The Sorcerer and the White Snake (It's Love)

[GeneChing]

Here's another rumored Jet Li project, alongside Great Khmer Empire (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58426).


Jet Li to star in fantasy drama White Snake (http://www.screendaily.com/news/asia-pacific/jet-li-to-star-in-fantasy-drama-white-snake/5018904.article)
30 September, 2010 | By Screen staff

Chinese action star Jet Li will be starring in fantasy period drama White Snake(tentative title) with Po-chu Chui (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Kung Fu Hustle) producing and Tony Siu-tung Ching (An Empress and theWarriors) directing.

Huang Shengyi (Kungfu Hustle), Wen Zhang (Ocean Heaven) and Hong Kong stars Raymond Lam and Charlene Choi (Storm Warriors) are also among the leading cast of the $25m film.

Shooting has started yesterday in Chongyang of Hubei province in China, the main shooting location of the film. William Suk-ping Chang will serve as production and costume designer of the film.

The story of the film is based on Chinese legend which tells about a young scholar (to be played by Raymond Lam) falling in love with a beautiful woman (Huang Shengyi), unaware that she is a white snake who has taken on human form. A monk named Fahai (Jet Li) intervenes in order to save the scholar’s soul and casts the white snake into a deep well at a pagoda.

The story was made into a film of the same title in 1962 by the Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong. In 1993, Tsui Hark, Tony Siu-tung Ching’s longtime collaborator, adapted parts of the story and made a pan-Asian hit Green Snake, starring Maggie Cheung.

The film is financed by Beijing-based China Juli Entertainment Media, which is the subsidiary company of industry conglomerate Juli Group, specializing in sling and solar Energy businesses. Juli Entertainment Media recently signed with Hong Kong and mainland directors Hu Mei (Confucius), Stanley Kwan, Zhang Yang and Zhang Jiarui on a series of film production projects.

Shooting is scheduled to finish by the end of the year and is scheduled to be released in summer 2011.
I confess that Green Snake was one of my guilty pleasures. It was a stand-out example of the Fant-Asia genre, but it's probably pretty dated today, especially it's special effects.

[Lucas]

at first i thought you were just a big fan of 80s buttrock.

[doug maverick]

looks like its official


Jet Li Joins Legend of Madam White Snake
-- Legend of Madam White Snake --
At a press conference held in Chong Yang, Hubei on September 29 afternoon, the crew and cast for 《白蛇传说》 Legend of Madam White Snake (tentative), which depicts the tale of forbidden love between a snake spirit and a mortal, with the intervention of an eminent monk, were formally announced:

Yang Zi, who's in the midst of filming Unparalleled Hero Fong Sai Yu TV series with Shi Xiao Long and Xu Ming Hu, and Chui Po Chu are producing, with Ching Siu Tung directing, while Eva Huang stars as White Snake, Raymond Lam as Xu Xian, Jet Li as Reverend Fa Hai, Charlene Choi as Green Snake and Wen Zhang, whom Jet Li invited to play his disciple Neng Ren, who despite his name meaning able to endure, loses his soul the moment he sets his sights upon Green Snake.

Eva Huang said that she has many fight scenes in Legend of Madam White Snake, which has been in production in the scenic Chong Yang since the beginning of this month and is slated for release in 2nd half of 2011. And recently, she has done a few scenes opposite Jet Li, who was absent as he was meeting Warren Buffet and Bill Gates to discuss charity matters, "He's very professional, when he's doing action scenes, I'd stay one side to learn on the sly." The Beijing News

[ghostexorcist]

Why are they doing a remake so soon? The Maggie Cheung version of White Snake is only 17 years old.

[GeneChing]

I'll change the post heading when the title settles.

Distribution Workshop takes on Jet Li project White Snake (http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/distribution-workshop-takes-on-jet-li-project-white-snake/5023554.article)
11 February, 2011 | By Jean Noh

Hong Kong-based sales outfit takes $25m-budgeted The Sorcerer And The White Snake.

Distribution Workshop has picked up international sales rights to the Jet Li film The Sorcerer And The White Snake. Hong Kong action choreographer and film director/producer Tony Ching Siu-tung is directing the film.

The $25m film is in post-production.

Ching’s credits include A Chinese Ghost Story, House of Flying Daggers and An Empress And The Warriors.

Eva Huang (Kung Fu Hustle) stars as the White Snake of the title, who transforms into a beautiful woman to rescue and live with the man she falls in love with – an herbal physician played by Raymond Lam. When their town is plagued by a mysterious disease, she sacrifices her supernatural power and energy to help him save people but is found out to be a serpent when the Sorceror played by Jet Li arrives. Charlene Choi of The Twins Effect series also stars as Green Snake who helps the white one.

Venus Keung (One Nite In Mongkok) is director of photography while William Chang (2046) is costume director.
80s buttrock? :confused:

[Lucas]

ALA: White Snake :D

http://www.rudysarzo.com/images/bio/Whitesnake.jpg

http://mp3ymusica.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Whitesnake-Snake_Logo.jpg

[KC Elbows]

I would so pay for a movie in which Jet Li played David Coverdale.

[Lucas]

LOL id pay just to see him with that hairdo

[GeneChing]

But keep in mind that I work in the music industry, so I've seen a lot of bands. I've even seen Tiffany live. Whitesnake played Shoreline Amphitheater in '88 and no, I didn't remember that myself - I had to consult my external memory drive (aka the internet).

Remember Jet in dreadlocks? That was the best scene in The One (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=142).

