Korea Becomes Big Player in Pan-Asian Co-Productions
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The pan-Asian martial arts blockbuster "Seven Swords" by Hong Kong director Tsui Hark features about 30 percent Korean dialogue. The film was released Thursday.
Regionally co-produced martial arts epics are all the rage this year. There are already three blockbusters starring Korean and Chinese actors to be released in Korea this year, with the most eagerly anticipated "Promise" accompanied by "Seven Swords", and "The Myth". In the case of "Seven Swords", Lee Joo-ick, the CEO of Korea's Boram Entertainment with its Hong Kong partner provided one-third or W5 billion of the funding, and was involved in the filmmaking process from the very beginning. Hong Kong stars Leon Lai and Charlie Yeung took the leads alongside Korean actress Kim So-yeon.
"The Promise", which is scheduled for release in December, features Jang Dong-gun of Korea, Cecilia Cheung of China, and Hiroyuki Sanada of Japan. It is directed by a world-famous Chinese director Chen Kaige, best known for "Farewell My Concubine". Apart from Chinese investors including Shanghai Film Group Corporation, Korea's Showest and U.S.-based Moonstone Entertainment each put up 10 percent of the budget. Hong Kong-native Stanley Tong's action blockbuster "The Myth", set for release in October, features Korean actress Kim Hee-sun, and Hong Kong stars Jackie Chan and Tony Leung Ka Fai.
What motivates the producers of these "multinational" movies? "Bichunmoo" and "Musa the Warrior" can be called the forerunners, both shot entirely in China but with all the major roles and most of the crew made up of Koreans. In "So Close" and "The Accidental Spy", a Korean actor and actress -- Song Seung-heon and Kim Min -- had minor roles, but the dialogue was all dubbed in Chinese.
Chen Kaige, who made his name with thoughtful depictions of China's modern history in films including "Farewell My Concubine" took up the challenge of making his first martial arts movie with "The Promise". Jang Dong-gun of Korea, Cecilia Cheung of China, and Hiroyuki Sanada of Japan star.
The fresh spate of joint projects stands out in that Korea is taking an active role in producing and investing. Korean actors are getting bigger roles, and more of the dialogue is in Korean too. That is a strategy targeted at the Korean Wave rather than Korean audiences, film industry experts say. The reason why a Korean character, played by Kim So-yeon, is inserted in the movie script when the character did not even exist in the original novel and Donnie Yen speaks Korean in the movie is that the Asian audiences now like hearing Korean dialogue after the Korean Wave engulfed the region.
But why martial arts epic in particular? Epic tales of Chinese martial arts have an international appeal unmatched by any other Asian genre, says Lee Joo-ick. They sell in the West as well as across the Asian continent.
After Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won four of them including the Award for the Best Foreign Language Film, the grandiose scale and vivid colors of the Chinese martial arts emerged as a favorable trend in the Hollywood. Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" series and Zhang Yimou's "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers" specifically targeted Western audiences. Tsui Hark, who is expert at directing martial arts films, said the fact that "Seven Swords" was chosen as the opening film of the Venice Film Festival proves there is a worldwide fashion for martial arts films.
Regionally co-produced martial arts epics are all the rage this year. There are already three blockbusters starring Korean and Chinese actors to be released in Korea this year, with the most eagerly anticipated "Promise" accompanied by "Seven Swords", and "The Myth". In the case of "Seven Swords", Lee Joo-ick, the CEO of Korea's Boram Entertainment with its Hong Kong partner provided one-third or W5 billion of the funding, and was involved in the filmmaking process from the very beginning. Hong Kong stars Leon Lai and Charlie Yeung took the leads alongside Korean actress Kim So-yeon.
"The Promise", which is scheduled for release in December, features Jang Dong-gun of Korea, Cecilia Cheung of China, and Hiroyuki Sanada of Japan. It is directed by a world-famous Chinese director Chen Kaige, best known for "Farewell My Concubine". Apart from Chinese investors including Shanghai Film Group Corporation, Korea's Showest and U.S.-based Moonstone Entertainment each put up 10 percent of the budget. Hong Kong-native Stanley Tong's action blockbuster "The Myth", set for release in October, features Korean actress Kim Hee-sun, and Hong Kong stars Jackie Chan and Tony Leung Ka Fai.
What motivates the producers of these "multinational" movies? "Bichunmoo" and "Musa the Warrior" can be called the forerunners, both shot entirely in China but with all the major roles and most of the crew made up of Koreans. In "So Close" and "The Accidental Spy", a Korean actor and actress -- Song Seung-heon and Kim Min -- had minor roles, but the dialogue was all dubbed in Chinese.
Chen Kaige, who made his name with thoughtful depictions of China's modern history in films including "Farewell My Concubine" took up the challenge of making his first martial arts movie with "The Promise". Jang Dong-gun of Korea, Cecilia Cheung of China, and Hiroyuki Sanada of Japan star.
The fresh spate of joint projects stands out in that Korea is taking an active role in producing and investing. Korean actors are getting bigger roles, and more of the dialogue is in Korean too. That is a strategy targeted at the Korean Wave rather than Korean audiences, film industry experts say. The reason why a Korean character, played by Kim So-yeon, is inserted in the movie script when the character did not even exist in the original novel and Donnie Yen speaks Korean in the movie is that the Asian audiences now like hearing Korean dialogue after the Korean Wave engulfed the region.
But why martial arts epic in particular? Epic tales of Chinese martial arts have an international appeal unmatched by any other Asian genre, says Lee Joo-ick. They sell in the West as well as across the Asian continent.
After Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won four of them including the Award for the Best Foreign Language Film, the grandiose scale and vivid colors of the Chinese martial arts emerged as a favorable trend in the Hollywood. Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" series and Zhang Yimou's "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers" specifically targeted Western audiences. Tsui Hark, who is expert at directing martial arts films, said the fact that "Seven Swords" was chosen as the opening film of the Venice Film Festival proves there is a worldwide fashion for martial arts films.
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