job. "Everyone knows that Wo Ping is the most famous action director in China and in the world. That is why I really pushed very hard to work with him again in this movie. I told the producers that they must bring Wo Ping into this movie. I believe in him and that he and his team will deliver great things for this movie." Wo Ping and Jet have worked together consistently over the years, the most recent film being the period martial arts piece, Fearless.
While Yuen Wo Ping was waiting for Li and Chan to commit to the film, Li and Chan were doing the same. That was the amount of standing Yuen Wo Ping had in the hearts of Chan and Li. "Wo Ping, for me, was an essential ingredient to making this movie work so I spent a long time wooing Wo Ping to the table," says Silver. They all ended up saying yes at the same time.
Besides his work in Asian cinema, Yuen Wo Ping has also made Hollywood films like The Matrix, Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. These are all movies choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping that has translated globally and become massive box office hits.
There is another fascinating story within this: Yuen Wo Ping directed Jackie Chan in Drunken Master in 1978, and the Lu Yan character in this film is loosely based on the Drunken Master, which was incidentally played by Wo Ping’s father. Chan and Yuen Wo Ping's history go way back to when they were kids, the two of them actually grew up together learning martial arts in the same school. However, they have not worked together in more than two decades and coming together for The Forbidden Kingdom is the reunion that everyone has been anticipating.
"What we really wanted was to get the best choreographer we could because we were putting the world’s two best martial artists together and we did not want to disappoint the audience. We wanted what was to be choreographed for them to be at the highest level possible. And I have heard stories from Jackie about growing up and working closely with Wo Ping on their earlier films. So this is like a reunion for all of them," says Silver.
Action Choreography By Yuen Clan
Earlier in the process before principal photography, Yuen Wo Ping, Silver, director Rob Minkoff and John Fusco the writer, would discuss the script and map out the stories that would take place before and after each fight scene. This kept an eye on the characters and the narrative they were trying to tell and within those boundaries, they would discuss the broad strokes of where the story was heading. The numerous fight sequences were also worked into the different set designs.
Minkoff says, "Wo Ping has been given a very wide berth with a lot of leeway to create, interpret and use his inspirations. As such, in all the many different ways, regardless of how big or small, the fight sequences for Chan, Li, Drunken Master or the Monkey King, are all different reflections of Yuen Wo Ping himself.”
To allow the master to present his work, Silver and Minkoff have generously stepped back on many occasions. As observed by Silver, "I was struck by the beauty of the martial artistry that Wo Ping has created."
The action choreography for this film was done in the certain style that many Asian martial arts films are completed but not like how the American martial arts films are done. Using the Hong Kong style of action filmmaking means that the stunt team is choreographing the fight about five minutes before the fight is filmed. For some of the non-trained actors, it took some getting used to.
"At first, it was quite intimidating for me as we did not get a chance to rehearse the moves adequately. But as filming went on, I found myself getting more and more used to it. I could adapt to the moves and the pace better," says Michael Angarano. "It is all about your mindset. You cannot think about what you are going to do. They show you what you have to do, you learn it and you just do it, and you have to do it fast."
Yuen Wo Ping takes the ideas of the basic storytelling and then spins them in a new way and this is carried out on the day of the shoot. This is untypical of any Hollywood production.
"Wo Ping, his brothers and a couple of his key team people will get together, form a basic idea, and they literally work out a few moves at a time, where one will suggest an idea and then someone else will refine it and then another person will take it and suggest something else. At the end of it, Wo Ping is the one who says yes to the final idea. And then they go ahead and shoot it,” explains Minkoff.
“When the camera is moving and the actors are moving and spinning around, they literally shoot everything one moment at a time. To do this kind of work is to cut into the camera literally, collecting piece by piece what you need and then put them together literally like a jigsaw puzzle. It’s quite unusual because sometimes they move the camera in three hundred and sixty degrees which requires all of the crew to move all of the lighting equipment so they shoot on one side and then they pick up everything and they move it to the other side, and they move so fast and adjust all the heavy equipment with such coordination, it’s just an incredible thing to watch.”
Jackie Chan feels less pressure working on The Forbidden Kingdom and cites the reason, “The action sequences for this film has been a breeze for me. Normally, when I take on an action film as an actor, I will still be advising on the action choreography, directing the action and even act as stunt coordinator. It was especially so in Rush Hour. Whenever I was in my trailer, they will walkie-talkie me and say that the director is looking for me. I don't get to rest. I have to practice my English dialogue, I have to train the people how to fight, I have to design the fighting sequences and teach people to do all the fighting sequences. In this case, because there is Wo Ping, I am totally relaxed and at ease. We have been working together since thirty years ago on films such as Snake Eagle Shadow, Drunken Master.”
