My blog
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STUNT TRAINING AT THE BAVARIA FILM STUDIOS
Saturday, Apr 4, 2009 11:41PM / Standard Entry
Yup, here comes another one! I’m churning out blog entries these days like machine gun on caffeine tabs.
Anyway, I went to join a stunt seminar at the Bavaria Film Studio’s very own Stunt Center on Monday & Tuesday.
Mini Me
It was a 4 hour drive to Nuremberg where I picked up stunt bro Tommy. From Nuremberg to Munich it’s another one and a half hours... we gave bro Bernie a lift downtown Munich, got a speeding ticket (Tommy was driving) & eventually made it to the studio gate in one piece... only about half an hour late. Hooray!
Tommy loves goofy pics... I don't (I'm deep).
The workshop itself was hosted by the German Stunt Association & stunt coordinator Mac Steinmeier & his team... pretty, pretty cool. I met some old friends (Chris Gneissl, Essi Tesfay) and made some new ones (sexy stunt girls Verena & Scarlet of the Bavaria Film Studios Stunt Show).
The Stunt Center's fancy indoor stage & training hall
We went through some basic weaponry, learned about the Para 9mm semi-automatic & double action revolvers caliber .45.
We got to do a little shooting, as well... only plastic bullets, though. Dayumm!
What else did we do? Ah yes, some climbing basics (rappelling, ascending)... safety knots (figure-of-eight knot, Prusik knot, clove hitch, etc.)... some wire work (Chinese wrap and some simple flips, hops and spins)... a little fight choreo (basic saloon style, mainly)... and last not least, high falls.I chickened out on the 30 feet high fall, since I’d never jumped from that kind of height into an airbag before (plus, I’m actually on an 8 week sports prohibition due to a severe case of bilateral jumper’s knee). There was no step-by-step approach that day. It was just... go ahead... JUMP! Good luck.
So, I limped over to the indoor falling pit & did a few 15 feet sissy headers & suicides instead (which I shouldn’t have done, either, ‘cause at that point my right knee was already swelling up like a baboon’s... err, never mind!).
Me doing some girlie jumps into the pit
Guess I’m gettin’ too old for that kinda shit! It was fun, though.
Fortunately, I got a chance to burgeon during the fight choreography part... which got me a sock in the mug & ample opportunity to get in close (body) contact with the Bavaria Studio’s pretty stuntwomen.
Sweet.
In addition to those seven hours of stunt training in Munich each day, Tommy and I rushed back to Nuremberg to squeeze in a Wushu class on Monday and a stunt training with G-Action on Tuesday evening (but I skipped the latter, ‘cause I could hardly walk that night).
After this stunt marathon was over, I bandaged my knee real tight, popped a handful of Diclofenac pills and set out on a night drive back home.Knee's much better now, and I’m already looking forward to the next stunt training and to seeing all of them crazy bastards again.
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GERMAN RELEASE OF “JOHN RABE”
Friday, Apr 3, 2009 7:02AM / Standard Entry
The movie about The Good German of Nanking in theaters now!
I went to attend a sneak preview of the German-French-Chinese co-production John Rabe the other night. Well, not actually what you should call a sneak preview, since the movie had already premiered at the Berlin Film Festival a couple of weeks ago.
Still, this screening was kind of special, since it took place one day before the actual German release date on April 2, 2009. The cinema hall was reserved exclusively for the press and a bunch of local big wigs, film enthusiasts and some such... et moi, heheh!
No kiddin’, I got invited there by some local newspaper, and just before the show started I had to do this little interview in front of the whole damn audience. I felt pretty awkward, since I hadn’t actually seen the final cut and therefore I wasn’t even sure if my stunt scenes had made it into the movie.
But I was lucky. Several split seconds of my doubling for German leading actor Ulrich Tukur (The Lives of Others) hadn’t actually hit the cutting room floor. Unfortunately, yet expectedly, I couldn’t find my name anywhere in the closing credits (something that happens a lot to stunt people shooting in China... or anywhere else, for that matter). I spotted some of the Chinese stuntmen’s names, though, including Shanghai-based stunt coordinator Li Guomin.
Thanks, guys.
Here I am, next to Mr. Tukur & the (uncredited) Russian stunt double for actress Dagmar Manzel
Be that as it may, it was not a bad movie. All the actors were great. John Buscemi stole the show as sardonic American doctor Robert Wilson. I liked Zhang Jingchu as well, but that had nothing to do with her acting... I’m just such a sucker for Chinese babes.
Cute.
