Wednesday November 25, 2009
Legendary heroine
By SETO KIT YAN
Relive the adventures of Chinese folk heroine Mulan.
THE story of Chinese folk heroine Hua Mulan, who enlists in the army to serve her country in place of her ailing father, is an oft-told tale that has been adapted and enjoyed in various genres.
There are the 1964 Shaw Brothers’ huangmeidiao opera, The Lady General Hua Mulan, starring the famous gender-bending Ivy Ling Po (which earned her best actress honours at the 11th Asian Fim Festival), the Disney adaptation Mulan in 1998 and even a Chinese opera Mulan currently playing in Tokyo.
Hong Kong director Jingle Ma says Mulan is a tale that women will enjoy.
“It is something that they can identify with. Nowadays lots of young women go to work in the city to send money home and help to support their families. To me, these women are also like Hua Mulan,” Ma said in an exclusive phone interview from Guangzhou, China.
Starring China actress Vicki Zhao Wei as the titular character Hua Mulan, Ma’s version of Mulan deals with her love life as much as her relationships with her fellow soldiers.
Secret identity: Vicki Zhao Wei plays the titular role, opposite Chen Kun, in Jingle Ma-helmed Mulan, a tale that has been adapted and enjoyed in various genres.
Ma had signed Zhao to play the legendary heroine last September and was aghast when Red Cliff Part 2 opened in December.
Zhao, who played Princess Sun Shangxiang in John Woo’s Red Cliff (2008), also disguised herself as a male soldier in the sequel but stressed that the two are completely different.
“It’s true that I play a female who disguises herself as a male in both films, but the similarity ends there.
“In Red Cliff, I was essentally still playing a girl. But in Mulan, I’m actually playing the part of a man, in all aspects,” Zhao offered in an exclusive phone interview from Guang*zhou.
“As Mulan, I had to summon enormous strength as I was required to wear a 14kg armour and wield a 2m-long spear weighing over 9kg while fighting on horseback.
“I’ve ridden horses before but Mulan’s an accomplished general so she’s got to have suitably impressive horse-riding skills.
“And fighting on horseback is definitely not easy to do. Also, furious sandstorms meant we’d be covered in mud and soot most of the time.
“I, too, wish to be a woman as strong and brave as Hua Mulan. But, after playing her in this movie, I feel that all the things that she has accomplished are truly far beyond an ordinary woman’s capabilities.
“She has to sacrifice so much for her family and never gets to lead the kind of life a normal girl would want. This, I feel, is very difficult for most ordinary women.
“I feel very honoured to be able to play Hua Mulan, a legendary heroine known to Chinese all over the world,” declared the 33-year-old actress.
Making Mulan was also tough for the 52-year-old Ma who admitted he was more at home filming romantic comedies and fun flicks like Summer Holiday (2000), Fly Me To Polaris (1999) and Tokyo Raiders (2000).
Filming began in February when the weather was chilly and sandstorms were aplenty.
Jaycee Chan and Zhao are fellow soldiers in the movie.
“Daytime temperatures were initially -16°C to -18°C. Because it was so very cold, we initially wanted to film in Yunnan. But the scenery there was too beautiful, and hence not true to history, as the northwestern hills were supposed to be devoid of greenery.
“So, for the sake of realism, we shifted our filming to cold locations like Hebei, Nanzhou, Yinzhou and the Mongolian border.”
Ma cast a very interesting line-up of Chinese stars in his latest action flick. The young Mulan is played by Xu Jiao, the talented young girl who played the precocious little boy in Stephen Chow’s CJ7, for which she won best new performer at the Hong Kong Film Awards last year.
The heroine’s dashing lover Wentai is played by Chen Kun, while her buddy Fei Xiaohu is played by Jaycee Chan. Yu Rongguang plays her father Hua Hu, while Hu Jun plays the villain Mudun. The movie also stars dreamy Russian singer Vitas and Taiwan-based South Korean R&B crooner Nicky Lee.
“After watching Vicki in the movie, lots of my friends have commended her for her convincing portrayal. Watch it and you will say she is Hua Mulan,” Ma quipped happily.
“I needed a Chinese woman with excellent acting skills who could internalise well. But I didn’t want one with a sharp, angular face as that would appear incongruous in a military environment.”
What of her large doe eyes? Won’t her pretty peepers give her away, then? “That’s why I told her not to open her eyes so wide in the movie,” jested the personable cinematographer-turned-helmer.
Born in Wuhu, Anhui, China, the actress has chalked up nine wins and six nominations at various film festivals and awards for her superb acting skills.
Zhao, who has starred in 22 films and 13 TV series, will next be paired with Donnie Yen in Daniel Lee’s 14 Blades, which is slated for release early next year.
Ma, who has 14 films under his belt, also disclosed he would be working on a Chinese fantasy flick ala Harry Potter titled Sun Buck Ma Leung as well as a sequel to Summer Holiday (2000), which starred Sammi Cheng and Richie Ren.
Since the original was filmed in Pulau Redang off the coast of Terengganu, Ma says there will be a 90% chance that he will also be filming the sequel somewhere in Malaysia.