In all fairness, Lady Green Snake is a classic Chinese myth, so this no more a remake of the Maggie Cheung version than Zhao Wei's Mulan (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53202) (or Zhang Ziyi's Mulan (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59298) for that matter) is a remake of the Disney version. (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=118)

[Lucas]

rasta law and g@y law were freaking funny

personally liked the idea for the one and had secretly hoped for a sequel, i wanted to see the hades penal colony get owned

[GeneChing]

But what would they call the sequel?

The TWO?

:p

[Lucas]

HAHA! dude thats a good one.

i did think it was weird though that there were alternate realities, but a set number, they could make it so its unlimited and he just gets stronger, and stronger, and stronger..., have a 3rd law that fights too, so at one point you get a 3 way free for all law beat down.

[SimonM]

Jet Li in The Sorcerer and the White Snake. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorcerer_and_the_White_Snake)


Ok, so how will he claim this one isn't a kung fu movie?

Or has he given up on the whole "Huo Yuen Jia was my last kung fu movie" thing?

[David Jamieson]

Jet Li in The Sorcerer and the White Snake. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorcerer_and_the_White_Snake)


Ok, so how will he claim this one isn't a kung fu movie?

Or has he given up on the whole "Huo Yuen Jia was my last kung fu movie" thing?

maybe it's just some bearded dude enjoying a night out at a whitesnake concert?

[Xian]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnCjghTfScM&feature=feedlik

An upcomming film with Jet Li.


Kind regards,
Xian

[ghostexorcist]

Looks like a made-for-TV movie with bad graphics.

[GeneChing]

If you want cheesey made-for-tv effects, check out Tsui Hark's Green Snake. Keep in mind, that was '93, pre-CGI, but it's based on the same tale. Nevertheless, I love that film. Something about Maggie Cheung and Joey Wang, both at the height of their young lusciousness, writhing about like snakes while Chiu Mancheuk tries to stay a stoic monk - it's a great flick. Cheesey, yes, but we all know how much I love cheese. You gotta love cheese to love kung fu cinema.

Here's a taste (overlook the soundtrack, just focus on the visuals): GREEN SNAKE UK TRAILER (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_PuAy5KWdU)

[ghostexorcist]

If you want cheesey made-for-tv effects, check out Tsui Hark's Green Snake. Keep in mind, that was '93, pre-CGI, but it's based on the same tale. Nevertheless, I love that film. Something about Maggie Cheung and Joey Wang, both at the height of their young lusciousness, writhing about like snakes while Chiu Mancheuk tries to stay a stoic monk - it's a great flick. Cheesey, yes, but we all know how much I love cheese. You gotta love cheese to love kung fu cinema.

Here's a taste (overlook the soundtrack, just focus on the visuals): GREEN SNAKE UK TRAILER (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_PuAy5KWdU)


Why are they doing a remake so soon? The Maggie Cheung version of White Snake is only 17 years old.

I bought it on DVD several years ago. Not a great movie, but those two were hot.

[GeneChing]

That's the stupidest title for this flick I can possibly think of...:mad:

Jet Li is bitten but not shy in new film (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/entertainment/2011-08/02/content_13031695.htm)
Updated: 2011-08-02 10:33
(China Daily)

Jet Li is bitten but not shy in new film

Jet Li will combat a white snake in his latest kungfu film.

In It's Love, a fantasy/kungfu flick, Li plays a monk who masters martial arts.

The film, adapted from a classic Chinese tale, involves the romance between the intellectual Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen, a white-snake-turned woman. Li's Fahai is a monk who tries to separate them, in the belief that people should not fall in love with goblins.

In the trailer, Li uses prayer beads and a wand to fight the white snake goblin, played by young actress Huang Shengyi. He shows up throughout the two-minute-trailer, making the film seem more like a biopic of Fahai instead of a love story between the snake and the intellectual.

The film will premiere at the end of September.

[SimonM]

Headdesk! :mad:

[GeneChing]

Beverly Hills Chihuahua? Seriously? roflmao!

Venice ‘11 Review: Jet Li’s ‘The Sorcerer & The White Snake’ Is Wuxia-Lite, With Bad Action & CG (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/2011/09/02/venice_11_review_the_sorceror_the_white_snake_is_w uxia-lite_crippled_by_bad/)

It might have a highbrow reputation (something anyone who’s caught one of the sidebars can confirm), but that doesn’t mean that the organizers of the Venice Film Festival don’t like to watch a little ass get kicked sometimes. Last year, in fact, was something of a banner year for action at the festival, with “13 Assassins” and ‘Detective Dee’ in competition, and “Machete,” “The Town,” “Reign of Assassins” and “Legend of the Fist” all playing out of it. 2011 is a little lighter on the chop-socky, but there is a single film that’s here to let film critics scratch their face-punch itch, and that’s the Jet Li vehicle “The Sorcerer & The White Snake.” Directed by Tony Ching, who not only helmed the classic “A Chinese Ghost Story,” but also served as action director/choreographer on the high octane likes of “Shaolin Soccer,” “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers,” so expectations were high that at the very least that we’d see some spectacular fight sequences, and possibly even something that transcends the genre, as “13 Assassins” did last year.

The film is based on a famous Chinese legend, generally known as the “Legend of the White Snake,” one that has served as inspiration for hundreds of operas in China, as well as a number of films and TV programs, perhaps most notably Tsui Hark‘s 1993 “Green Snake,” with Maggie Cheung. In this take, White Snake (Eva Huang, of “Kung-Fu Hustle” fame), a 1000-year-old snake demon, falls in love with Xu Xian (Raymond Lam), a young herbalist who aspires to become a doctor, against the warning of her companion Green Snake (Charlene Choi). She contrives events so they meet, and the two are soon wed, although Xian believes that she is a woman name Sou. Unfortunately, the titular sorceror Fa Hai (Li), who believes demons and humans can never live together, and his bumbling sidekick Neng Ren (Wen Zhang) are wandering the country battling demons wherever they find them, and having dispatched an ice witch in the opening, soon find themselves on White Snake’s trail.

