There are already several anticipated epic martial arts titles for the next New Year. Beside Chow Yun Fat’s "Confucius" and Donnie Yen's "14 Blades", I especially look forward to the release of "True Legend" , since this film marks the legendary kung fu moviemaker’s first triumphant return to solo directing in nearly 15 years. Prior to his work as a high-profile action director on films such as “The Matrix” trilogy, “Kung Fu Hustle” and “Kill Bill”, Yuen was one of Hong Kong’s top kung fu filmmakers with a long track record of hits ranging from “Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow” (1978) through “Iron Monkey” (1993). Following his collaboration with Jet Li on the true-blue martial arts film “Fearless” that was not only successful at the box-office but also received positive feedbacks, Yuen 's passion in directing kung fu films was re-ignited. Back to the director's seat, he certainly hasn't chosen the easiest of subjects to deal with, because the hero in his upcoming “True Legend” is none other than Beggar Su (the Su Qi Er of the title), one of the most famous names in the martial arts catalog whose stories were passed down as folk tales. The name of Su Qi Er aka Su Can, together with the name of Wong Fei Hung (the central figure from Jet Li's “Once Upon a Time in China”), are among "The Ten Tigers of Canton" - a group of ten of the top Chinese martial arts masters in Canton (Guangdong) towards the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). The folktales of the hero Su Qi-Er have been featured in numerous Hong Kong films and TV series. Yuen had uttered that being a director is very a tough job, having to take care of everything. Much more difficult than being a martial arts director. It took him 9 months to a year to go through the script, doing pre-production. He feels that when doing something that is difficult, you must do it successfully, or your effort would be wasted. Most importantly, you have to do it wholeheartedly.

But not only Yuen, “True Legend” as well marks the return of wushu star Vincent Zhao (Once Upon a Time in China IV, The Blade) in the big screen since he faded back in TV roles. I just hope that the film may finally give a major boost to his career and gained the same recognition as fellow wushu stars Jet Li and Donnie Yen. Yuen also declares that Zhao is his first choice for the lead character in the film. Having seen his previous works, Yuen was certain of his acting and as a professional martial artist, action scenes won't faze him. For the film, Zhao was required to incorporate street dancing movements with martial arts under Yuen direction, and they created some new moves in the process. The martial arts sequences, which are a blend of modern and traditional implementations, are quite difficult considered the extremely high standards set by Yuen. It's also very physically demanding as Yuen Woo Ping stresses very much on authentic fighting and “True Legend” in fact contains much more action scenes than anything he has done before. With co-stars that include such a notable cast as mainland actress Zhou Xun (Painted Skin, Confucius), Andy On (Black Mask 2), Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Jay Chou ("Kung Fu Dunk", "Treasure Hunter" and upcoming “Green Hornet”), the late David Carradine, Guo Xiaodong, Conan Stevens, and budding MMA fighter Cung Le, I really have great expectations for this film.

The story of “True Legend” is loosely based on the life of Su Can, nicknamed Su Qi Er (Su the Beggar), who developed his own fighting style, known as "drunken fist". Set at the turn of 19th and 20th century, it begins with Su Can, a wealthy man who loses all his fortune and reputation as a result of a conspiracy against him. After being forced out onto the streets, he dedicates his life to martial arts and reemerges as a patriotic hero as he challenges foreign fighters at a boxing ring. His vengeful step-brother Yuang (Andy On) returns from war unrecognizably consumed by Dark Martial Arts and armed with his Five Venom Fist, which he wields to severely injure Su as payback for a long and dark family history. Su and his wife barely escape with their lives, but their son is now held captive by an increasingly psychotic Yuang. Over many long and difficult months, Su recovers from his injuries and once again hones his craft with the help of a mysterious Bearded Man and his apprentice, Lord Wushu, a Golden Monk of unimaginable martial arts virtuosity. But even with this training, Su is unable to save his wife’s life when she single-handedly stakes out to find their son. Utterly broken by grief, Su soon wanders the streets as a drunken beggar with no will to live. It is only when his son is once again threatened, this time by imperial Westerners out to shame the Chinese people, that an inebriated Su summons all his fighting skills to save the day and unwittingly forges a new style of martial arts forever known as The Drunken Fist!

Some facts around the drunken movements:

# Yuen Wo Ping paying tribute to his late father Yuen Siu Tin, who had portrayed Su Qi Er in a few films including Jackie Chan's debut “Drunken Master” (1978), through this production.

# A fight sequence between Vincent Zhao and Andy On was originally supposed to be set on a ship but ended up being moved to a massive waterfall in Shanxi Province.

# They’re fighting on a shaky wooden platform built right over the turbulent water. The director reveals that extra precautions were put into place, including the use of extra wires, to ensure that nobody fell off.

# The martial arts sequences in this film were filmed in 3D.

# Zhao shed weight for the film to look more like a martial arts practitioner.

# A gargantuan indoor set comprising rocky hills, steep cliffs, wooden steps, suspended bridge, etc was built in Beijing Fee Tang Soundstage. The indoor set, occupying 5 km², took the production three months and around 3 to 4 million yuan to create. This set will be featured in the opening whereby Beggar Su leads around 20 people at night to sneak into the stockade in a mountain for a rescue mission.

# Yuen Woo-Ping planned and filmed the movie in old school martial arts style, but apparently producers wanted to add a lot more special visual effects.

# The production has been taking place in the Huangshan Mountain (aka Mount Huang or Yellow Mountain) area, Anhui Province. It filmed at the famous scenic spots Paiyunting Pavilion and Danxiafeng Peak, as well as surrounding towns including Xidi and Hongcun Ancient Village and Qiankou Town (which is known as the "Museum of Dwelling Houses of Ming"). Huangshan is one of China's most popular tourist places.

# A bulk of the film production also taken place in Yi County, Anhui Province in Eastern China. It was where certain scenes from “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” were filmed, such as the beginning of the film, the bamboo forest, and Yu Shu Lien's security compound. Ancient villages in Yi County are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

# Doubts were raised by the some movie observers concerning Jay Chow playing a martial arts doyen responsible for raising Beggar Su's skills since he lacks martial arts and acting ability.

# Michelle Yeoh cameos as a recluse swordswoman Sister Yu, who is Su Can 's savior. Yuen learned from the screenwriter that this character has indeed fashioned after Yu Xiulian of Ang Lee's epic, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. Than they shared another idea that this character should be played by no one but Michelle Yeoh.

# Director Yuen invited the late David Carradine to work on his film after a pleasant collaboration in "Kill Bill" for which Yuen was the stunt advisor.

Theatrical release dates:
Feb 11, 2010: Malaysia, Singapore
Feb 14: China, Hong Kong

Sources: Kungfucinema, Wu-Jing, Michelle Yeoh Web Theater – Photos courtesy of Edko Films