The Hidden Sword

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTDrVuDyAZQ

http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/images/mzine/cover2012_01.jpg

Chen Kuan Tai JAN+FEB 2012 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1016)

[GeneChing]

Xu Haofeng's new kung fu film makes mark at festivals (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2017-10/12/content_33146868.htm)
By Xu Fan | China Daily | Updated: 2017-10-12 07:11

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/attachement/jpg/site1/20171012/f8bc126d98201b48f85b21.jpg
Xu Haofeng has extended his expertise in Chinese martial arts to his filmmaking career. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/China Daily]

Xu Haofeng doesn't look like a martial artist. He wears black-rimmed glasses and speaks softly. But he is indeed a veteran kung fu practitioner - and filmmaker.

In a hallway at the Beijing Film Academy, where Xu also teaches filmmaking, he showed China Daily the skills needed to use a particular sword in his latest movie, The Hidden Sword.

The film won the best artistic contribution award at this year's Montreal World Film Festival on Sept 4, making Xu the first Chinese from the mainland to claim the honor.

More recently, Xu received acclaim at the Lychee Film Festival in Barcelona, where a retrospective of his earlier three films was shown.

A documentary on The Hidden Sword about him personally coaching performers in kung fu for the film was also screened there.

The documentary can be viewed on Chinese streaming sites. A release date for the feature film on the Chinese mainland has yet to be announced.

"Those who are curious about my martial arts skills will get their answers from the documentary," says the 44-year-old director.

His earlier movies in the series - The Sword Identity (2011), The Final Master (2015) and Judge Archer (2016) - have all been adapted from his own novels. He choreographed the stunts.

Xu also prefers to use nonaction actors and actresses, and to coach them with his own methods.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/attachement/jpg/site1/20171012/f8bc126d98201b48f89422.jpg
Li Guangjie plays one of the lead roles in The Hidden Sword, which is about a mysterious swordsman in the 1930s and '40s. [Photo provided to China Daily]

In the documentary, stars of The Hidden Sword cast, such as Chun Xia, Geng Le and Li Guangjie, are seen waking early daily and taking part in typical training regimes of martial arts.

"The first month was stressful. But later I discovered inner peace and got immersed in my role," actress Chun says.

Unlike many other directors of his generation, who began their careers on film sets, Xu entered the business due to his teenage fascination with martial arts.

He has written an oral-history book, several novels and dozens of movie reviews - most of which are about martial arts masters and their worlds.

Most of his books are set between 1920 and 1940.

"Most Chinese martial artists obey the centuries-old tradition of keeping their skills a secret. They're only allowed to be passed on to a few disciples. As my grandfather was once a member of the martial arts society, I have been lucky to hear some stories from such inner circles," he says.

The Hidden Sword is rooted in one such story. Set in the 1930s and '40s, the plot revolves around a mysterious swordsman, who coaches Chinese soldiers on fighting techniques to win a battle on the Great Wall against invading Japanese troops.

"It may be confusing to Western audiences that Chinese martial artists insisted on fighting with fists and kicks even when they lived in a world of guns and cannons. I try to explain the faith in my films," he says.

Some critics predict Xu is a likely successor of the legacies of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. He has become the latest Chinese filmmaker to arouse Western interest in Chinese martial arts films.

Also as a scholar researching martial arts history, he believes the popularity of kung fu in the West has laid the ground for more such Chinese movies.

"Bruce Lee's action movies have influenced many Western fans and also inspired some leading Wing Chun (a form of Chinese martial arts) practitioners to found martial arts schools overseas," Xu says.

"It was quite interesting that the founders were smart. They figured out a shortcut - by recruiting and teaching some local karate practitioners, who were good at stunts, the Wing Chun schools quickly expanded in the West."

The Sword Identity (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?61839-The-Sword-Identity)
The Final Master (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70512-The-Final-Master)
Judge Archer (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?64783-Judge-Archer)

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5UCigZ1DGU

[GeneChing]

JULY 15, 2019 6:24AM PT
Chinese Box Office Self-Harm Continues With Axing of ‘The Hidden Sword’ (https://variety.com/2019/film/news/china-box-office-the-hidden-sword-cancellation-1203267409/)
By REBECCA DAVIS

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/xu-haofeng1.jpg?w=1000&h=562&crop=1
CREDIT: GREGORIO BORGIA/AP/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

Long-awaited martial-arts film “The Hidden Sword” announced Monday that its theatrical release this Friday in China has been canceled because of “market reasons,” becoming the latest casualty of a censorship campaign that is damaging the country’s box office.

The film is helmed by writer-director Xu Haofeng (“The Final Master”), who was also the screenwriter for Wong Kar Wai’s “The Grandmaster.” “The Hidden Sword” stars Xu Qing (“The Hidden Man,” “Mr. Six”), Zhang Aoyue (“The Final Master”) and Huang Jue (“The Final Master,” “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” ). It was completed and approved in 2017 by China’s official censors, who issued it the necessary “dragon seal” of Chinese government approval for theatrical release.


That year, it won the prize for best artistic contribution at the 41st Montreal World Film Festival and was nominated for four prizes at the Taiwan-based Golden Horse Awards, long the most prestigious awards for Chinese-language films. Posters and trailers for the movie were released, but it never ended up hitting Chinese theaters, supposedly because of creative differences between the director and his team.

Rumors began to swirl online late last week that the film had hit yet another roadblock. On Monday, just four days before its scheduled debut, it released a statement that said: “Due to market reasons, the film ‘The Hidden Sword’ has canceled its original July 19 release. Thank you for your anticipation, your attention and support!”

The phrase “market reasons” and “technical reasons” have become euphemisms for government interference.

The news comes as figures show China’s year-to-date box office earnings lagging behind last year’s level by nearly 5%. It also follows the high-profile cancellations of Huayi Brothers’ “The Eight Hundred,” which fell out of favor for its depictions of Chinese soldiers fighting Japan, and the Zhou Dongyu-starring “Better Days,” which was reportedly axed for scenes of violent bullying. The former was abruptly yanked from its debut at the Shanghai International Film Festival ahead of its planned theatrical release, while the latter was pulled from the Berlin Film Festival in February.

Set against the backdrop of 1930s Republic-era China, “The Hidden Sword” tells the tale of an officer who leads Chinese soldiers wielding only swords to defeat a Japanese attack on the Great Wall, and the fight for the rights to his martial-arts technique lineage that ensues after he disappears.

In the months leading up to the 70th anniversary, in October, of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, government censors are on high alert for material that might portray history in an unflattering light for the ruling Communist Party and its political legitimacy.

The busy summer movie-going weeks of late July through August are typically a period of an informal ban on imported foreign content to protect China’s domestic content-makers. Moviegoers were outraged to see yet another local film bite the dust.

“What is this, imported film protection month?” one commenter asked sarcastically on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform. Another lamented: “After all these withdrawals, the cinemas are full of nothing but silly family films right now.”

THREADS
The Hidden Sword (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70432-The-Hidden-Sword)
Censored Chinese Films (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71359-Censored-Chinese-Films)