Jet Li agrees and explains, "For movies such as Fearless, it is a very personal project so I will get involved in the story, the action choreography, the creative aspects. I demand more out of it in order to achieve my personal vision. But for The Forbidden Kingdom, I left it entirely to Wo Ping and his team whom I believe can do their jobs very well and complete the film’s requirements, so I contribute less."
Cinematography and Capturing the Action
Like the rest, Peter Pau was attracted to the film because of the strong script and cast elements. “I think it is a great idea putting two of the most significant and well known Chinese martial artists together in a film and shooting it entirely in China. My initial response to this was “Wow, what a great opportunity to be working with the two greats in a film!” says Pau.
He adds, “Also, this very ambitious script not only provides learnings into Chinese virtue, it is unique in the way that it links cross-cultural events in the modern and the ancient worlds. Being a martial arts practitioner, John Fusco must have treated the script as part of his journey into comprehending Chinese culture. By entwining the two unique cultures together, he has made it meaningful, yet entertaining and fun.”
For Pau, this is by far the biggest film he has shot in China to date. He says, “I had to put up two units with more than fifty crew members each for the cameras, lighting and grip departments. For everyone to maintain a consistently high standard and professional working attitude in a 17-week shoot with three to five weeks of preparation was quite a challenge indeed. Plus, there was the intensive travelling required for both the crew and the equipment. But I must say I am very pleased with my crew and their working spirit.”
Silver adds, “I have great admiration for Peter. If we were making a movie in Hollywood, it would already be a blessing to have him. But to have him on this project makes it wonderfully special for all of us here from Hollywood. Working with Peter has been an incredibly significant ingredient to realizing the look and feel of The Forbidden Kingdom.”
Approaching cinematography through the eyes of an artist, Pau describes the source of his inspiration, “If the mild non-saturated tone of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was inspired by Chinese watercolour painting, then based on the fact that The Forbidden Kingdom is a fantasy-adventure-action film with lots of room for creativity, it’s purely Van Gogh’s nature saturated with vivid colours.”
The whole filming process was made easier with the new Panavision digital Genesis camera systems that Pau used. He is the first in Asia to do so and professes, “I am very pleased by the quality of the CCD and of course, the lenses of Panavision, the one-hour-recording capability and the possibility for it to run at 48fps in real frames. It’s a reliable and safe system that we have tested with the heat and dust in the desert, the moisture at the waterfalls and mountain valley and the heavy-duty usage in the non-air-conditioned stages in hot summer. There is no danger of shipping it out and having the “negatives” processed and so far no dust or scratches reported.”
Known for his relentless vision and hard work, Pau has single-mindedness and a drive that distinguishes him from the rest of the horde. As Pau explains fully, “I usually pre-plan all shots at the beginning of the day to make sure the shots-order works well with the actors, with the equipment set-ups and saves time. I try to incorporate as much movement as possible but yet not jeopardize the processes on the day of the shoot.”
An example of how Pau completes his work with aplomb can be seen in how he shot what he considers to be the most important fight scene of the film. “For Jackie and Jet’s fight, I suggested a stage interior of a ruin temple and created a golden major hour look with a subdued atmosphere to enhance the action. I think this is the most memorable scene of the film so I put all my focus on it. As Rob and Wo Ping asked for the actors to be able to move around as much as possible, I resorted to using a 15-foot Technocrane for the flexibility, and two remote heads with two Super Sky-Mode cranes to enable extensive movements by both the main and action units. My crew of camera and grip did a fantastic job as always,” elaborates Pau.
Besides his ability to execute and move things through every day as an accomplished cinematographer with no language or cultural barrier working in China, Pau’s celebrated work in numerous martial arts films especially in the acclaimed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, together with his Chinese background, culminated into a cultural sensitivity and awareness that ignites the material Western interpreted material something precious and tangibly Chinese.
Pau shares his experience on making martial arts come alive, “The timing of the movement is the key issue to emphasizing action. The crane movement usually involves one or more crane operators, dolly operators, zoom control person, either on a Technocrane or zoom lens, and I myself will be operating the remote control head. To put all these people in sync with the fast paced action requires what I called “dancing beats”. All the relevant crew must memorize the action beats in order to do this right. That needs a dedicated crew to work years together to achieve such a result.”
Director Rob Minkoff is full of appreciation, “Peter has been a terrific collaborator as we have had to rely on him to show us the true Chinese traditions that end up in the content of this film. It is very important to me that the film does not end up being an Americanized version of this Chinese story even though it is telling the story of an American boy and his journey to this foreign place.”
[...NEXT] 
andy lau