As far as we can tell, it hews relatively close to the original myth, which might explain why the film departs from the good-and-evil narrative that Western audiences might expect; there’s no real villain, the narrative is quite episodic, and there is, in this version at least, a religious deus ex machina that makes us believe the film’s intended to be a kind of parable. But kung fu’s a broad church, and there’s no reason that with spectacular enough scenes, there might not be a good time to be had.

Unfortunately, the film’s tonally messy, garish—with every frame crammed with fourth-rate visual effects—and perhaps most crucially for a film in this genre, doesn’t have a single compelling action sequence. It’s not that money hasn’t been spent here; there’s some truly spectacular production design, handsome costumes (from Wong Kar-Wai collaborator William Chang), and a cast of hundreds. But Ching’s approach here seems influenced more by recent Hollywood blockbusters than classics of the genre. The blue screen approach he takes for much of the film can only make one think of Zack Snyder, particular with plentiful speed ramping and fast-cutting, rather than simply letting the fights play out. And there’s actually very little hand-to-hand stuff, instead there’s a lot of jumping around and waving hands around, “The Last Airbender”-style (and that’s without going into the shots lifted, nay replicated, from the likes of “Lord of the Rings” and even “2012”—in the case of the latter, we’d have wondered if the filmmakers hadn’t simply licensed the footage, were it not so poorly rendered).

Not all of the effects are terrible. There’s a group of talking animals who are realized at least as well as they might be in, say, a straight-to-video “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” sequel (it seems that the film is aimed at younger audiences, although we’re not sure how that gels with a borderline erotica scene where demons attempt to sort-of-seduce Li’s character). But things get worse and worse as things go on, until we’re faced with a snake seemingly copy-and-pasted from an Asylum production like “Boa Vs. Python.” It could be forgiven if the film was less reliant on effects, but there is something in every single frame, with a final sequence that basically amounts to two characters flinging pixels at each other. The few moments where the film comes up with memorable images are achieved practically: a series of boats in a canal catapulted into the air in sequence, Li’s disciples amusingly chasing a group of fox puppy demons over rooftops. We hope it’s not a sign that legendary Asian action filmmakers are going all “Green Lantern” on us.

The cast aren’t bad, particularly with Li graduating nicely to gruff older men type roles, Huang and Lam managing to squeeze some pathos out of the seemingly endless back and forth, and Zhang coming close to wringing a smile out of the audience, if not a full blown laugh. But the film’s so manically overstuffed—with genres, with tones, with effects—that both the action and the emotion feels weightless. And the less said about the infuriating wall-to-wall score, the better. Perhaps hardcore Jet Li fans will be able to get some joy out of it, but we’d suspect that even they will struggle, and would politely tell Venice organizers that, just because they had some success with martial arts flicks last year, it doesn’t mean that they’re obligated to pick one just for the sake of it. [D]

Oliver Lyttelton posted to Film Festivals, Venice, Review at 2:54 pm on September 2, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (0)

[GeneChing]

I'm officially changing the title of this thread from "White Snake" to "The Sorcerer and the White Snake."

The Sorcerer and the White Snake: Venice Film Review (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/sorcerer-white-snake-venice-film-230809)
11:25 AM PDT 9/2/2011 by Deborah Young

The Bottom Line
Fantastic visuals and non-stop action make for a spectacular, romantic Chinese CGI feast.

Venue
Venice Film Festival (out of competition)

Director
Tony Ching Siu-tung

Cast
Jet Li, Eva Huang, Raymond Lam, Charlene Choi, Wen Zhang, Vivian Hsu
An ancient Chinese fable about a woman demon who falls in love with a mortal is brought to life through the latest advances in CGI and action techniques.

As innocently childlike as its title, The Sorcerer and the White Snake is a visually lavish epic fantasy that happily marries the latest advances in CGI and action techniques with ancient Chinese fable and a Buddhist atmosphere. The story of a woman demon who falls in love with a mortal will ring bells for Westerners as a charming variant on Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid tale, though here the scaly mermaid is a huge, beautiful snake. With non-stop action to attract the lads, the tale is laced with enough overblown romanticism for ten chick flicks, yet chaste enough for children. Audiences with a taste for Chinese action spectaculars should enjoy this classy crossover from master Hong Kong director and action choreographer Tony Ching Siu-tung.

The international version screened out of competition in Venice contains several scenes featuring cute, animated talking animals that look like they stepped out of another film; they will have more scenes and turn into human beings played by well-known stars in the Asian cut.

There’s no waiting for the action to start, no time lost in character development or other preliminaries. In the first five minutes, the powerful sorcerer-monk Fahai (a reassuringly imperturbable Jet Li), defeats a seductive-looking Ice Witch and instructs his comical disciple Neng-Wen to imprison her in the wall of a sacred pagoda high in the mountains. This is the first of multiple battles against a range of gorgeous demon temptresses, all of them strangely female, while the celibate demon-busters from Fahai’s monastery are all men. Coincidence?

Not really, as the principal demon is a lovely, willful white snake played by rising Chinese star Eva Huang. She and her equally entrancing sister snake, Green (Hong Kong actress Charlene Choi), lounge in their primeval fantasy forest, watching Xu Xian (Raymond Lam) and his friends scavenge the mountainside for medicinal herbs. When Green playfully assumes her giant python form and scares Xu Xian into falling into a river, White takes on human guise and saves him with a kiss he can’t forget.

