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October 2001
-- Romance of the Book and Sword --
When interviewed, the Golden Rooster
nominee, Zhao Wen Zhuo, expressed his envy for Jet Li and Jackie Chan who have
fought their way into the Hollywood. He hopes to do the same next year with Tsui
Hark's Romance of the Book and Sword, which is financed by a US company,
Columbia Pictures, and will be released worldwide. In this movie, he'll be
acting as Emperor Qianlong (Actually, Tsui Hark's first choice was Wu Jing, but
due to the whim and fancy of the investing companies, the role of Emperor
Qianlong has changed hands many times.) Zhao Wen Zhuo has always been proud of
Jet and Jackie's achievements in Hollywood, but he won't follow their footsteps.
Rather, he would continue to act in Chinese films, so that it would be more
flavourful.
Zhao Wen Zhuo's currently doing
Drunken Hero series, which will finish shooting by the end of next month. After
that, he should be doing a movie by Wu Zi-Niu before taking on Romance of the
Book and Sword next year. -- Chinese Heroes --
While Yuen Wo Ping's doing Matrix sequels,
it's a surprise to find he actually produced a new movie, Chinese Heroes, this
year. Starring some newcomers, Wang Haxi, Tang Ning, along with veterans like Chin
Ka Lor (Chin Kar Lok) and Shi Xiaolong, it just hits the screens here without much fanfare but this stands to be one of the better martial arts movies of 2001.
-- Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger --
A nearly 10 minutes preview video clip to the movie, in Real Video Format, is available here. Pictures available here. An interview with Jade Leung. Sneak Previews locally on 19 - 21 Oct; Opening on 25.
-- Romance of the Book and Sword --
============================== -- The Empire is of More Importance --
The Two Big Mysteries of Qing Dynasty
Shooting of the thirty episode series, The Empire is of More Importance, a joint production by Zhejiang Great Wall Production and Haining Government, has begun in 4th October in Haining.
There are two mysteries left behind by the legacy of The Qing Dynasty: One is Yongzheng's sudden departure from life, while the other relates to the birth of Emperor Qianlong. Several fables surrounding the two mysteries have been circulating among the people for hundreds of years. One fable says that Yongzheng was murdered by Lu Si-Niang. Yongzheng's tomb has never been opened, and people have been wondering if his body that lies inside the coffin was attached with a gold head, in order to verify if Lu Si-Niang had indeed sought vengeance on him.
According to Field History of Qing Dynasty, Qianglong was the son of Chen Yuan-Long of Haining. Emperor Kangxi chose the heir to his throne based not just on his son's capability to govern the Manchurian Empire, but also whether his grandson was of no lesser calibre, to ensure the Manchurians' everlasting reign over the country. Yongzheng's own son was a weakling and he surreptitiously arranged for his daughter to be swapped for Chen Yuan-Long's son, who became apple of Kangxi's eye. Thus, Yongzheng got to succeed the throne, and his "son", Hongli, subsequently became Emperor Qianlong. Later, when Qianlong went to southern part of the country four times, he stayed in Chen's house in Haining, leaving behind his calligraphy and also frequently also issued imperial decree making Haining a tax-free state.
The Empire is of More Importance is based on fables and historical records about these two mysteries, with its characters being modelled in some fashion after them. It has a deeply sorrowful theme about putting the welfare of the country above anything else. It talks about the young Qianlong and a tragic goddess - Yongzheng's daughter, Yu-Niang, who was an abandoned princess. Through the tragic love story between Qianlong and Yu-Niang, it shows the goodness and evil of people's heart, the struggle between love and hatred, and the inability to control one's destiny even as the king and the princess, especially when Chen Yuan-Long eventually had to poison his own son, Cheng Bang-Guo, and wrote, with tears of blood, The Empire is of More Importance.