I don’t want to give away too much of the story. Most people familiar with modern Chinese history & World War II will know it, anyway. It’s kind of a China version of Schindler’s List, and just like that movie, it’s based on true events. It’s way too sentimental for my liking (the violin-laden tear-jerker soundtrack doesn’t help in this regard, either), but that goes with the territory, I guess... so, bring some Kleenex.
Two or three boxes should do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgFHN5r7E84
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CELLULOID STEROID
Friday, Feb 20, 2009 3:04AM / Standard Entry
The (not so) Secret Role of Performance-enhancing Drugs in the Motion Picture Industry
Some readers of this blog may wonder: „What kind of a stoopid topic is THAT?“ Well, folks... it’s my blog, and I write about whatever I wanna write about. But seriously, if I had a penny for every time I got drawn into a debate on this particular subject, I’d be a friggin‘ millionaire. If you’re not into big muscles (or you don’t want to admit you are) you might wanna skip this one. This blog entry contains so much testosterone that reading it may give you heavy acne, male pattern baldness and significantly increased libido.
Disclaimer:
Stefan Morawietz and AnD in no way condone or encourage the use of anabolic/androgenic steroids. This article is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only and should not be used as a reference guide. Steroids are legally available only by prescription.
So, now we’ve got this all cleared up, here’s my little piece of investigative journalism...
The State of Affairs
Here we are now. The beefed-up-and-ripped-to-shreds look has become the norm in the film & entertainment industry (especially in the action & martial arts genre). Billy Blanks, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Silvio Simac… these are the names that leap to mind when talking about the most admired physiques of today’s non-Asian action actors & martial arts performers. Arnold, Sly & Van Damme paved the way… and here we are. Bigger, stronger, faster.
Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8nOKJTL6Tg
Whenever an actor suddenly gains a considerable amount of muscle mass in a short time while whipping himself into shape for an action role, usually a good helping of steroids (and sometimes Growth Hormone, Clenbuterol, etc.) are involved. None of the stars will admit it, of course… might taint their glamorous image a little and - even more unpleasant - subject them to criminal prosecution.The funny thing is that a lot of people (yes, even people in the business who ought to know better) prefer to stay in their little make-believe worlds and react shocked & indignantly when performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are mentioned in connection with their favorite screen idols.
The truth is, and one well-known celebrity personal trainer put it quite nicely: “... if a person’s physique looks too good to be true, it probably is.”
Thanks to the Bush administration and their politically motivated PED witch hunt, most people out there haven’t got a clue how steroids work & what they actually are. I have seldom been confronted with such an amount of ignorance & major baloney as when talking to people about this particular matter.
It’s amusing, in a way.Talking about truths, let’s face the realities of the movie industry for a minute here. More than once I have been asked quite bluntly by casting agents or producers if I’d be willing to go on steroids for a fighting part in a movie. I lost out on roles because I wasn’t brawny enough at the time or the shooting date was too close to bulk up properly. No business like show business! You don’t like it? You go and become a tax accountant.
And let’s be honest, who wants to see Jet Li beat up some dude who’s smaller & skinnier than himself?
Whether this muscle craze in show biz is something to be welcomed or not is not the subject of this piece of writing. But since it’s here, I believe that rather than sermonizing or demonizing, more dispassionate, factual information is urgently needed. As Strength & Conditioning Coach Sal Marinello states in The Healthy Skeptic :
“... these substances are out there and (...) people are using them, and will not only continue to use them but will forever seek out new and better substances to use. (...) You can be against the use of all forms of PEDs, but this doesn't mean you can ignore the fact that these substances are being used...”
There you have it.
REALITY CHECKA Brief History of Steroid Usage in the Movies
I will probably get accused of divulging well-kept professional secrets when I start talking freely & truthfully about the history of steroids from Hollywood to Bollywood (but then again, who reads this blog, anyway?). It’s not my intention to bad-mouth anyone or to maliciously rain on your parade here. This would mean that I considered steroid usage of action stars & entertainers morally reprehensible... which I don’t. But I trust you’ve guessed this much by now.
Here’s some food for thought:
The 50s & 60s: From Muscle Beach to the Silver Screen
The first known uses of water-dissolved synthetic testosterone in sports began in the late 1940's, after the military had employed it extensively to boost the recovery of undernourished prisoners of war & concentration camp victims. Some of the first juicers were Russian weightlifters & American bodybuilders.
“Dianabol” – “Doc Ziegler’s mysterious pink pills” came on the market in the mid-50s. About a decade later, their combination with the injectable “Deca-Durabolin” took bodybuilding to the next level, although dosages were still minimal by today’s standards.