After centuries of meditation, the sisters have become extremely powerful “demons”, but nothing can stop White’s longing to live in the human world with Xu Xian. At a fantastically lit Lantern Festival filled with fireworks and river floats, she reveals herself to the poor herbalist as the woman who saved his life on the mountain, and goes to live with him as his wife. This breaks a major taboo in Fahai’s world that prohibits demons and humans from consorting, and the monk sets about separating the two lovers.

The impossibility of completely separating good and evil is a lesson the Sorceror learns at the end of the film, thanks to the great love White feels for her husband. But it’s a subtle message behind a loud and dazzling series of action sequences scripted and realized in fantastic CGI. In one of the first, the Sorceror sparks a tumultuous battle with bat-demons and captures a fearsome flying creature that lives inside a volcano. Later, he and his monks are besieged by white foxes who appear to them as seductive ladies who could have stepped out of a Vegas chorus line.

The final dramatic sequences take place inside Jinshan temple in the magical mountains, where the monks perform rituals and mantras to save Xu Xian’s life. Prevented from entering the temple, the white snake stirs up a flood of Biblical proportions that even the Sorceror can’t arrest.

Though the film allows for virtually no character development at all, it presses powerful emotional buttons every time Huang and Lam sing their love theme, generally with tears in their beautiful eyes. The ending is particularly cloying, but satisfying on its own level.

Venue: Venice Film Festival (out of competition), Sept. 2, 2011.
Production company: Juli Entertainment Media
Cast: Jet Li, Eva Huang, Raymond Lam, Charlene Choi, Wen Zhang, Vivian Hsu
Director: Tony Ching Siu-tung
Screenwriters: Tan Zhang, Kan-Cheong Tsang, Cheuk-Hon Szeto.
Executive producers: Yang Zi, Wang Song, Wang Yue
Producer: Chui Po Chu
Director of photography: Venus Keung
Production designer: Zhai Tao
Music: Mark Lui
Costumes: William Chang
Editor: Angie Lam
Sales Agent: Distribution Workshop
96 minutes.

[GeneChing]

I just can't stand that title.

'It's Love' premieres in Beijing (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/entertainment/2011-09/26/content_13794996.htm)
Updated: 2011-09-26 16:42
By Cindy Gu (chinadaily.com.cn)

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/entertainment/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20110926/001ec97909630fea74cc2a.jpg
(L-R) Cast members Raymond Lam, Huang Shengyi, Jet Li, Vivian Hsu and Wen Zhang pose for photographs at the premiere of the film "It's Love", also known as "The Sorcerer and the White Snake" in Beijing on Sept 22, 2011. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Premiere for the film "It's Love", also known as "The Sorcerer and the White Snake", was held in Beijing on Sept 22, 2011. CEO of China JULI Group Yang Zi, executive producer Chui Po Chu, director Tony Ching, kungfu star Jet Li, Chinese actress Huang Shengyi, Hong Kong-based actor Raymond Lam, Chinese actor Wen Zhang and Taiwan-based actress Vivian Hsu attended the event.

"The Sorcerer and the White Snake," a well-known tale in China, tells a love story between the white snake and the herbalist Xu Xian. Xu Xian helped cure the white snake's wounds once, and the white snake wanted to repay him for his kindness. As a demon who has gone through 1,000 years of spiritual and martial arts training, the white snake appeared before the herbalist in human form, and a melodious love story unfolded before them.

Their affection for each other, though deep and strong, was forbidden. The sorcerer, acting as the "police" of the past, had his eyes on the white snake and was determined to put her where she truly belongs. The consequence for that was a life-and-death battle between humans and demons and between love and hatred.

'It's Love' premieres in Beijing

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/entertainment/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20110926/001ec97909630fea74cc27.jpg
Jet Li chats with executive producer Choi Po Chu at the press conference for the upcoming film "It's Love", also known as "The Sorcerer and the White Snake", in Beijing on Sept 22, 2011. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Kungfu superstar Jet Li, who plays the sorcerer that engages in a grand battle with the white snake (played by Huang Shengyi), was portrayed in a different fashion. The sorcerer, who goes by the name Fa Hai, was played as a bloodless yet just peacekeeper of the ancient world by previous renditions of the story. Jet Li, however, gave the part more "heart" and made the ever-so-rigid Fa Hai seem more like a human being with emotions.

When asked about his understanding on this new side of Fa Hai, Li explained with a scene from the movie, in which he said to the white snake: "If you really love him, weep yourself and keep tears away from him."

Li's version of the sorcerer was closer to life and understood the essence of love, perhaps even more than the lovebirds themselves.

'It's Love' premieres in Beijing

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/entertainment/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20110926/001ec97909630fea74cc2c.jpg
Chinese actress Huang Shengyi reacts at the press conference for the premiere of the film "It's Love", also known as "The Sorcerer and the White Snake" in Beijing on Sept 22, 2011. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The relationship between the white snake and Xu Xian, played by Raymond Lam, was also shown differently. Unlike their previous extravagant relationships on screen, the marriage between the two was less grand and simpler in nature, much like many young couples in China.

"Xu Xian was just a normal herbalist," said Huang. "He lived in a remote place and worked very hard to make ends meet. They weren't rich and they didn't have a big house to live in. I think many post-'80s generation can relate to their simple yet sweet lifestyle."

Whether you are nostalgic about the classic Chinese fairy tale and want to relive the legend again, curious about the new edge this version may bring, or have never even heard of the story, the 2011 version of "The Sorcerer and the White Snake" will not fail to strike the soft spots in your heart that long for love and happiness.

