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Ngai Sing (or Collin Chou) says that he admires director Benny Chan for his enterprising spirit, "Director Benny Chan is very bold, he dares experiment something he has never done before, I take my hats off to him for that. I also admire his talents, no matter what subject he's filming, it's as if he's telling the ups and downs of one's life.

Continue reading "Ngai Sing Interview on City Under Siege: A Day in the Life of A Mutant"

Gordon Chan has been in the industry for some decades, starting at the Shaw Brothers as a special effect assistant and later writing scripts for Tsui Hark, John Woo and the likes in the Film Workshop. Writing has always been an important part in his professional life as he wrote all his films and helped out a lot of filmmakers to shape engaging stories.
 
In addition to scriptwriting, Chan directed all kinds of movies from light social comedies like Heart to Hearts to nonsensical laugh-out-loud comedies such as the Fight Back To School series, King of Beggars, to police dramas and action flicks with Final Option, to kung fu films with Fist of Legend, to modern wuxia pian like Painted Skin or straight Jackie Chan’s flicks with Thunderbolt or The Medallion. HK Cinemagic >>More<<

-- Legend of Chen Zhen --
On December 20, the press got to visit the set of Legend of Chen Zhen, and witnessed the filming of a scene where Donnie Yen, having just returned from abroad, is playing the piano with aplomb at Hundred Joys, sweeping girls off their feet.

 

Donnie Yen, who, in a way, came from a family of musicians in which his mother, who apart from teaching martial arts in Boston, is a soprano and father a violinist, picked up the piano while very young. He was last seen on the piano in Love on The Rocks, and gets to flaunt his piano virtuosity again in Legend of Chen Zhen.

Continue reading "The Legend of Westernised Chen Zhen, The Piano Virtuoso"

 During the filming of Painted Skin in winter, the director and crew ignored the Chinese actress to help her get into character.
 
 Chinese actress Vicki Zhao had a miserable, really miserable winter in China late last year. The usually vivacious Zhao had been cast in the Hong Kong fantasy action film Painted Skin, as Peirong, the despairing wife of a general (Chen Kun) bewitched by a demonic temptress (Zhou Xun). Continue reading "Painted Blue: Vicky Zhao Wei Gets Depressed"

-- Painted Skin --

 As Painted Skin, directed by Gordan Chan, opens in theatres today, Donnie Yen gets interviewed by The Star, telling those looking to see him in action to wait for his next film (Ip Man):
 
 “I’ve never had a chance to really show that I can be funny as well [except for Mismatched Couple, Drunken Tai Chi]. No director in Hong Kong has ever dared to give me a role like this, one that allows the audience the chance to see another side of Donnie Yen - the playful and happy side of me,” he said. “This time around, the director, whom I’ve known for a long time now, decided that we should try and show audiences my playful side.” 
 
 “Frankly speaking, this (Painted Skin) was more of an experiment for me. I wanted to test whether the audience could accept me in a role like that. I’ve already established myself as a martial arts actor after all these years, so I will still continue to do those kinds of movies.”
 
 “As an actor, I must be able to respect my character first, before talking about how much money I’ll get. Of course, if you gave me a lot of money to do something, then I might consider it but I will always try to keep to my principles, and choose characters that mean a lot to me. I don’t think it’s worth doing a role that means nothing to me or one that does not have a positive message on society in general.”

-- Painted Skin --

Spoilers...

Continue reading "Painted Skin: Characters and Plot"

-- 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<<

-- Painted Skin --

After 2 1/2 months of filming, Painted Skin has wrapped up production on February 3. Post-production will start with making a rough edit before dubbing is done, while special effects will take 4 months to create. The scenes involving Zhao Wei, Zhou Xun and Chen Kun are primarily drama while those involving Donnie Yen, Sun Li, and Qi Yi Wu, who's playing a villainous reptile spirit, contain a fair bit of action.

 

As an award-winning action director, Donnie Yen, being fully aware that having come thus far in martial arts choreography, it'll be very hard to make further breakthrough within a short period, hopes to portray a character that is different, to develop himself as an actor. However, he has not been given much chance in this area. Thus, Donnie Yen is very grateful to director Gordon Chan for giving him such an opportunity, frequently communicating with him, digging out his potential in acting. Donnie Yen also has a wonderful time working with his costars, saying that he has learned many things from them. He's full of praise for Zhou Xun's acting and has forged a close bond with Chen Kun.  Sina

-- Painted Skin --

Press conference marking the commencement of Painted Skin production was held on Dec 4 in Beijing, with the six major cast members Donnie Yen, Vicky Zhao, Chen Kun, Sun Li, Qi Yi Wu and Zhou Xun in attendance. However, director Gordan Chan was absent. Chen Kun will play scholar Chong Wen, while Donnie Yen plays his priest brother Chong Wu, Zhou Xun plays the ghost vixen Shui Mei Ling. While the roles of the other three were not revealed at the press conference, other reports suggest that Sun Li would be playing Shui Mei Ling's ruthless sister, Vicky Zhao the sickly but virtuous wife of Chong Wen and Qi Yuwu some villainous character.  Sina | Photos: Sina

 -- New Fist of Fury --
 Gordon Chan will be directing a remake of Fist of Fury, with Donnie Yen being invited to star as Chen Zhen, and Zhang Ziyi as the female lead though the latter is unlikely to be in the project due to other commitments. The script is still being written and the movie is expected to begin filming in mid 2007. According to Gordon Chan, Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury (1972) was a classic in Chinese film history, but that version put too much weight on revenge. So, when he made Fist of Legend in 1994, he didn't create a film that was about an all-out reprisal, but one that sought to find out the truth, and he did not paint a bad picture of all Japanese. This time around, Gordon Chan wishes to create new perspectives and views. In New Fist of Fury, Gordon Chan would retain the background and characters of the original, and using the art of combat as a springboard, he would highlight folk spirit and loyalty vs filial piety, and it would be more epic than the previous two films.  United News Daily