This drama serial features a strong cast that includes Wu Jing, Xu Huai-Shan, Wei Zong-Wan, Fan Bing-Bing and Liu Guan-Xiong and a top-notch director, Jing Quan. The producer, Zhao Rui-Yong, told the press that, while it draws references from folk legends, it's far from being a fictitious show. Rather it blends the real historical facts with fables centring upon the mysteries. He hopes to make it as good as the classic, Imperial Court of Yongzheng.
Reported by Feng Feng, Qian Jiang Evening News, 05 October 2001 ==============================
It's evident that lots of effort has gone into The Challenge and it's actually good work. However, in a martial arts drama, particularly one that places strong emphasis on martial arts, apart from a good script, directorship and acting, it is the martial arts sequences that separate the wheat from the chaff. Sadly, The Challenge fails in its action department. Poor choreography that lacks inventiveness with too many repeated moves and spinning. Shots that are captured too closely and camera angles that are switched too abruptly for the audience to see the action.
On the other hand, the Shaolin monks, Zhag Yan-Bing and Weng Qinghai did display some impressive skills. There are times that Weng Qinghai shows good potential, but like the Shaolin monks and Zhag Yan-Bing, his martial arts skills were not put to best use here. It's high time TCS hire good choreographers or send him on oversea assignments to work with more experienced crew (How about Wu Jing?) in China or Hong Kong to allow him to develop his talent to the fullest, if he really has what it takes to be a great martial arts star.
Plot Outline:
Two good childhood friends, Weng Qinghai and Terence Cao, who practise martial arts together, fall for the same girl, Wong Lilin. Weng Qinghai is an honest, forthright and impetuous person who speaks his mind while Terence Cao is the taciturn, calm and deep type who keeps himself to himself.
They later become bitter enemies owing to some unfavourable circumstances Terence is put into and also his unwillingness to confide in anyone. It makes him turn villainous. Is he evil by nature? Or is it because of the turn of events against him, being betrayed by someone he trusted and respected most, the prejudice against him, the intervention of the cool lady Thai Boxer, Carol Tham, and the loss of his sweetheart, apparently to Weng Qinghai?
-- TCS / Mediaworks Programme Highlight(s) of the Month --
[TCS 8] Jackie Chan's Drunken Master 2 - Sunday, 8 pm. [TCS 8] Dragon Balls - Every Thursday, 6 am. Broadcasting of the series continues where it stopped previously - the end of the "2nd" World Martial Arts Tournament. [TCS 8] Jet Li's Taichi Master. Sunday, 28 Oct, 8 pm.
September 2001
-- Wu Jing Being Hailed as the King in Both Academic (Dramatic) and Martial Arts Roles --
Beijing TV Weekly, September 2001
It is the dream of many citizens of China to be equally well versed academically and in martial arts . Yet, this dream has been effortlessly realised by Wu Jing on the screen. In two drama serials shot this year, How Affectionate Sons and Daughters of an Empire Could Be (Also known as Emperor Qianlong, Fang De and Miao Cui-Hua) and Martial Arts King of Shaolin , Wu Jing respectively played the role of the Emperor Qianlong and that of the of Qi Xu-Guang's - a notable general of Ming Dynasty - son , who is highly skilled in Northen and Southern Martial Arts. Let's witness on paper the glory of Wu Jing's version of academic emperor and king of martial arts, staging a fierce competition between Wu Jing and Wu Jing! >> More <<
- Star Chat -
Video clips and transcript of an on-line Star Chat with Wu Jing on 23 September organised by Zhaodaola, both of which are in Chinese, can be found on its site.
- Memorial Service -
Singapore is holding a memorial service at the National Stadium on Sunday, 23 Sept, to remember the thousands who died in the unfortunate incident in New York and Washington on Sept 11. Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and other ministers are attending the service, organised by the American Association of Singapore.