"The Sorcerer and the White Snake" will be playing in theaters starting Sept 29, 2011.

[GeneChing]

Doesn't matter - I still got to see this.

Computer effects take byte out of climax (http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/computer-effects-take-byte-out-of-climax-20110928-1kx7o.html)
Sandra Hall
September 29, 2011

http://images.smh.com.au/2011/09/28/2655788/ipad-art-wide-vivian-hsu-420x0.jpg
Graphic design … Vivian Hsu is an ice witch in this fantasy meets martial arts tale.

Reviewer rating:
Rating: 30 out of 5 stars
Reader rating:
Rating: 40 out of 5 stars (4 votes)
Genre
Action/Adventure
Actors
Jet Li
Director
Siu-Tung Ching
OFLC rating
Yet to be classified
Year
2011
Language
Mandarin

THE SORCERER AND THE WHITE SNAKE
Directed by Tony Ching Siu-Tung
Rated M 102 minutes
Hoyts Broadway and Chatswood

The Sorcerer and the White Snake is a Chinese fairytale reworked for Asian audiences every few years judging from the multiple versions seen on stages and screens large and small.

China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan, alone or in combination, have turned it into operas, stage musicals, films and TV series. The last film version was done in 1993 with Maggie Cheung by the Hong Kong-based Vietnamese director Tsui Hark, an early proponent of the marriage of martial arts and magic realism, and while its sexiness intrigued some critics, the clunkiness of its special effects did not.
Advertisement: Story continues below

Now Hong Kong's Tony Ching Siu-Tung (A Chinese Ghost Story), is taking another tilt at it, encouraged by the latest advances in the CGI catalogue. He's also snared the action man Jet Li, casting him as the sorcerer Fa Hai, the abbot of an alpine Buddhist monastery where the local demons are a constant irritant. Naturally, Fa Hai is accomplished in all the martial arts, plus a few more of his own invention, and he's a very stern character. It's definitely not a role for Jackie Chan. He believes the only good demon is one locked away in the Leifeng Pagoda, an impregnable alpine prison where the average sentence is 1000 years.

But demons come in infinite varieties and some confound Fa Hai's view of them by looking benignly on humans. The White Snake (Eva Huang) is one. She and her sister, the Green Snake (Charlene Choi) dwell in a cliff-top eden where they amuse themselves by flying through the trees, flipping their tails and admiring their own good looks. While they possess the power of transformation, they prefer to adopt a half-human form and can exchange their tails for feet and mix in the human world as young and beautiful women. And White Snake does feel like it. She's spotted handsome Xu Xian (Raymond Lam) searching for medicinal herbs on the mountainside and fallen for him.

At this point, a folktale dating to the Ming dynasty starts backing up Jung's theory of the collective unconscious with its resemblance to Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid.

There are Disney-like touches, as well. The Snake sisters' fellow demons include a comic menagerie of talking animals and the mischievous Green Snake takes a fancy to Neng Ren (Wen Zhang), the clownish monk who serves as Fa Hai's assistant until he, too, is transformed into a demon - a fairly glum one who can't get used to having bat's ears and a flat nose.

All of these elements should make the film fun for young audiences who may or may not want to tease out the heavy-duty themes woven in. In Fa Hai's view, White Snake is upsetting the natural order of things by choosing a human as her lover. Consequently, he's implacable in his efforts to destroy the match but your sympathy for White Snake is tempered by her own ferocity when the going gets tough. She's determined to live happily ever after with her young herbalist if she has to wipe out half the world to do it.

And there's another problem. While the tsunami that climaxes their titanic set-to is spectacular, its reliance on CGI does a lot to dilute its suspense. In fact, it's so uninvolving the idea of barracking for one or the other is purely academic - which is not the way it was with The Little Mermaid.

[GeneChing]

Several fantasy fight sequences? That's all I need to hear.

Snake Meets Sorcerer (http://www.chinesefilms.cn/1/2011/09/30/201s5074.htm)
2011-09-30 14:33:47 Global Times

http://www.chinesefilms.cn/mmsource/images/2011/09/30/image.baidu.com__Img318126419.jpg
The film features several fantasy fight sequences. [Photo: M1905.com]

Having screened out of competition early this month in Venice, action fantasy film The Sorcerer and the White Snake, starring Jet Li and Eva Huang, is showing in cinema nationwide from today.

Directed by Hong Kong's Ching Siu-Tung, the film is adapted from the famous household folk story, previously adapted in the 1990s TV series The Legend of White Snake and Hark Tsui's Green Snake (1993), about a female demon, Bai Suzhen (Eva Huang), who falls in love with a handsome herbalist, Xu Xian (Raymond Lam). Prohibitive sorcerer-monk Fahai considers their love taboo and decides to separate them.

Many have compared the story with the 1990s Disney classic The Little Mermaid, as both feature mythical creatures longing for human love and "normal life."

Forbidden love

The original legend mostly focuses on Bai and Xu's doomed romance but the latest version brings Fahai (Jet Li) to the foreground.

"Initially [Ching] told me [the film] was all special effects and I didn't need to do many action scenes. I thought it was a supporting role but as the shooting went on… I became the lead," Li joked at a recent press conference. But although Fahai is, in the original sense at least, a villainous role due to his meddling in the private affairs of two lovers, Li tried to project a more nuance aspect to the role.

"I gave a reasonable performance as Fahai, who is principled. It is like there are two sides: There is nothing wrong with Bai and Xu being in love," said Li, "but there is also nothing wrong with Fahai punishing the demon… if a human falls in love with a dog in the modern world, the police would also try to stop it!"