Bodybuilders started appearing in the flickers. Thank God they had CinemaScope back then.STEVE REEVES
Mr. America, Mr. Universe, and the original “Hercules”... claimed that there weren’t any steroids around when he was competing. A prime example of memory suppression. They were around... and they were legal. Granted, they were a well-kept secret among athletes and not everybody knew about them or had access to them... but the guys that did stood out like dog balls.
REG PARK
Former runner-up to Steve-ah Reeve-ah at the Mr. Universe. The beefy Brit cashed in on the Italian sword-and-sandal craze as “Hercules” & “Maciste”. The Times called him “...muscle hero who shunned steroids...” and some other genius labeled him “... one of the last natural champions of the pre-steroid age...”Duh...! Saps.
The 70s: Kung Fu Fighting & Pumping IronIn 1976, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially banned steroids. Nonetheless, bodybuilders, martial artists & athletes of almost every other sport kept using new drugs like “Primobolan” & “Winstrol” in place of (or in addition to) the established classics “Deca” & “Dianabol”...
“Anavar”, a mild oral, was introduced in the mid-60s and later became very popular with health-conscious bodybuilders and an all-time favorite with boxers & kick-boxers competing in weight classes.
And yet, big muscles were not en vogue until a documentary featuring a gargantuan dude from Austria changed all that.“Pumping up, pumping iron;
pumping up, it really feels like flying;
coming up just like a lion;
pumping up, pumping iron, work it up now, pump it up nowwwww...”
Those were the days, my funky soul brothah...
BRUCE LEE
The one and only. The God. The man. Most chopsocky buffs & martial arts fans still believe that their idol was some sort of an infallible, morally superior, superhuman kungfu monk. Nothing I can say here will ever change this. But it is pretty well-known today that – apart from being a confirmed pot head – Bruce experimented with various steroids in his never-ending quest for strength & power.BOLO YEUNG
The big Chinese dude from “Enter the Dragon” & “Bloodsport”. 200 Lbs at 5’ 7”. Former Mr. Hong Kong. Played the muscle in more then 100 chopsockies. Still going strong. Claims to be a life-time natural. HAHAHA! Chinese! Great sense of humor.
A natural, if there ever was one...
LOU FERRIGNO
The Hulk. Huge. Green. ‘Nuff said.The 80s: Barbarians in Aerobicland
Regardless of the Olympic ban, steroids weren’t tested in the NFL until the late 80s. No more gear over the counter, but over the border – from Mexico. Arrrriba! More and more exotic Testosterone derivatives emerged & disappeared again, but the hottest secret weapon - Human Growth Hormone - was here to stay. Brawn was hip all of a sudden. Before they knew it, beefcakes that had been ridiculed before & dismissed as freaky exponents of some gay subculture became role models for the new fitness era.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
You can even read at Wikipedia that The Governator has admitted to using performance-enhancing substances back in the day. Who ever woulda thought it? Watch him in “Conan the Barbarian”, filmed shortly after the notorious 1980 Mr. Olympia. The Austrian Oak has juiced up for movie projects ever since.
Which one do you prefer?
SYLVESTER STALLONE
Huhm, Sly got busted by Aussie customs not too long ago and he reluctantly acknowledged to using prescribed Growth Hormone on a regular basis for rejuvenation purposes (they found Testosterone vials on him too, by the way).
Compare his physique in the first “Rocky” to that in “Cliffhanger”. Or simply the difference between “Rambo I” and “Rambo II”. And just look at him in "Rocky Balboa"... that dude is 60 years old, dammit!
Ramky in top shape
By the way, there’s still people who insist that the G doesn’t actually work.
DOLPH LUNDGREN
The Swede has been called a fool by journalists for openly admitting his use of anabolic steroids to improve his physique for his roles in “Rocky IV” and “Showdown in Little Tokyo”. This is what you get for being honest.
Whether he was criticized in this fashion for using steroids or for admitting to using steroids remains unclear.JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME
I keep running into dyed-in-the-wool van Damme fans who firmly believe that the Muscles from Brussels has never touched PEDs. There are people who believe that the British Royal family are a bunch of extraterrestrial, blood-drinking, shape-shifting reptilians and that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.MILES O’KEEFFE
Tarzan on steroids. A pity that the gear doesn’t enhance acting skills, too.HULK HOGAN
In the infamous 1994 WWF steroid scandal, wrestling icon Hulk Hogan testified in court, stating that he and most of his peers had been taking steroids throughout the 80s. What a shock! Well, as a consequence, the WWF became the WWE and introduced doping tests for pro wrestlers.Gimme a break, will ya?
