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The Matrix martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-ping on a lifetime in film, Jet Li’s power and drunken kung fu
- Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy, Drunken Master and The Tai Chi Master are just some of the films the famed martial arts choreographer directed
- Honoured this week at the New York Asian Film Festival 2019, Yuen reflects on Jet Li’s rise, his kick that put two stuntmen in hospital, and Bruce Lee’s legacy
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It was fitting that legendary martial arts choreographer and film director Yuen Woo-ping received the lifetime achievement award at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival, because as the kung fu master put it, “I’ve spent my entire life in film”.
The awards ceremony took place at New York’s Walter Reade Theatre before a screening of Yuen’s latest film, Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy, on Monday. The festival is co-hosted by the prestigious Film Society of Lincoln Centre, organisers of the New York Film Festival.
Yuen worked as a stuntman and martial arts choreographer before moving into directing with Snake in Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master, both made in 1978. The films launched Jackie Chan’s career and began a wave of comedy kung fu films.
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Yuen’s work has encompassed Hong Kong and Hollywood, where he notably handled the martial arts choreography for theThe Matrix trilogy and Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
In Asia, Yuen directed Sammo Hung Kam-bo in Magnificent Butcher (1979), launched Donnie Yen Ji-dan’s career in Drunken Tai Chi (1984) and developed Jet Li Lianjie’s screen style in films like The Tai Chi Master (1993). He handled martial arts choreography for Stephen Chow Sing-chi’s frantic Kung Fu Hustle (2004) and Wong Kar-wai in the elegant The Grandmaster (2013).
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