- Martial Arts King of Shaolin -
The filming of Martial Arts King of Shaolin has ended on first of September and Wu Jing is preparing for his next show. Wu Jing had worked very diligently, as always, during the production and even stayed up late to view the cuts and editing of the series. His next drama serial is The Empire is of More Importance where he will be playing two roles in the same show - Emperor Qianlong and his brother. It can be quite a daunting task to act as two different persons, especially when they have sharply contrasting personalities.
- Dutch Sino War 1661 -
Opening in theatres in some Asian countries in Sept 13. When the director, Wu Zi-Niu, got Zhao Wen Zhuo to act in the movie (filmed in around middle of 2000), he told him that it's possible for Zhao Wen Zhuo to garner some awards through the show. Zhao Wen Zhuo liked the script a lot and to concentrate on Dutch Sino War 1661, he had to sacrifice offers on two other films and one drama serial. Shui Ling, Zhao Wen Zhuo's sweetheart in Single Cut Hawthorn series, is the female lead.
Zhao Wen Zhuo acted as Zheng Cheng-Gong from the age of 18 to 39, which is quite a challenge. In the movie, Zheng Cheng Gong is someone of dilemma. He is driven by ambition to serve the nation, is highly regarded by the Ming Emperor and given a senior post. However, it's also the period which signals the end of Ming Dynasty. So, it's up to him to stage rebellions against against the Manchurians to restore the Ming Dynasty (albeit not especially successful, according to historical records) and also help ward off attacks against foreign nations.
If you have read Jin Yong's Duke of Mt Deer, it might be interesting to note that the novel's Heaven and Earth Society, which is based in Taiwan, was founded by Zheng Cheng Gong, who had passed away. And the chief in China, Chen Jing-Nan, always defers to Zheng Cheng-Gong's scheming second son, though it is his first son, who is more capable and upright, that Jing-Nan supports.
- Martial Arts King of Shaolin -
Bald Eagle, Ji Chun Hua, is playing the villain, again, in Martial Arts King of Shaolin. He never considers himself being an apt actor. Due to his enthusiasm in wushu, and that doing movies and TV series allow him to pursue his wushu dreams, he continue to accept villainous roles. Many years ago, he lost his hair owing to an illness and almost had to stop martial arts training. At that time, Chueng Sing Yim was talent scouting for martial arts stars to appear in Shaolin Temple. Ji Chun-Hua's bald-headed appearance caught Cheung Sing Yim's attention, thereby changing his destiny. While he may always be playing a bad guy in the movie, he is actually quite a kind, selfless and considerate person. There was a night when a typhoon was imminent, and Ji Chun-Hua immediately went around waking up everybody and alerting them to disperse and take shelter. As a result, he didn't have time to retrieve his personal belongings.
- TCS / Mediaworks Programme Highlight(s) of the Month -
[Channel U] Lady Warriors of the Yang Damily, Monday to Friday, 13 Sept onwards. Cast - Carman Lee, Zheng Pei Pei, Li Qi-Hong, Lian Kai, Wu Yue, Leung Kar Yan [TCS 8] Eloquent Ji Xiao Lan. Monday to Thursday, 11 am. [TCS 8] The Challenge. From 19 Sept, Monday to Friday. On a trip to Shaolin Temple with his good friend, Weng Qing-Hai, Terence Cao discovers, to his dismay, his father is a Shaolin traitor. Subsequently, a love triangle that develops between Terence Cao, Weng Qing-Hai and Wong Li-Lin turns him against Weng Qing-Hai. Some parts appear promising, especially those filmed on location in Shaolin Temple, with the participation of Shaolin monks. Some neat moves from Wng Qing-Hai. Look out for Tan Shu-Jun's debut as the cool Thai Boxer. Robin Leong, a Chinese American, has years of training in Hung-Gar. Will he have a chance put his martial arts skill to good use? [TCS 8] Stephen Chow's Flirting Scholar. 16 Sept, 8 pm. Sunday. [Central] Mind Your Language. Every Thursday, 10 pm. An British teacher teaching English a motley of quirky students of different nationalities.