CARL WEATHERS
Yeah, that’s Apollo Creed. Roids were unlikely to be a novelty for the former American & Canadian league football player.The 90s: The Steroid Era
The age of chemical wizardry. The Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990 made anabolic steroids a Schedule III controlled substance in the U.S. Wow... priorities!
Veterinary steroids like “Equipoise” and several new versions of Trenbolone gain in popularity... cheap Growth Hormone from China... lipid Testosterone revival... underground labs... nightmarish amounts of new drugs & substances like “Clenbuterol”, “Nubain”, all sorts of so-called estrogen blockers, HCG, diuretics, insulin, and “...a vast number of others I haven't taken the time to learn how to pronounce, let alone spell.” (Mike Mentzer; Mr. America & Mr. Universe)
Mass rules. X-treme is chic. Dorian Yates is The Man. Welcome to the freak show.VIN DIESEL
xXx. Ex-bouncer & confirmed gym rat. New male role model for the 90s. Or so they say.MICHAEL CLARK DUNCAN
Ex-bodyguard for Will Smith & LL Cool J. Put on 40 Lbs for “Daredevil”.MICHAEL JAI WHITE
That’s the dude who played Mike Tyson and “Spawn”. Hell, yeah!EDWARD NORTON
Quite obviously upped the T for “American History X”. Got him an Oscar nomination.DWAYNE “THE ROCK” JOHNSON
Admitted to doing it when he was young & foolish. Had some bad gyno removed (yup, that’s them ugly bitch tits), as well. Calls for “zero tolerance” now. This much hypocrisy makes me wanna puke!
... hope for the next generation...
Check out this forum post:
“The Rock's a good example of someone who can reach the top and not be on roids. Seriously, he said he used roids during his freshman year at college, but never in the WWF; and he was one of the greatest of all time. So, if he can do it then there's hope for the next generation.”
No comment.
CHRISTIAN BALE
Quit speculating, for Chrissakes! You don’t gain 100 Lbs (!) of lean muscle in 5 months naturally, dude. You just don’t. Even when you’re a super-gifted genetic freak, you don’t. Not even when you’re friggin’ Batman.“How did you get that fab physique in American Psycho, Chris?” , the reporter asked during an interview for Cosmopolitan.
“Steroids”, movie star Christian Bale replied, laughing.What an appealing dry sense of humor, everybody thought.
Chris before & after
MARK WAHLBERG
Marky Mark. Ex-underwear model. Ex- New Kids On The Block. Ex-convict. Allegedly discovered the juice while doing time at Deer Island penitentiary. Turned from a scrawny kid into a teenage hunk as a result.
2000 and beyond:Baseball banned steroids in 2002. Three years later, Baseball slugger Jose Canseco publishes his tell-all book “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big”.
A new substance hits the scene... sounding the bell for the next generation of PEDs: IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor-1) is the new Holy Grail for muscleheads world-wide.
In 2008, the FBI raided pharmacies in Florida & Alabama, leading to the so-called “Hollywood Steroid Scandal”. "Stars were shipped prescribed human growth hormone or steroids -- sometimes under fictitious names -- at hotels, productions studios, private residences, an upscale Manhattan fitness club and through the Long Island office of a chiropractor affiliated with the celebrities."Names named include 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, Timbaland, Wyclef Jean, Tyler Perry, Evander Holyfield, and – again - Sylvester Stallone.
Prescribed? What’s the big deal, then?
GERARD BUTLER
“300”. Did you watch that one? And do you really believe you can change your physique this dramatically in a matter of weeks by doing push ups & jumping through rows of old tires? C’mon!
Tonight we're going to dine in hell!
50 CENT
Even a blind man can see from a ten-mile distance on a foggy day that the homie didn’t “just say no”.LL COOL J
Same, same.TOBY MCGUIRE
The studio quite obviously hopped him up on steroids for “Spiderman”. The ektomorph gained 30 Lbs of lean muscle in 3 months... that’s a proper mass cycle.MICKEY ROURKE
Used to work out at Gold’s Gym in Hollywood. Good actor. Bad boxer. Admitted freely to taking steroids in his “bad days”. Apparently, these days aren’t quite over yet. Look at him in “Sin City”.WILL SMITH
Put on 30 Lbs for “Ali”. Lost all of it, afterwards. Gained it back for “I, Robot”. No sweat.SCOTT ADKINS
Englishman with Taekwondo background. Hit it up heavy for his role in “Undisputed II: Last Man Standing” in order not to look small next to co-star Michael Jai White.