Li accepted the role as a Buddhist and close friend of both Ching and producer Chui Bo-Chue.

"I couldn't think a better person than Jet Li for the role and he is a guarantor for overseas distributions," said Chui, who formed a friendship while working on Li's early films, including Fong Sai-Yuk (1993) and The Tai-Chi Master.

After acquiring fame in the hit Stephen Chow chop-sockey comedy Kung Fu Hustle (2004), Eva Huang gives a contemporary portrayal in the role of the tortured White Snake demon. Like Li, Huang has tried to move away from the traditional, shy personality of the Snake of the folk tale and taken a slightly bolder, quasi-feminist approach.

After falling for Xu in the modern version, for example, Bai boldly visits his home to introduce herself and seek his love.

Big budget fantasy

According to Chui, the film cost 180 million yuan ($28.1 million) to make, with a further 300 million budgeted for post-production; spectacular special effects sequences include underwater scenes and a climactic kung fu fight between Bai and Fahai set in a temple.

"There were three no-limit rules for the film: firstly, there was no budget for the actors. If the actors are good, no matter how expensive they are, we pay them; secondly, we spent as much as was needed for the special effects, no limits.

"Thirdly, no limits for the marketing cost: as much as is necessary, " boasted the film's producer Yang Zi, CEO of Juli Entertaiment.

"Chinese filmmakers are afraid of the fantasy genre, partly because of its huge cost in post-production," said Ching. "This time, money was ensured. A Chinese folk legend, plus martial arts, plus special effect equals a Chinese fantasy film."

[GeneChing]

As 1911 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58231) is premiering in America tomorrow, we decided to make my column from the new issue (ND2011 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=999)) live. Read Chollywood Rising: Fant-ASIA versus Party-Line History. (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1003)

[GeneChing]

October 7, 2011, 8:28 AM HKT
How Martial Arts and Special Effects Mix (http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2011/10/07/how-martial-arts-and-special-effects-mix/?mod=google_news_blog)
By Dean Napolitano

Tony Ching Siu-tung’s ‘The Sorcerer and the White Snake’ Drops Kung Fu Into Dream-Like Settings

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/AW-AK797_TALKFI_F_20111006005101.jpg
Jet Li as a sorcerer who battles evil spirits in ‘The Sorcerer and the White Snake.’

Tony Ching Siu-tung’s moviemaking career started decades before CGI, but he has found new creativity with the advances of special effects in recent years.

You can see it in his latest film, “The Sorcerer and the White Snake,” which held its premiere at last month’s Venice Film Festival and is now showing in China, Hong Kong and elsewhere.

Jet Li stars as a sorcerer roaming the world to rid it of evil spirits. One demon — a thousand-year-old white snake — falls in love with an unsuspecting mortal and transforms itself into a beautiful woman in order to experience human love, leading to a climactic battle against the sorcerer.

The snake, played by mainland actress Eva Huang, has the body of a woman and a tail that loops around trees and across the emerald landscape. “The Sorcerer and the White Snake” is filled with other striking visual effects, such as an enchanted forest with talking animals, a village haunted by human-like bat demons and a threatening pagoda where evil spirits are held in captivity.

The film is based on a well-known Chinese fable that’s been adapted numerous times over the years into movies, television and stage productions.

“We all have heard this story since we were very young,” says Mr. Ching, who turns 59 at the end of this month. “This is a legend that is perfect for our type of production of action and special effects, mixed with a love story.”

With a budget of $30 million, the film is one of the costliest Chinese productions in recent years because of its heavy use of CGI, which Mr. Ching says was crucial to the film’s dream-like nature. Its combination of special effects, martial arts, humor and melodrama is a mix that has served Mr. Ching well in his previous films, including his 1987 success “A Chinese Ghost Story” and its two sequels. Like many Hong Kong directors, he now works extensively in mainland China as the film industry there grows.

Mr. Ching spoke with the Journal about mixing action with CGI, Hong Kong films and the next generation of Asian martial-arts stars.

As audiences in China become more sophisticated, how do you keep the martial-arts genre fresh?

You have to have a good story, big actors, good technology. You always have to come up with new ideas and do new things. I think it’s interesting to blend Chinese martial arts with Western CGI in order to bring a new experience to China.

What’s behind rising production costs in China?

Everything is getting more expensive — technicians, photographers, special effects — if you want the best level of quality. You can have it at less cost, but then you lose quality.

As the Hong Kong movie industry becomes further entwined with China, what makes a Hong Kong film unique?

It’s about style, and I think it’s also about growing up in Hong Kong — you want to do something very local. In “The Sorcerer and the White Snake,” there are no borders and there’s no specific locale. It’s a traditional fairy tale.

Asia’s biggest martial-arts stars — Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen — are well into middle age. Where will the new talent come from?

Obviously they have to come from China, because only in China do they have a chance to exercise kung fu. But beyond that you have to be an actor, so it’s not such an easy thing. I like the sound of Mr. Ching. ;)

[Hebrew Hammer]

Saw it this weekend...uh...eh...might be a made for teen/tv movie. Very campy, over the top, mushy in a Twilight sort of way. I think I tried to stomach it for some good martial arts or hot chic stuff, but it was severely lacking in all aspects. Tons and tons of wire work. Maybe if you like Alice in Wonderland...this is your flick.

PS "It's Love" is probably a more appropriate title than the Sorcerer and the White Snake..that sounds dangerous, this was not.

[GeneChing]

Jet Li's newest just premiered in China opposite Jackie's 1911 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58231). That's right, Jet & Jackie are still duking it out over the Chinese Box. Score this round for Jet.

