Check out the newly released stills of Peter Chan Ho-sun's martial art flick, "Wu Xia," starring Donnie Yen, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tang Wei.[Photo: sohu.com] |
Peter Chan Ho-sun's martial art flick, "Wu Xia," originally known as Swordsman, will have a global premiere on May 13 at the 64th annual Cannes Film Festival this year.
The film is adapted from the classic Hong Kong martial art film "One-Armed Swordsman" in 1967. It marks the only Chinese-language film to be screened during the film festival.
Cast members Donnie Yen, an influential kung fu star from "Ip Man", "The Warlords" actor Takeshi Kaneshiro, or Jin Chengwu in Chinese and actress Tang Wei from Ang Lee's "Lust,Caution" will be in Cannes to promote the film, Beijing Morning Post reports Thursday morning, May 5.
In the film, Yen plays a retired killer seeking redemption who has taken refuge in a remote village. Kaneshiro stars as a dedicated detective who wants to hunt him down.
Another kung fu star Jimmy Wang Yu with international fame from the 1967 original plays a cameo role in Chan's adaptation. He will show up on the red carpet walk with actresses Li Xiaoran and Kara Hui in the cast.
This is Peter Chan's first take on the martial arts genre, following his historical epic, "The Warlords," in 2007 and romance comedy, "Perhaps Love," in 2005.
Reportedly, the director has employed a very different approach to demonstrate the physicality of martial arts by magnifying some medical and scientific elements in the action choreography.
Chan hopes the new project will reboot martial arts in the world's arena.
The film is under post-production and is set for a summer release.