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Delivering the Martial Arts Sequences
Jackie Chan believes that Yuen Wo Ping may have been under some pressure to design different sequences for he and Jet Li but he was totally confident that Yuen Wo Ping would deliver. What surprised Chan was that during the very first fight sequence that he and Jet Li had to perform, they hit upon something rare. “It was seamless. With most people, you have to practise. But with Jet, I don't know why, we both looked at each other and we just said, “Let’s just do it, yeah” and we did it. He probably wanted to try how fast I am and I wanted to try how good he is. The first two takes were so fast that everybody had to tell us to slow down or they would have had to put the camera speed slower.”
The chemistry between Chan and Li was a bonus to the entire film. “Mostly, when I fight with people, it will take ten to fifteen takes. Jet and I took three to five takes for our fights, that’s all. All I do is tell Jet I will do these few strokes and let him know my rhythm. He then picks up my rhythm and just reacts with his strokes. It’s not common. All these years, this sort of chemistry has only surfaced when I fight with Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, nobody else. Jet is a professional just like me,” says Chan.
For Michael Angarano, he has gained a whole new perspective for something he was not privy to before, “Now I feel very special about kungfu movies. Watching them and being in one are two very different things. I have always respected it but now, I really admire the people who make Chinese kungfu movies because there is so much hard work that goes into it.”
“It is not just about fighting, but more like dancing. You have to be in tune with the person next to you, because if you are not in sync, then the fight is not going to work. That is something that Jet Li taught me. It is about performing and so much goes into that. Not only is it important how hard the person throws the punch, it matters how hard it looks like they are throwing it. It is also equally important that the person receiving the punch makes it looks good, so it takes cooperation from both sides. I am really so honored that I have the opportunity to do something like this. It is an opportunity that not many people get and I think I realize that I have tried to do to the best of my ability to fulfill that opportunity,” he continues.
Out of all the fight sequences that Angarano had to do, what he found most challenging was an intense fight scene with Jet Li. "We were depicting a scene where he is training me but the tempo and the speed at which we had the fight with these staffs was very fast and I did not want to let Jet down. That was really stressful," recalls Angarano.
Despite his lack of martial arts background, Angarano was a natural on set and even Jet Li is full of praise for him, “Michael is very smart and I am not the only one who thinks so. Wo Ping has also commented that Michael is able to grasp the action sequences very quickly. I think he has the talent to learn action movies and kungfu. Not many people can control their body well but he can do it.”
In return, Angarano has this to say about the action team, “Wo Ping and his team are such good teachers, they really do a great job of relating to you what you have to do. When there is something physically or mentally that you are not understanding quite well, they can see it and can pinpoint exactly what it is. Just by looking at a sequence once, they will have all the things that I was doing wrong down pat. Unbelievable.”
The two female actresses, Li Bingbing and Liu Yifei, have their own nuances in dealing with the expectations for the action sequences.
Bingbing laughs and relates her experience, “It was most frightening to fight with Yifei as we are both non-professionals and belong to the weaker sex. We cringe when we have to fight each other. It’s an innate reaction I suppose. For example, I will use very little strength to strangle Yifei. Then Wo Ping will stop me and say it doesn't look realistic and that I need to put in more strength. However, I am afraid that I might hurt her and she feels the same too. So I will apologize every time before I do it with more strength.”
Fighting Chan is less stressful according to Bingbing, “No matter how you fight, whether with the right or wrong moves, Jackie will be able to receive them and help you finish your strokes. If I strike too high or too low he will still be able to intercept and we can complete the sequence. So fighting with Jackie is the least worrying and the most fun. In fact, I actually look forward to it.”
For actress Liu, carrying a pipa while horse riding proved to be challenging, "The pipa was always hitting my head. So Jet took care of me, as he is more experienced with galloping fast on the horse. He would always turn around to see if I am alright even before his horse comes to a complete stop." Jet Li also showed Liu the art of throwing darts with finesse while Chan would encourage her on if her fighting scenes with them suffered numerous retakes.
When it came to the large-scale finale scene in the film, it proved to be a massive coordination and designing effort to script the action sequences with hundreds of extras and the extensive and intensive action choreography for all the lead characters, especially the White-Haired Demoness. The uncontrollable factors in such a long scene escalate in numbers and the finale fighting took almost a month to complete. The sweltering heat of over forty degrees Celsius did not help the entire process. The actors felt drained even before they lifted up their heavy weapons and makeup artists were kept busy constantly touching up the melting makeup.
Bingbing laughingly says, “No matter what, I still have to be cool and fight with the most zest. I have to believe and show that I am the most highly skilled fighter in the kingdom. I have to be in the best state but I have to control my perspiration.”
Injuries in action movies are real and unavoidable. Bingbing and Jet Li had bad scratches on their arms and palms from hanging off fake rock surfaces. Bruises were constant sore points covered up by costumes. Chan and Bingbing both hurt their backs filming the finale battlement scene through extensive backbreaking wire-hanging and flying.
But despite all these, the actors only have positive things to say about filming the action sequences for this epic.
Actor Collin Chou, who has worked with Yuen Wo Ping countless times including in Fearless and The Matrix comments, “There is always something new that he will bring to a film so it is always a pleasure and a breath of fresh air to work with he and his team. For the Jade Warlord character that I play, he has created some excellent action choreography. I really enjoy doing the stunts for Wo Ping every time.”
First-time action actress Liu is also a huge fan of Yuen Wo Ping’s work. She says, “I am delighted to be able to work with Wo Ping as I like all his films including Kill Bill, The Matrix and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. So working with him, and with Jackie and Jet gives me a lot of opportunities to improve myself.