August 2001
- The Making of Legend of Zu -
The Making of Legend of Zu Video (17 minutes), in Streaming format, is available here. Requires Windows Media Player.
- Martial Arts King of Shaolin -
There is a scene where Wu Jing gives chase to an Alsatian and it was done three times. Although Wu Jing sweated a lot, he never managed to overtake the dog. Prior to the race, Wu Jing proclaimed, "This is the fifth police dog of the nation."
This martial arts star seemed to be hinting that it would not be surprising should he lose to the dog. It turned out that the Alsatian is a police dog that has six years of training.
In another incident during shooting of the series, with killers in hot pursuit, Wu Jing's character falls and slips down an eight-metre tall cliff. The scene was done without wire-harness and Wu Jing had to do it five times down the cliff before the (demanding or devilish?) director was satisfied. Wu Jing was badly bruised and the knocks on his head when it hit the wall resounded throughout the location. Who said live is easy as an actor?
- Hero -
Zhang Yimou has issued a military order forestalling anyone involved in the production of Hero from divulging anything about it without permission. (S)he who defies it faces expulsion. This is to prevent the media from sensationalising the movie, as was the case of his previous movie, where the audience ended up being disappointed as they had set their expectations too high, courtesy of the media reports. The other reason being that there were already far too many reports on Hero and most of them were lame. To verify how effective the order is, a reporter called Zhang Ziyi who remained tight-lipped about it. Hero is about the attempt of three disgruntled assassins, Flawed Sword (played by Tony Leung), Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung) and Iron Hand of Six Fingers, to murder Emperor Qinshi. However, they face a very great obstacle, the emperor's bodyguard, Without Speech (Jet Li). While Without Speech is very loyal to the emperor, the emperor doesn't trust anyone.
- Heroes of Heaven and Earth -
Jiang Wen gave up the role of being Emperor Qinshi in Hero, which is now being replaced by Chen Dao-Min. Jiang Wen is preparing for He Ping's (No, not to be confused with martial arts choreographer Yuan He Ping, who is better known as Yuen Wo Ping) Heroes of Heaven and Earth, which begins production next month. As it takes up plenty of time, he does not want Hero's crew to wait for him forever. Since he can't step on two boats with one foot, he chose to relinquish Hero. He is currently undergoing rigorous training in swordplay as his character in the movie is a highly skilled swordsman. The movie is about a rebellious general and an upright constable. There is no good or bad guy, just heroes who treasure and appeciate each other.
- Shadow Mask -
Shadow Mask is some kind of unofficial Blask Mask sequel. The Chinese title is something along the line of The Fable of Black Masked Hero. In the movie, Fan Siu Wong is chosen as Shadow Mask's successor and to inherit his fortune and live in his mansion. However, the steward keeps a tight rein on him and he has little freedom. He leads a lonely life, not being allowed to mix around with his friends and spends most of his time penned in the mansion. Meanwhile, the former enemy of Shadow Mask, Zheng Pei Pei, who possesses supernatural abilities, escapes from jail with the help of her hirelings and is thirsty for revenge. More importantly, she is scheming to take over the world. On the other hand, Fan Siu Wong has yet to realise the full power of Shadow Mask.
- The Drunken Hero and Huo Yuan Jia -
Zhao Wen Zhuo is now in production of the 40 episode Drunken Hero, along with Christy Yeung and Max Mok. It may have something to do with the funny namesake comic series.
His Huo Yuan Jia TV series began airing in China recently and received lukewarm response and low viewership rating. Huo Yuan Jia is blamed for its poor script. Besides, Chen Zhen in the series behave more like a hooligan who oppresses the weak rather than a would-be hero.