Mission accomplished!
There’s lotsa more juicers haunting the action movie genre (usually playing The Big Bad Ass Guy)... Nathan Jones, Conan Stevens, Derek Boyer... they’re easy to spot if you keep your eyes open.
The Bottom Line
While some of these celebrities probably aren’t the best examples for long-term, continuous steroid use the way it’s done by bodybuilders or pro wrestlers, they show how wide-spread & quite normal this practice actually is and always has been in the action film community.
Many top-billing actors with that ripped, muscular Men’s Health look might manage with their good genetics, a nutritionist and a personal trainer... and maybe a few “Winstrol” or “Anavar” tablets here and there. But pro wrestlers, MMA pro athletes, action actors or full-time stunt fighters play in a different league, altogether.A final word to those who argue that actors, athletes, and entertainers are role models and must therefore live (or pretend to live) like Augustinian Hermits. Well, this line of argument coming from politicians has a bit of a hollow ring to it, doesn’t it?
Let’s make no mistake about it, martial artists & action performers working in the flickers are all top-notch pros with superior athletic skills they have gained after long & hard years of bleeding & sweating. Steroids can just give them an edge on the big screen, in terms of physical appearance & recovery ability. They’re definitely not the key to their success.
I rest my case.
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THE SHAOLIN TEMPLE
Friday, Jan 30, 2009 10:51PM / Standard Entry
Shao Lin Si
少林寺
Tadaaaah! Time for another Wushu movie classic. To be perfectly honest with you, and I know this going to sound silly, I’ve been trying hard to avoid reviewing the Shaolin Temple Trilogy. I fully realized there was no way around it... and yet, I hemmed and hawed. In a way, it’s like writing a book about Rock’n’Roll... and getting to the Elvis chapter.
A nightmare.
I mean, what can you possibly write that some other guy hasn’t written already? Plus, one rash remark (something I got a bad rap for) and the lines run hot with death threats.
There’s a lot of film fans out there who have a bit of a problem with reality when it comes to their favorite screen idols. I know what I’m talking about.
Once, I had this heated argument with a stunt bro (a guy who is actually quite knowledgeable and really shoulda known better) while watching Rocky Balboa. I made a random & rather harmless comment on Sly Stallone’s well-documented use of performance-enhancing drugs. I hadn’t even criticized the actor (I don’t aspire to being an upholder of moral standards in the movie industry). I simply stated the fact.
My pal was genuinely shocked. He called me a dirty liar and kept on babbling about “...hard training, proper nutrition, and good genetics...” for the rest of the evening. This is what happens when you burst people’s bubbles.
What can I say... two weeks later, Rocky got busted by Aussie customs while trying to smuggle a few boxes of Human Growth Hormone and several vials of testosterone into kangaroo country.
Some things explain themselves.So, let’s get this over with. Part V.
You can say about The Shaolin Temple 少林寺 what you like, there is little doubt that this was THE movie that kicked off the big Wushu craze in the mid-eighties and made Li Lianjie 李連杰 a household name with martial arts enthusiasts & Eastern fans world-wide... a decade before he eventually became Jet Li Superstar and a sure-fire box-office draw from Hong Kong to Hollywood.
Mainland Chinese authorities had been watching the success of Hong Kong chopsocky productions closely & warily for some time, and by the end of 1979, they finally decided to try their hand at the genre. Apparently, the Communist government was giving serious thought to promoting Wushu as an Olympic sport. Using action movies as a vehicle seemed a natural thing to do.
The People’s Republic had two unique assets: the original Shaolin monastery in Henan’s Songjiang mountains and China’s most famous, entirely homegrown Wushu athletes.
Today, The Shaolin Temple is widely regarded as a Mainland venture. However, it was a Hong Kong-based (albeit left-leaning) production company and Japanese money that made filming possible.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ8I6KjGyG4
Although The Shaolin Temple is by far the most popular installment of the series, it is in many ways the weakest.
For western mainstream audiences this brightly-colored, weird hodgepodge of animal kungfu and animal abuse (including rather vivid depictions of flaying frogs, goring sheep, and eating dogs) mixed with corny musical numbers and endless battle sequences definitely takes getting used to.
The scenes shot at Shaw Brothers’ Clearwater Bay Studios in Kowloon are a particular eyesore. And unnecessarily so... filming lasted nearly two years anyhow, so the famous four-seasons training sequence could have easily been shot on location. Li Lianjie shines here, no question. Still, for some reason the director decided to have his lead show his best moves in badly faked snow, in front of plastic trees, paper blossoms, and tawdry cardboard sunsets.
