Brothers in blood
A Hong Kong director chooses a Bangkok venue to debut his epic war drama December 13, 2007 Nation Multimedia
Thai-Hong Kong director Peter Chan is well aware that Hong Kong movies no longer pull Thai audiences the same way they did 20 years ago but that didn't stop him from deciding to launch his latest film in Bangkok.
And he did succeed in drawing the crowds to Sunday's premiere by bringing with him the three Asian superstars who play the leading men in the war drama "The Warlords". After all, what self-respecting movie fan in Thailand could resist catching Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro in the flesh?
"It's for my Thai side," says the 45-year-old director in clear, accented Thai. "Since the Hong Kong filmmaking scene is in hiatus, I'm trying my best to boost the industry as well as bringing my good wishes to Thailand."
Chan grew up in Thailand before heading off to study in the US. He started his film career in Hong Kong while his parents were still living in Bangkok.
At the SFW Cinema in CentralWorld fans waited patiently, screaming and applauding wildly when the trio of stars finally made their entrance.
"The Warlords", Hong Kong's most expensive production to date at US$40 million (Bt1.35 billion), also marks a change in genre for Chan, who is better know for slow-moving romantic dramas.
But audiences shouldn't expect a no-holds-barred action flick. Under Chan's direction, this take on China's Taiping Rebellion, the mid-19th-century civil conflict that killed more than 70 million people in 13 years, is a realistic war film, with no slings, no wires and no flying. Even action hero Jet Li has a more dramatic role and while he still fights, it's as a warrior not as a Wushu champion.
The director, who prefers romantic and gangster films to action movies, says he picked the project because the story interested him.
"I had intended to revive a gangster film from the '80s, maybe John Woo's 'A Better Tomorrow'. In that too, there are strong themes of brotherhood and comradeship but there is also betrayal just like in this movie," he points out.
For "The Warlords", Chen switches from the usual colourful Chinese costumes to dark tones that reflect the sombre backdrop of wrecked villages in the middle of the 14-year war. "It's like Afghanistan today," he says.
"Nobody can fly in this film. That challenged my action director Ching Siu-Tung," says the director, who is trying to offer viewers an alternative style of Chinese period/action drama.
"When Westerners watch Asian films, they don't think of us as ordinary humans but as exotic beings, which I personally find insulting. Chinese period films have been like fantasy worlds. They may be beautiful but they shouldn't be thought of as our history. We look at western period dramas and we get an idea of the past. What they see in old Chinese films is just fantasy," says the director.
The film tells the story of three sworn brothers - imperial Chinese general Ma Xing Yi (Jet Li), bandit leader Zhao Er-hu (Andy Lau) and young outlaw Zhang Wenxiang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) - during the chilling battle against the Taiping Rebellion. They turn against each other over a woman.
All three protagonists are splendid in their roles. Kaneshiro proves again his dramatic mettle as the youngest of the trio, observing the changes in his elders, while Li is brilliant as the pragmatic general and fallen hero.
Li accepted the role 15 minutes into reading the script, very unusual for a superstar of his calibre.
"It's a very interesting story, one that speaks volumes about the worthiness of peace through the brutality of war. Most films only show violence," says the martial arts star, on his first official visit to Thailand since 1977.
"Besides it's been a long time since I had the chance to play such a multi-layered character. I usually play men that are much more black and white in nature.
Chan decided to use Kaneshiro again after working with him on "Perhaps Love", even though his staff tried to convince him to use young Chinese heartthrob Jay Chou.
"Chou was right age-wise, but Takeshi, though he's now 30, can make audiences cry as the youngest brother," he says.
For his part, Kaneshiro called the film "a valuable learning experience".
Chan adds that "The Warlords" took on a life of its own when they started shooting. He found himself editing the script as they went along, happy to give the actors room to shape their characters' lives and make changes as necessary.
But he admits making a big budget film put him under a lot of pressure. Although fully conversant with the movie business as the owner of Applause Pictures, Chan still had to put together a complicated deal to get financing for his film.
"The bigger the film, the more politics you have to confront. I wasn't tired from filmmaking but I was ground down from dealing with the producers," he says.
"Big markets like China prefer big-budget movies. Martial arts or action films are easier to get pass the censors," says the director.
"Making 'The Warlords' with three major stars is the only way I can attract audiences, I accept that. But at the same time, I'm pleased with the content. It's a good story, presented with emotion and drama."
"The Warlords" goes on general release today.