On the other hand ZhaoWen Zhuo feels that he is in no way a let-down in the TV series regarding his role and his interpretation of the folk hero and that he has done his best. Moreover, he created his own Mi-Zong Fist for the series by taking references from the Mi-Zong Fist manual and blending it with 8 other martial arts forms as he felt the original lacks a certain degree of beauty.
- Martial Arts King Of Shaolin -
Wu Jing has moved on to another part of Zhejiang, for shooting of the Southern Shaolin portion of the TV series. Filming takes place in Xin Chang Buddhist Temple, which has over 1600 years of history and is considered to be the biggest temple in South China. Martial Arts King of Shaolin is a drama serial that touches on the spirit of patriotism. It revolves around a Qi family descendant, Qi Tan-Zhi (played by Wu Jing), who seeks to learn martial arts from Southern Shaolin Temple and Northern Shaolin Temple. In the meantime, he has to avoid the assassins who are after his life. Eventually, he succeeds in rebuilding the Qi Family Army and fight against the traitors and enemies to protect the country.
- Romance of the Book and Sword -
Tsui Hark shall begin filming Romance of the Book and Sword in late August. The movie will be filmed in various parts of China and shooting is estimated to take four months. The possible cast includes Andy Onn (An Zhi-Jie) of Black Mask 2, Yu Hai, Yu Cheng-Hui, Lin Hsi-Lei as well as Lau Kar Leung who will also be the movie's martial arts choreographer. Tsui Hark's intention to dramatise the novel by Jin Yong is due to his ambition to create a brand new martial arts epic and enter the international movie market. He is bent on coming up with realistic, groundbreaking and inventive fight sequences which do not rely on graphical enhancements by computers, unlike Legend of Zu.
- Journey to the West -
Tsui Hark plans to make Journey to the West in 2003 if nothing crops up. He had been talking about making it for nearly 20 years but has yet not begin production on it. Tsui Hark said," Once I have finished the preparation, I will begin shooting it. I have always been thinking about filming it. I grew up with the novel, Journey to the West, and it affects my life deeply."
- Musa (Warriors) -
The official site of Zhang Ziyi's Korean movie, Musa is up. It's written in Korean but the menu is in English. A trailer (with more to come, perhaps) can be found at the site. Looks more like a war story.
- Legend of Zu -
More information on Legend of Zu, such as the premise, the plot and characterisation as well as the variety of interesting weapons, is available at Filmography. An article which takes you behind the scenes is at http://www.fantasiafest.com/mag2/zu.htm. You may peruse a Straits Times feature on Louis Koo and Legend of Zu here. (Sadly, it didn't mention our hero, Wu Jing, at all. He is after all the deciding factor in the battle against the Blood Demon and his minions.) A trailer can be viewed here. (Windows Media Player required.) It's very much laden with special effects. Appears that Wu Jing, who is not in this trailer, is one of the rare ones to use authentic martial arts, as evidenced by the fight scene between Zhang Ziyi and him in the previously mentioned clip.
- TCS / Mediaworks Programme Highlight(s) of the Month -
[TCS8] - Zu: Warriors from Magic Mountain, August 4, 11 pm. To signal the launch of Legend of Zu in August 9, which happens to be Singapore's National Day, TCS is showing the older movie on the first Saturday of August. [TCS8] - The making of The Legend of Zu. August 9, 12.30 pm. [City TV] - Airing a few old school kungfu flicks starring Brue Lee and Jackie Chan on every Friday, 8 pm.
July 2001
- Legend of Mt Zu Clips -
Below are two Real Audio Video clips from Legend of Zu. A Glimpse of the Cast (300k) - Wu Jing's the third character, and he appears to be very dignified. A fight between Zhang Zhiyi and Wu Jing (850k) - Lian Xing (played by Wu Jing) appears to be injured in the left leg and is limping. Recorded by Lucy on a late night TV programme featuring it.
-- Kiss of the Dragon Interview with Jet Li--
Why Kiss of the Dragon seems to be
going against the current trend where action films are crazy over the use of
wire-harnesses?