There’s no accounting for taste. Yuck!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOIIUoQ1rig
Nevertheless, the combat & training bits are just plain breath-taking, and you’d be hard pressed to find an action movie anywhere on a par with The Shaolin Temple (or any other part of the trilogy) when it comes to ornate fight choreography & genuine martial arts mastership.
Almost every single role was played by a celebrated Wushu pro of the era.
The Champ
Apart from Li Lianjie, who had been National All-round Champion five times in a row before even reaching legal age, we get to witness the first screen appearances of
“Bald Eagle” Ji Chunhua 计春华 (Zhejiang Wushu Team 浙江武术队);
“Iron Fist” Pan Qingfu 潘清福 (coach of Tianjin Wushu Team 天津武术队);
Hu Jianqiang 胡坚强 (Wushu All-round Champ, member of Zhejiang Wushu Team and Ditang Quan 地躺拳 expert);
Yu Hai 于海 (coach of Shandong Wushu Team 山东武术队 and highly respected Praying Mantis 螳螂拳 luminary);
Yu Chenghui 于承惠 (another coach of Shandong Wushu Team and a renowned master of the Two-Handed Sword 双手剑); and
Sun Jiankui 孫建魁 (broadsword 刀术 champion, member of Shandong Wushu Team).The Good Guys:
Yu Hai 于海 Hu Jianqiang 胡坚强 Sun Jiankui 孫建魁
Although its plot line is far from being ingenious (hey, man... it’s a chopsocky!), The Shaolin Temple is simply ground-breaking in its new approach to fight choreography. Astonishingly enough, according to the 1982 May edition of China Sports Magazine, this was in fact due to the squeeze by Japanese investors who demanded real Chinese Martial Arts to be displayed on the screen.
This finally prompted the producers to drop wire work, trampolines, and camera tricks (unthinkable for any kungfu flick production in those days), and to focus on the real trump cards they had up their sleeves. The rest is history, as they say.
And yet, despite being a milestone of martial arts choreography and a box-office bonanza throughout Asia, with more than decent results in Europe and the U.S., one reviewer called The Shaolin Temple “... a noteworthy last gasp of a dying genre.” Another one from Hong Kong (surprise, surprise) had the nerve to write: “... the fight choreography is not outstanding.”
Well, we shall agree to differ, buster.The Bad Guys:
Yu Chenghui 于承惠 Ji Chunhua 计春华 Pan Qingfu 潘清福
Unlike Hong Kong, the Mainland hadn’t developed a movie stunt industry of its own at the time. Therefore, the stunt coordination and all the action was handled entirely in a team effort by the pro athletes and their coaches.
Most sources credit Yu Hai and Pan Qingfu as the main fight choreographers (assisted by Shanxi Team 山西武术队 coach Ma Xiandai 馬賢達 & Shandong swordplay expert Wang Changkai 王常凱).
On his website, however, Jet Li claims that all the fights were more or less made up by the athletes themselves, in large parts long before the actors went on the set and actual shooting took place.
This makes sense. For a Wushu pro athlete, whose bread & butter are Duilian 对练 (team staged combat) fighting moves, throwing a spectacular brawl together is a pushover.
The plot:Boy’s father is killed by evil warlord. Boy escapes to the Shaolin Temple to learn kungfu. Boy returns to settle the score.
Let me hazard a guess: you heard this one before (just a wild stab in the dark). The Shaolin Temple is a pretty standard revenge yarn, to put it mildly. It’s roughly based on a folk tale based on allegedly historic facts – the rescue of Tang Dynasty emperor Li Shimin by the 13 Chivalrous Monks of Shaolin.
Anyway, since more than half of the running time of the movie consists of battle sequences, training montages, and duel scenes, the plot takes a back seat, adopting a serviceable role, but not much more.
Oh yes, the scriptwriters threw a love story into the mix as well (enter almond-eyed cutie Ding Lan 丁嵐), just for good measure... but the half-assed attempt comes across a little too saccharine and therefore remains less than convincing.
Ding Lan - damsel in distress
Moreover, the rather lax treatment of Buddhist religion by the Communist filmmakers has been repeatedly criticized. (In The Shaolin Temple, monks don’t have a problem with drinking alcohol, eating meat and killing other living creatures by the dozen “... as long as Buddha is in the heart...”).
Gloss:As stated earlier on, the cast of The Shaolin Temple reads like a Who Is Who of the best Wushu athletes of the time. In addition to the aforementioned champions and their respective specialties, rope dart 绳镖 whiz Liu Hualiang 劉懷良 and nine-section whip 九節鞭 champ Du Chuanyang 杜傳揚 show off their stuff, and then some.