Exploring The Meaning of Kungfu
The Forbidden Kingdom is not the cinematic version of any specific Chinese literary work and even less of the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West". Rather, the filmmakers wanted to draw some of the characters and situations from such tradition to tell a new and contemporary story.
Producer Casey Silver explains, “The movie is about a classic hero’s journey. It is a big adventure movie with exotic locations and characters, humor, action, romance, even some fantasy elements. At the core of it, it has an emotional center and a specific theme – one that inspires.”
Executive producer Raffaella De Laurentiis adds, “This movie has its heart in the right place.”
Silver was filming Hidalgo five years ago in Morocco when screenwriter John Fusco told him the story of The Forbidden Kingdom and got him hooked.
“My son practices martial arts and I started to wonder why there hasn’t been a broad appeal movie for the West with a deeper idea about the beauty and poetry, as well as the deeper philosophy that underlies kungfu. The possibility of capturing something that would translate to a Western audience and have the cinematic elements of acrobatics and athleticism and to showcase above all of that, the underlying philosophy of: “What does kungfu mean?” ” What is it really about?” was the primary thread in my head once John told me the story,” explains Silver.
Agrees Fusco, “Besides hoping that Western moviegoers come away from this movie wanting to read “Journey To The West” and to explore more about the classic Chinese novels and mythology, we also hope that they come away from the movie having learned that there is more to kungfu.” At the end of his adventures, the young hero in The Forbidden Kingdom would learn to face his fears while learning the deeper meaning of kungfu.
Similarly, the actors and filmmakers have experienced the same from making this revolutionary movie. "Kungfu is a philosophy. It is a way of life; not just a way of fighting, but a way of thinking. It is a way of peace, it is a way to find yourself, and a way to be at peace with everything around you," shares actor Michael Angarano who has completely embraced the beliefs of kungfu since participating in the film.
“With the source material for this movie stemming from Chinese mythology and Chinese popular culture, The Forbidden Kingdom is a celebration of all that and at the risk of being redundant, the philosophy underlying the deeper meanings of kungfu,” says Fusco.
Implementing Different Martial Arts Forms and Styles
Having studied Korean martial arts at the age of thirteen, a year before the “Kung Fu” TV series and the films of Bruce Lee created an explosion of martial arts popularity in the U.S., John Fusco has an unwavering interest in martial arts and its philosophy. So it comes as no surprise that his childhood love of Chinese culture and martial arts has found its way into The Forbidden Kingdom.
Says action superstar Jackie Chan, “You can tell that John is deeply mesmerized by Chinese culture and Chinese kungfu movies from the way he has incorporated all the different characters into one movie, from the Drunken Master, the Heavenly King, the Monkey King, the Eight Immortals, the Bride with White Hair, just about everybody. So when I first heard the story from Casey three years ago, I was sold by the ideology of how we can convert this tale based on ancient Chinese legends starting out from Chinese culture to become world culture.”
“I was deeply motivated to introduce such rich Chinese legends as the Monkey King to a global Western audience for the first time in the history of filmmaking,” says Fusco. “By bringing back some of these classic Chinese ideas and characters, we hope to expose Chinese culture and history to a whole new audience who aren’t so familiar with these classic legends and characters. If we can get the younger generations and the Western moviegoers to develop an interest in exploring these classics further after watching the movie, we would have achieved our goals,” professes Fusco.
When most screenwriters reach the fighting scenes, they usually write, “And now they fight.” Screenwriter John Fusco went much further: he scripted the exact kungfu moves he envisioned onto the script pages, and this was for one of the most successful and influential action directors in the history of Hong Kong cinema, if not the world. But Yuen Wo Ping respected Fusco’s interpretation and used his suggestions as jumping-off points when he choreographed the fighting styles for the characters.
Some styles that Fusco had designated for the characters were essential to the story, like Monkey Kung Fu for the Monkey King and Drunken Fist for Lu Yan. Yuen then assigned signature martial systems to others: Phoenix Dancing in Ninth Heaven for the villain Ni-Chang is one example.
One of the first conversations director Rob Minkoff had with Yuen Wo Ping was to put across the idea of incorporating different styles of martial arts in the film. "We have street fighting style, and then we have wire-flying, and then we have Qi Magic. So there are different types and levels of fighting, choreography and sensibility," says Minkoff. It was something that had not been done before and Yuen Wo Ping was agreeable to trying this out.
The different martial arts and fighting styles showcased in The Forbidden Kingdom span from Shandong Black Tiger to Praying Mantis, Snake Fist, Leopard Style, Crane Boxing, Tiger Claw, Willow Leaf Palm, Eagle Claw and the Seeking Leg style.
Moving on, there are also fist fighting, swordplay and stick fighting.
Weapons used include poisonous arrows, the Crescent Moon sword for the evil Jade Warlord, butterfly knives and lethal darts for Golden Sparrow, moving on to monk cudgels to deer hook swords, spears, whips, and even the hair of the White-Haired Demoness.
To see how this all fits in, in an ambitious fight scene in a plum blossom orchard in Fang Yan, you will see Michael Angarano wielding his staff against attacking soldiers while Jet Li uses his sash as a weapon on the left, with Jackie Chan doing Hung Gar to his right. Forbidden Kingdom Production Notes, Pinema.com | Photos: Sina
Related Links
• Forbidden Kingdom Official Site
• Order Yuen Wo Ping DVD
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