This is kind of a remake of one of my closet fav films, Green Snake, with Maggie Cheung and Joey Wang. The original is outrageously cheesey, pre-CGI, fant-ASIA. I haven't seen it in years. I remember watching it in VHS w/a good buddy and him spitting out his beer when Maggie, after trying to seduce the monk, reached under his robe for an erection check. Perhaps, like Zu, it is painfully dated now, but I won't spoil my memories of it. This new version is also outrageously cheesey, but with CGI AND 3D. Of course, I didn't see it in 3D. Ain't no theaters in the states playing it in 3D. Nope. I watched it with via a stuttering pirate, like 'a-a-a-a-argh' and 'a-v-v-v-ast mat-t-t-teys'. At least it had subs. If ever the was a film I wanted to see in 3D, this is it. As you all know, I love it cheesey. Extra cheese please. The only way you can get cheesier than 3D is smell-o-vision.

I loved It's Love. It lacks the intense sensuality that Joey and Maggie exuded back in the day, right when they were at the height of their starletdom, but it makes up for it with a novel concept - snakes with boobs. I mean, obviously - OBVIOUSLY - Maggie and Joey had fine boobs in the original, but the new version makes cheesier use of snake boobs, with long CGI tails. Cheesey snake boobs. How could I not love that?

The tale is based on a layered Buddhist myth about a monk exorcist (both roles which I heavily identify with in my own inflated egotistical way), a commoner and hot sister snake demons. It's an action/rom-com/effect-laden fantasy. Jet is the monk, a perfect role for him. The new snake girls look weirdly like Joey and Maggie, which was a mistake IMO, but a minor one. The effects? I want to say they are dazzling but on my stuttering pirate, I couldn't quite tell. They might suck. They are definitely cheesey. This is superhero stuff, Harry Potter (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37539), crazy CGI backgrounds, all of which might work spectacularly in 3D. Might not. Can't tell can I? 1911 was released here but the 3D release of this is not to be found. My guess is that it's really good 3D, because it's so cheesey. Cheesey snake boobs. In 3D.

The fights are all magical - lots of flying about and projecting qi blasts. There are sword fights, but they are magical qi-projection swords. Nothing wrong with that. Totally counts for sword fights.

I'd watch this with my kid and my drinking buddies. How many films can you say that about?

[GeneChing]

I'm adding Its Love in parenthesis and I'm not happy about that. :mad:

The White Snake is Ready to Celebrate (http://www.chinesefilms.cn/1/2011/10/20/122s5314.htm)
2011-10-20 10:17:50 Chinese Films

http://www.chinesefilms.cn/mmsource/images/2011/10/20/d4cf522ceccb44b48daf0b75ddb8011e.jpg
The production team celebrated the successful box office result of 'Its Love.' [Photo: mtime.com]

Topping the domestic box office chart on its third week on the screens, Jet Li's latest fantasy action movie "The Sorcerer and the White Snake (Its Love)" grossed an estimated 200 million RMB (about $31.4m) and still has a strong hold on the international box office charts, remaining at seventh place.

A ****tail party was held to celebrate its successful box office performance last night in Beijing with the participation of the production team, including director SiuTung Ching, executive producer Cui Baozhu, producer Yang Zi, the female lead of the movie Eva Huang and Yu Dong, the president of the production company the Bona Film Group.

According to Yu Dong, the movie will be released in South Korea, Japan and North America in the future. "At that time, we will see an even better performance," he said.

The director also used the occasion to thank cast members for their hard work. He told the media, "It took a whole year for us to finish the movie. I can't describe all the details of the hardship we endured in our work. But it was well worth it when we received enthusiastic responses from audiences."

Producer Yang Zi also revealed that the movie had been the target of an online smear campaign, even before its release. Other victims included Zhang Yimou's "The Flowers of War," Lu Chuan's "The Last Supper" and "Legendary Amazons" produced by Jackie Chan. He said that he hopes telling the truth can help to build integrity within the Chinese film industry. "I hope people can focus more on the films themselves, as opposed to scandals. I believe our Chinese filmmakers can make better movies in the future," he added.

[GeneChing]

Next year is the Year of the Snake, and they are timing this out just for that.


Watch: Jet Li Stars in Wild 'The Sorcerer and the White Snake' Trailer (http://www.firstshowing.net/2012/watch-jet-li-stars-in-wild-the-sorcerer-and-the-white-snake-trailer/)
by Alex Billington
December 7, 2012

"Spectacular!" How about a couple of crazy funky CGI snakes and some badass Jet Li martial arts action to end the week? Magnolia Pictures has debuted the a US release trailer for The Sorcerer and the White Snake, an action-adventure drama starring Jet Li as a sorcerer who discovers the identity of a thousand-year-old White Snake disguised as a woman. Whoa, what? Yea this looks insane in so many different ways. While you may assume the CGI will look bad (and it does a few times), this otherwise looks like quite a fun movie. Cast includes Shengyi Huang, Eva Huan, Charlene Choi, Raymond Lam. Must see to believe.

Here's the official US trailer for Siu-Tung Ching's The Sorcerer and the White Snake, via Apple:
The Sorcerer and the White Snake Official Trailer #1 (2012) - Jet Li Movie HD (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YlEBUAclrY)

Action director Ching Siu-Tung (Duel to the Death, The Swordsman I-III, Naked Weapon, An Empress and the Warriors) helms this fantasy film based on an old Chinese legend about an herbalist who falls in love with a thousand-year-old White Snake disguised as a woman. Jet Li stars as a sorcerer who discovers her true identity and battles to save the man's soul. The Sorcerer and the White Snake already premiered in China and most of Asia back in September this year. Magnolia Pictures is releasing Sorcerer and the White Snake in theaters starting February 8th, 2013, after a VOD/iTunes release on January 3rd. Anyone in?