I found it particularly funny to spot one of my former coaches (Fang Ping 方平 from Zhejiang Wushu Team) in the background of several scenes, shaved head and all.If you get to watch the original Mandarin version, you might be surprised to find that – even though the actors are all native Chinese, of course – their voices are dubbed by other (professional) actors. Apparently, the producers didn’t think the athletes capable of using their own voices properly. In those days the “natural approach” wasn’t really in favor, and ultra melodramatic tone – ludicrous as it may seem today – used to be the hallmark of good acting.
Many of the Shaolin Temple' s first-time actors have successfully continued to work in film and TV.
Ji Chunhua, for instance, has become a familiar face in both the Hong Kong and Mainland entertainment industries. He’s played the villain in nearly 20 Hong Kong blockbusters (including the memorable miscreant Yu in Fong Sai Yuk II 湘西屍王 and the hilarious Poison Juice Monster in The New Legend of Shaolin 洪熙官, both alongside old pal Jet Li). He even starred in Zhang Yimou’s much acclaimed Mainland art house film Red Sorghum 紅高粱. In 2007, I visited him at Hengdian Movie City, on the set of Wing Chun 咏春. And as is the case with many a movie bad guy, he’s one of the coolest & nicest people you’ll ever meet.
Meeting Ji Chunhua behind the scenes
Grandmaster Pan Qingfu is another living Chinese martial arts legend. According to Wikipedia, he was recruited by the Chinese government during the Cultural Revolution to hunt down Triad leaders, eventually capturing 23, and thus earning the name "Gangbuster." He has also worked as an instructor for the Beijing Police and the Chinese Special Forces. A real old-school tough nut. Today, Grandmaster Pan runs a Wushu school in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. He did not pursue a career in the movies. Only in the documentary This Is Kungfu and Mark Salzman’s autobiographical martial arts movie Iron and Silk (1990) he can be seen on the silver screen again - playing himself.
In 2006, a number of members of the original Shaolin Temple crew reunited for Clarence Fok’s big budget multi-episode TV series Seven Swords of Mount Heaven 七劍下天山, namely Yu Chenghui, Ji Chunhua, and Sun Jiankui, with director Zhang Xinyan as Tsui Hark’s co-producer.
Like young Jet Li, Hu Jianqiang, Yu Chenghui, Sun Jiankui, and Yu Hai will all be back in the upcoming installments of The Shaolin Temple trilogy. We’re going to take a closer look at their lives & careers later on.
Other titles for Shao Lin Si:The Shaolin Temple
Siu Lam Chi (HK)Director: Zhang Xinyan 張鑫炎
Action Director: Yu Hai, Yu Chenghui, Ma Xiandai, Wang Changkai
Producer: Liao Yiyuan 廖一原
Film Company: Chung Yuen Motion Picture Co. 中原電影製片公司
Starring: Li Lianjie (as Jue Yuan), Ding Lan (as Bai Wuxia), Hu Jianqiang (as Wu Kong), Yu Hai (as Shifu), Yu Chenghui (as Wang Renzhe), Ji Chunhua (as murdering henchman), Sun Jiankui (as Se Kong)
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YOU CAN'T PLEASE EVERYONE
Monday, Jan 19, 2009 8:59AM / Standard Entry
German Stunt Biz Situation Report
One of my first blog entries here on AnD was titled WORKING AS A STUNTMAN IN CHINA and it dealt with... well, alright, the title kind of gives it away. That little sit rep was written from a foreigner’s perspective, of course... an expat’s, if you will, (yes, mine, smartypants) although it marginally dipped into the tough lives of Chinese stunt performers, as well.
I’m back in Germany now (I have been since May 2008), and thus I’m one of the local boys, for a change.From the very day I opened the doors of my stunt fighting school, I’ve had questions coming in from all over the place... through our HONG KONG ADRENALINE website and even here on AnD...
You’d be surprised by the number of guys writing stuff like: “Hi Stefan! I’m a whiz bang martial artist, and I’m planning on becoming a major action movie star ASAP... how can you help me with that?” No shit. This is what some of them write.
What are you supposed to say to that?But it was actually a comment from AnD member cindyrose21 that prompted me to speak my mind about the situation here in Germany. She’s from Vancouver, works in the flickers (grips, if I remember correctly), and she made a few interesting remarks that actually sounded pretty familiar. She quoted a few Canadian stunt websites making statements along the lines of: “... it’s who you know, not what you can do...” (as regards to the stunt business) or “... 12 years of misery before breaking into the industry...” and so on and so forth. I can’t very well speak for Canada, although I know a couple of stunt guys over there, but I’d like to take the opportunity and say a few words about Germany.
