INTERVIEW: Yuen Woo-ping on ‘Forbidden Kingdom’

Originally published in Chinese media in the beginning of May, an excellent interview conducted with master action director Yuen Woo-ping for the Chinese release of THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM has been translated into English courtesy of Wu-Jing.org.

Yuen talks about working with Jet Li and Jackie Chan on the film and how Hollywood interprets kung fu. What I love to see from him is an interest in carrying on with what he knows best, which is coming up with new Chinese movie martial arts rather than trying to mimic foreign trends such as MMA or Muay Thai. MMA is working well for Donnie Yen. There’s no need for another Chinese action director to take on that sphere when kung fu still has so much to offer in terms of philosophy and form.

He also suggests that Western filmmakers do not get the meaning of kung fu but that there are some who are beginning to learn. We can look at films like KUNG FU PANDA and THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM as a small step in the right direction. Key individuals who worked on both films practiced Chinese martial arts and strove to dig deeper into its depiction onscreen than ever seen before in a Hollywood production.

Yuen finishes by confirming that Hong Kong’s current direction in action filmmaking is headed towards gritty realism, such as we see in THE WARLORDS and SEVEN SWORDS. This is good news. What the martial arts movie genre needs more than anything right now is a healthy dose of realism to get it back on track. There is a wealth of knowledge and history in Chinese martial arts that remains to be explored on film, from weapons yet unseen to less romanticized tactics and moral dilemmas.

This mention of realism in action is suggestive of what we can expect from the two upcoming movies that Yuen Woo-ping is directing himself. Starring Louis Koo and Shawn Yue, IRON MASK begins production in July. THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA is current in pre-production and Yuen is hoping to cast Jet Li in the lead.