- Martial Arts King of Shaolin TV Series -
Wu Jing is currently in production of Martial Arts King of Shaolin TV Series, produced by Chueng Sing Yim. It is shot in a very remote area of Zhejiang, which lacks basic amenities such as telephone and furniture. The shooting of this 20 (25?) episode TV series is found to be very daunting and tiring; Wu Jing gets only to sleep less than 3 hours per day. The show features authentic martial arts and in an attempt to demonstrate the unique skills of the martial arts actors, the director, Liu Jia-Cheng, spent a great deal of time and effort in choreographing different martial arts moves for each of them, some of whom were the original cast in Jet Li's Shaolin Temple, such as Yu Hai, Yu Cheng-Hui and Ji Chun-Hua.
========================== - Copying Tiger, ripping off Dragon -
Studios hopes to cash in with not-so-hidden knockoffs.
Hong Kong - It was inevitable that someone would try to replicate the success of Taiwanese director Lee Ang's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon But as film buyers gathered here last week for Hong Kong International Film and Television Market, they gaped at the shamelessness of the efforts to imitate the film.
* In one booth, Golden Sun Film, a small Hong Kong Studio, hawked Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger, a romantic martial arts epic set in ancient China. Its poster mimics Crouching Tiger. But its director Allan Lim, insisted that "it's a totally different movie." Referring to one of the stars of Crouching Tiger, he said, "Chow Yun Fatt doesn't know how to do gongfu. Our gongfu is more real, like Jet Li's." (With Fan Siu Wong in the movie, there shouldn't be any doubts about the realism of the film's martial arts.)
* Nearby, Hong Kong Producer Joseph Lai promoted Roaring Dragon, Bluffing Tiger, a gongfu flick set in 1946 war-torn China. It's poster has images of four warriors under a puzzling slogan: "When the dragon is roaring, the good cheer; when the tiger is bluffing, the devils return to hell." Lai shrugged off all suggestion that the film was a knockoff. "I've made 20 films with the word dragon in the title," he said. "It's a common name for a Chinese movie. My film has guns in it. Crouching Tiger had only swords and sticks."
But the derivative nature of these films has not stopped American studios from snapping them up. Miramax Films, will distribute Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger outside Asia. Dede Nickerson, Miramax's Bejing representative, believed that Asia could produce many films that could gross US$10 million to US$20 million each. Owing to the incredible success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which brought in a total revenue of US$208 million in box office - US$127 million in US alone - Hollywood studios are now hungry for Asian films with crossover potential and two projects seem positioned to attract at least some of the audience that flocked to Crouching Tiger.
*Tsui Hark's The Legend of Zu, which is the Hong Kong director's remake(?) of his 1983 film, Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain, uses special effects to create a vision of warriors soaring above mist-shrouded peaks. It stars Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheng as well as Zhang Ziyi, the actress who gives Crouching Tiger much of its sizzle. (Let's not forget that Wu Jing is in the movie too.) Miramax will distribute Zu in North Ameria and elsewhere. (It bought the film's rights for US$12.8 million, which is slightly more than Zu's production cost.)
*Zhang also stars in Hero (Assassination of King Qinshi), a US$17-million adventure film by Chinese director Zhang Yimou. The cast of Hero will include Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Maggie Cheung. And for those, like makers of Flying Dragon, who insist on having their gongfu real, it will also feature Jet Li.
Excerpted from The Straits Times, 5 July 2001. ==========================
- TCS / Mediaworks Programme Highlight(s) of the Month -
[TCS 8] Jet Li's Kung Fu Cult Master. Based on Jin Yong's Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre novel. July 22, 8 pm. [Channel U] Young Master of Shaolin - Dicky Cheung (playing Fang Shi-Yu) and Fan Siu Wong (playing Hong Xi-Guan stars in this) star in this humour-filled martial arts TV series. 9 pm, Monday to Friday. |
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