Good things first:
Our motion picture industry is rather small. Why is that a good thing? This makes the market pretty manageable. There are roughly 150 professional stunt performers working in Germany (including stunt coordinators, fight choreographers, second unit directors, stunt riggers, etc.). We’ve got 4 main film cities (we’re basically talking TV production, with the odd local or international big-screen project thrown in) – Munich, Cologne, Hamburg, and Berlin... with the latter being the biggest and the busiest. Each of these cities boasts one or two major stunt companies, basically sharing the entire market between them.
Suffice it to say that they hate each other’s guts.
This is where we get to the downsides. If you’re not affiliated to one of these few companies, you’re unlikely to ever get a job as a stuntman, no matter how good you are and what kind of experience you have (“... it’s who you know...” ). That these few companies rake in shitloads of money, whereas the freelancers usually get the mere crumbs, is a no-brainer.
And even when you freelance, like most stunt fighters over here do, you’re not supposed to work for a competing company. Well, it’s a known fact that everybody does, anyway (if you didn’t, you simply wouldn’t survive), but you’d better not shout it from the housetops.
This sometimes leads to pretty absurd situations.
There’s a real cool stunt rigger over here, for instance, who – despite being well-known throughout the German stunt community - hasn’t had a proper movie job in a friggin' year (my German bros will know who I’m talking about). Nobody hires the guy, because he set up his own little company a while ago. “What’s wrong with that?” you may well ask.
Simple. Now he’s competition to the big guys in the big cities... the guys who have the big jobs coming in. So, the bastards are starving him out like a rat.
With more and more U.S. productions coming to Germany (Valkyrie, Speed Racer, and Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards among the most recent), German stuntmen increasingly get to work in international blockbusters. Having said that, most American productions fly in their own stunt crews from the States, and the German stunt guys are generally referred to as cannon fodder... make of that what you will.
Kraut alarm: Olli, me, Tommy (all AnD stunties)
So, if you do pursue a stunt career in Germany, it might be the wisest strategy to join one of the big companies (provided they let you).
Especially as a freelancer, you’ve got to watch your step. It’s a dog-eat-dog industry, and you might find your closest friend stab you in the back when it secures him that hotly contested movie gig. To get film or TV work at least every now and then, you have to accomplish the considerable feat of being on good terms with all of the big-name stunt companies – a thing next to impossible.
For the reasons given above, setting up your own firm might turn out counterproductive and even become the deathblow to your career. So, you might wanna think about this carefully.I'm not saying you shouldn't set up your own company at all... I mean, I did it. But this is only because I don't give a f%$# about what other people say.
Well, Germans in general aren’t exactly famous for thinking out of the box or for being overly venturesome. In this regard, I really miss China!
Don’t get me wrong. There’s actually quite a few great stunt guys and action actors in Germany (you can find some of them here on AnD). If we only could overcome our typical small-mindedness and jealousy (I’m allowed to say that... I am German) and started focusing on co-operation rather than competition, we could accomplish great things, no doubt.
Attempts have been made in the past (The Challenge ), are being made at present (Lasko – The Fist of God ) and will be made in the future (look out for Ulrik Bruchholz’s upcoming project!).Many young stuntmen (and some old farts like me) hope that things will change for the better with the founding of the new German Stunt Association. Last year, for the first time in Germany, stunt people (known for being incurable lone wolves), got together to form a union and to set compulsory standards for the business in this country... minimum rates and everything. Sounds good to me. Yet, time will show if such an association is suited to help freelancers and small stunt companies to get more and better jobs.
I sure do hope so.
German stunt power - The magnificent Chris Gneissl of G-Action
Be that as it may, as an action actor & stunt fighter I wouldn't want to restrict myself to the German market. I'd rather cast my net wider, further cementing ties with my second home China & other countries in Asia and around the world.
Far be it from me to bite the hand that feeds me or to foul my own nest. I love being a stunt person. Still, I’ve made it a habit to call a spade a spade.
I’d like to rest my case with the world-famous lyrics to that ol' Ricky Nelson tune:"... But it's all right now, I've learned my lesson well.
You see, you can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself..."
Stats
- My athletic background as a stunt actor is firmly rooted in the sport of Chinese Wushu (Old School, as it's now called)...
- Occupation: Actor , Martial arts , Stuntman
- Gender: Male
- Total visits: 84,756
