Produced by Chinese martial arts legend Jackie Chan, “Wushu” is a film about five children training to be martial art masters.
Produced by Chinese martial arts legend Jackie Chan, “Wushu” is a film about five children training to be martial art masters.
The film was shot at a real martial art school, and it showcases the combat skills of award winning competitors.
Three of these young martial artists, Liu Feng-Chao, Wang Wen-Jie and Wang Fei - were in Hong Kong on Friday to promote the film along with lead actor Samo Hung.
To give everyone a taste of the action in the movie - this new generation of Kung Fu stars showed off their Wushu skills, including their double-swords, whips and sticks.
Wang Fei, Actress, said, "I have practiced martial art for more than ten years. I am a professional, and I like to act, so I was happy to do it even though it was exhausting. I am delighted to do my work."
Red Fists, Part 2: Jet Li and the Making of ‘Shaolin Temple’
Written by Jean Lukitsh www.kungfucinema.com
Tuesday, 23 September 2008 21:43
It was just around 25 years ago that a new movie called SHAOLIN TEMPLE, starring an unknown young martial arts champion from China, dazzled kung fu movie fans around the world with an electrifying display of competition-level wushu. This standardized approach to traditional fighting styles incorporates acrobatic elements like jumps and flips. For audiences outside of China, the film was an introduction to the impressive “national sport”. For many in the audience, it was also the first movie from the People’s Republic of China that they had ever seen.
Fans of Chinese martial arts films in the late 1970s and early 1980s were living through a Golden Age, with the kung fu epics of Lau Kar-leung and the Five Venoms in continuous production at the Shaw Brothers studio, and Jackie Chan’s sensational early films with director Yuen Wo-ping setting the standard for kung fu comedy. I worked as a movie projectionist at the Star and China theaters in Boston between 1979 and 1986. We showed double features on each screen, and programs changed every week. The ticket price was in the $3-5 range for the whole double feature. These were classic Chinatown grindhouse operations, with an audience that was maybe 90% Asian and 10% “other.” Films from Hong Kong and Taiwan, made quickly and cheaply with an eye to satisfying the demand, dominated the circuit. It was a market that would suddenly contract and almost disappear with the coming of videotape technology and the opportunity for film pirating on a vast scale.
SHAOLIN TEMPLE was the first martial arts movie shot on the grounds of the real Temple.
On January 30, the media was allowed visit to the set of Wushu, which is about 5 kids training rigorously at a wushu school, eventually making some accomplishments in the field, and spreading wushu ethos.
Director Antony Szeto, who's also choreographing the action scenes, says that the film employs only realistic combat scenes, with almost no doubling or special effects. They will show be showing a diverse range of Chinese wushu on the screen, including Southern Fist, Sanda, etc.
Szeto himself was once a member of the Australian Wushu Team, and has trained in the prestigious Beijing Sports University. He began his career as a stuntman for various television shows in Australia, before moving on to Hollywood where he also had small parts in action films. He then moved to Hong Kong to direct television episodes. His feature debut was in 2005, when he directed a CGI-animated martial arts tale titled Dragon Blade. Wushu marks his first attempt at directing a major motion picture.
Besides Anthony Szeto, there is other major talent at work in the production of Wushu. Sammo Hung, who will only be with the production for 1/3 of the principal photography, will get to direct one of the action scenes personally - the scene in which Sammo Hung rescues his son. Apart from Sammo Hung, newcomers Liu Feng Chao and Wang Wen Jie are also starring in the film.
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Sammo Hung says that he's old and should let the younger people shoot martial arts scenes while he does drama films. And indeed, he has more drama scenes in this film than action scenes.
Anthony Szeto says that while there are plenty of martial arts stars in their 30s and 40s, there isn't anyone else who is special. His hopes are on these young guys, "They are gifted, have good wushu foundation, have modern looks. I hope they would become the successors." Filming will be completed by end of February, and is being planned for release in around July.
Wushu features Wang Wen Jie, who has previously worked with Tsui Hark on Seven Swords, and Liu Feng Chao, who is a former member of the Hebei Wushu Team. Here is Liu Feng Chao in action:
The original wushuonefamily.com website was created in 2002 when Ray and Houman returned from their summer trip to Beijing, China. The intention of this website's founders was (and still is) to raise the profile of Chinese Martial Arts, Kungfu/Kung Fu, Taiji/Taichi, Qigong and all related Chinese arts by building an online community, and providing videos (including our famous W1F trailers), downloads, photos, competition results, forums, diaries, blogs, articles, stories and reference.
The Ultimate Jet Li website is no longer available, however if you are a Jet fan it might be good to check out W1F for more information on Jet's art, Wushu.
