Daniel Wu: Wooing Critics & Audience at TIFF
(From Asianwave Magazine)
Written by Jeff Leung and Yiem Tseng
In 1976, from a downtown hotel in Toronto, a film industry event called "Festival of Festivals" showcased the best collection of films from around the world. Every year after that and now more than three decades later, the Toronto International Film Festival has indeed become one of the top and most prestigious, publicly-attended film festivals in the world. In the past, the festival has introduced some of the most award-worthy films ever to grace cinema history. Among the more famed films that premiered in Toronto were Chariots of Fire, The Big Chill, Husbands and Wives, American Beauty, Brokeback Mount and Ray. The Festival now has its fair share of mainstream Hollywood films but it still retains its roots in independent directors, highlights of Canadian cinema and a variety of African, South American and Asian films.
This year's event, the 32nd TIFF has not failed to shine with a ten day event showcasing more than 200 filmsin several critical cinematic categories. Some of the films featured in this year's TIFF include Neil Jordan's The Brave One starring Jodie Foster, Carlos Saura's Fados, Dario Argento's Mother of Tears, the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men and David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises. Among the classic films to be screened are The Flower Drum Song and Jean Renoir's grand Illusion.
One of the richest and notable films representing Asian culutre in this year's festival is Blood Brothers. Featured in the festival's main gala, the film explores the crime underworld of Shanghai in the thirties and tells the dramatic tale of three young men whose dreams led to their entanglements with vice, sin and their own struggle with greed, unrequited loveand betrayal. The movie had the honor of being chosen as the closing film to this year's festival.
Chancing upon the cast and producers of the movie on the red carpet at the TIFF Gala was a real treat and gave us the chance to talk to them about this great movie. "This is the best film festival, I've been coming here since the eighties," says Terrance Chang, one of the producers of the movie. Chang produced Hollywood movies such as Face/Off, Broken Arrow, and Mission Impossible 2, which were directed by long-time friend and business partner, John Woo, who co-produces the film with him. This is Chang's first Asian project in 15 years, and he has nothing but praise for its director, talented newcomer Alexi Tan who makes his directorial debut in Blood Brothers.
John Woo, the critically acclaimed Chinese director and producer who was responsible for notable Hong kong films such as A Better Tomorrow, Hard-Boiled, The Killer and a host of other Hollywood films says that the Toronto festival is unique in that it features many films compared to other festivals in Europe. When asked more about the film, he said, "The film was shot for three months, and for the costumes a lot of research was done. This film brought in all these wonderful actors and a new kind of story, its just amazing." About the Hong Kong film industry, he commented that "there is no such thing as a Hong Kong industry. What there is, is an Asian film industry because there's a lot coming from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and sometimes a combination of all of these.".
Blood Brothers is represented by an impresive cast made up of some of the hottest young male actors working in the Chinese film industry today. They are led by Chinese superstar Daniel Wu, who plays Fung, one of the three brothers in the film. It also features Chang Chen and the gorgeous Shu Qi as the lovely, tragic chanteuse Lulu.
Daniel Wu is impressed with the large following and warm reception he received in Toronto during the festival. "I wasn't out that much in Toronto; the last time was in 1999 for the festival. It's nice to have a warm welcome here now," he says, amidst the screams of raving fans.
Daniel Wu, who was raised in California, is an American film actor famous for his work in Hong Kong. During his youth he ardently took up the Chinese martial art called Wushu. He also finished a degree in Architecture from the University of Oregon where he was the head coach of the university's Wushu club. He moved to Hong Kong in 1997 to start a career in modeling and acting. With the help of Jackie Chan, and armed with his good looks and expertise in martial arts, it wasn't long before he progressed from being "the next big thing" to being "the brightest young star" in the Hong Kong film industry. Ever since he graced the silver screen in 1998, he has been in famous Hollywood films such as Around the World in 80 Days, The Twins Effect 2, and The Banquet. In 2004, Daniel was awarded Best Supporting Actor in the Golden Horse Awards for his performance in Jackie Chan's "New Police Story." The multi-talented actor also tried his hand at directing a movie called "The Heavenly Kings" which won him Best New Director at the Hong Kong Film Festival this year.
For Blood Brothers, Daniel talks about his experiences and outlook on the film.
Asianwave:What was it like working with Alexi Tan?
Wu:I think it was an interesting experience. It was a very different experience from working with other directors in Asia who are very Asian oriented. Alexi has an American upbringing and so a lot of his references are from films I saw growing up such as The Godfather and other western films that he used as a reference for making this film. It's a good mix of East and West like a hybrid film.
Asianwave:This film is in Mandarin, how does it differ from your other Hong Kong films?
Wu: Language is the main difference actually. And with this film shot in China, we were able to fill the sets exactly as we want it, that we can't do in Hong Kong anymore. We were able to recreate a Shanghai as it was in the 30s.
to be continued...
(yes, it's a very long article.)
|