All men are brothers
Peter Chan talks about his groundbreaking new action epic, 'The Warlords'
2007/12/14 bangkokpost
ALEX CHOI INGAMELLS
Hong Kong director Peter Chan is ambivalent about the phenomenal success of Ang Lee's 2000 blockbuster Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
"Ang Lee created a world for Chinese martial arts movies," says the Thai-born filmmaker, who was in town to promote his new film, The Warlords, which opened here this week. "But although we gained financially and in terms of recognition from Crouching Tiger, it also set Western perceptions of China back 3,000 years."
While Chan is lavish in his praise for the recent deluge of opulent wuxia (martial chivalry) productions, such as Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet and Zhang Yimou's Hero and The Curse of the Golden Flower, he is troubled by their depiction of the past. So what seems to be the problem?
"Chinese period films have an unreal quality, everybody flies around. Audiences can't relate if everything is unreal. It's not a new thing. It goes back beyond Tsui Hark's films in the '80s, back to old films such as those by King Hu in the 1960s. You're not really transported back in time, it's more like a fantasy."
Chan believes that he can offer an alternative take on the Chinese period movie, a more realistic vision, which explains why he has taken such a radical departure from his trademark contemporary romances such as Comrades: Almost a Love Story and Perhaps Love. His latest film is a historical epic set against the backdrop of the Taiping Rebellion, a 15-year sectarian insurgency that claimed 20 million lives by the time it was crushed by the Qing regime in 1864.
The Warlords is loosely based on The Blood Brothers, the 1973 action-drama by Chang Cheh, the prolific "Godfather of the Kung-fu Film" who made more than 100 films during his career at Shaw Brothers.
"Chang Cheh was God. I grew up on his films," says Chan. "He was not a detail-oriented filmmaker, but the way he shot stars like Ti Lung and David Chiang was mesmerising. His films have a real charm."
Another source of inspiration came from the 1986 "heroic bloodshed" classic, A Better Tomorrow by John Woo, a director who has built his career on a corpus of works that explore the themes of loyalty, sacrifice and betrayal.
It is these very motifs which underpin The Warlords. The story centres on three blood brothers - Ma Xinyi (Jet Li), Cao Erhu (Andy Lau) and Zhang Wenxiang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) - who are torn apart as the Taiping Rebellion drags on with no honourable end in sight. Matters are made worse by Ma seducing Cao's wife.
Despite casting wushu superstar Jet Li in one of the key roles, Chan emphasises that The Warlords is not a martial arts film per se, but a historical drama with wuxia elements. "This is almost a straight drama role for Jet. He surprised the hell out of everyone - his acting was marvellous, superb. Takeshi and Andy were particularly taken by his performance.
"All of my movies are about characters and relationships," Chan continues. "Jet's character has a huge internal struggle. He's like a ruthless CEO, yet has lofty dreams about ending the war. Being from the Mainland, Jet understood this role better than I did."
Andy Lau, who starred in last year's costume epic A Battle of Wits plays an old-fashion romantic hero, a naive type who doesn't realise that his wife and closest friend have betrayed him. "He's the character I would want to be," says Chan.
Takeshi's character is a different proposition altogether. Growing up an orphan, he is completely blinded by his faith in his blood brothers. "He's a complete fanatic," says the director. "The kind who'd be in al-Qaeda if he were alive today."
Chan is banking on the star power of his trio of male leads to market what he regards as a risk on his part in pioneering realistic Chinese action films.
"My film is 100 percent real," Chan says. " I want to show the reality of violence, to make viewers feel the impact of war. It's like Saving Private Ryan but with swords and daggers."
There are two major battle scenes in The Warlords, the first full of gung-ho fury, the second focusing on the war of attrition as combatants and civilians become stuck in a quagmire. The 15-minute scene was outlined step by step in a 25-page script - an unheard of luxury for a Chinese action film.
"That battle scene was very difficult to do. The action choreographer, Ching Siu-tung, couldn't use wires. All the tricks were taken away from him. We had a tug-of-war over shooting the action," Chan says with a smile. Needless to say, the director's vision won out.
"I hope that my new approach to Chinese action movies will appeal to audiences," he adds. "It's impossible to bring back the heyday of Hong Kong cinema. The wind has changed, Thai people don't really watch Hong Kong movies anymore. That's why I'm trying my best to promote the film here. But a good film is a good film, regardless of where it comes from."
网友Kparkaro图
Hong Kong movie star Andy Lau greets in Thai way as he arrives for a news conference of the premier of his movie 'The Worlords' at a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007.(AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
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