[Lucas]

Watched this over the weekend. It's available through XBOX Exclusive rental. Wow. Visually stunning. Full of CGI but it is done well. It's one of those fantasies that could not be done well without heavy CGI. It is primarily a love story with some cool demon fights. Jet Li has some nice action scenes as a demon hunting Abbot. There is a kick ass scene where Jet Li uses his Monk staff to fight the sister snake demons and their straight swords. The implications of the Abbots timing are astounding. His supreme skill in this movie imo is his perfect timing combined with his ultimate faith.

This one is a great movie for the family. Watch this one with a lady friend. ;)

[GeneChing]

VERY limited.

Opening (http://www.magpictures.com/dates.aspx?id=66e8b27c-9a5e-49b9-9927-0614d77ae91c)
2/8/2013
Aiea, HI: Pearlridge West 16
Albuquerque, NM: Guild
Columbus, OH: Gateway Film Center 8
Kaneohe, HI: Ko'olau Stadium 10
Kapolei, HI: Kapolei Theatres 16



A Sorcerer, A White Snake, And Lots Of CGI Magic (http://www.npr.org/2013/02/07/171176637/a-sorcerer-a-white-snake-and-lots-of-cgi-magic)
by Mark Jenkins
February 07, 2013 5:00 PM

http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/02/05/3_wide-16d0104b61f2f3b5712963b48afc834686ce7f00-s40.jpg
The demon snake sisters (Charlene Choi and Eva Huang) disguise themselves as beautiful women in The Sorcerer and the White Snake.
Magnet Releasing

The Sorcerer and the White Snake
Director: Ching Siu-Tung
Genre: Action, Romance
Running Time: 94 minutes
Rated PG-13, mild violence, scary monsters, sensuality
Language: Mandarin, with English subtitles
With: Jet Li, Shengyi Huang, Raymond Lam

In the opening sequence of The Sorcerer and the White Snake, two monks step through a giant gate and find themselves in a new world — one made entirely of computer-generated images. Only Fahai (Jet Li) and his disciple Neng Ren (Zhang Wen) are human.

"Don't believe everything you see," the older man warns.

It's an apt prologue for a movie that's based on a venerable Chinese folk tale and packed with unreal creatures and impossible scenery. For decades, Chinese-language fantasy flicks were known for realistic fight sequences and laughable special effects. This China/Hong Kong co-production flips the formula: The fantastic images are solid, but the action is less substantial.

But then action is a relatively small part of director Ching Siu-tung's scheme. The movie, opening only in smaller U.S. markets but available nationwide via VOD, devotes much of its time to romance, comedy and Disney-like critters. Any film that features a helpful talking mouse is more Kung Fu Panda than John Woo thriller.

The central element is the love of poor, good-hearted herbalist Xu Xian (Raymond Lam) and glamorous, white-clad beauty Susu (Eva Huang). In reality, she's a 1,000-year-old reptilian demon, White Snake. But her love for Xu is real, and she has respect for humans, unlike her mischievous green sister (Charlene Choi). (The emerald sibling was the protagonist of Tsui Hark's edgier 1993 variation on the story, Green Snake.)

Soon after meeting, Xu and Susu set up house as a husband and wife. He labors to cure plagues, unaware that the essential ingredient in his potions is his new companion's magic. In this enchanted era, apparently, no one gets sick from viruses or bacteria; all human illnesses stem from demonic possession.

Enter Fahai, traveling abbot of a Pure Land Buddhist monastery. He recognizes disguised demons and banishes them, although not without major metaphysical combat. Fahai can handle a sword or a spear, but his principal weapon is a Buddhist rosary — which will probably disappoint fans of Li's earlier career as an earthier style of brawler.

These showdowns feature spectacular, Lord of the Rings-style CGI settings, but not much in the way of thrills or terror. When Fahai exorcises a band of fox demons, they devolve into bushy-tailed little white canines, cute enough to be contestants in the Puppy Bowl.

Fahai meets Susu and instantly knows what she is. Human-demon relationships, even ones as seemingly chaste as the herbalist and the snake's, are anathema to him. Susu pleads that her feelings for Xu are genuine, but the abbot is intent on being a home-wrecker.

Intriguingly, the movie's demons invariably take human form as seductive young women, while their stalwart opponents are all abstemious monks. A slyer film might have suggested that Fahai is so vehemently anti-demon because he's jealous of Xu's relationship with the sexy Susu.

But subtext isn't on offer from The Sorcerer and the White Snake, which is concerned mostly with spectacle, slapstick and romance. There's even a love-theme duet, offering a Buddhist salve to the brokenhearted: "We'll meet again / In our next lives."

Actors aren't the primary attractions of movies like this, but Li's earnestness does endow Ching's artificial universe with some genuine gravity, and Lam, Huang and Choi are all engaging. Besting supernatural villains is easier, however, than making much of an impression in a universe where you can't believe just about anything you see.

[GeneChing]

Enter to win THE SORCERER AND THE WHITE SNAKE on DVD (http://www.kungfumagazine.net/index.html) and AT THE GATE OF THE GHOST on DVD (http://www.kungfumagazine.net/index_GATE_OF_THE_GHOST.html)! Both contests end 6:00 p.m. PST on 5/6/13. Good luck everyone!

[GeneChing]

See our The Sorcerer and the White Snake winners thread (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65860).