What Jet Li said about kung fu films, audience expectations, and more
- Jet Li Lianjie talks about the different kung fu styles he uses in films and how he does his own stunts
- In these interview highlights Li also explains why he remade Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury
Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan were both adept at publicising themselves, Lee with his focus on martial arts philosophy, and the young Chan with the cheery personality he adopted after the success of Drunken Master .
Jet Li Lianjie, by his own admission, has generally preferred to stay in front of the cameras and let his kung fu speak for itself. That’s not to say he hasn‘t given interviews. Here are the highlights from some of them.
On the style of kung fu he uses in movies
“Ever since my first film, Shaolin Temple , which encouraged Westerners like Cynthia Rothrock to visit China and study kung fu, I’ve been a leading man. My kung fu is refined and I don’t like to use a wire to fly. It is difficult to define what is real and what is unreal in my films, as I do all the action myself.” Hong Kong TV and Entertainment Times, 1993
On performing kung fu in front of the cameras
“I don’t find playing an action scene out in front of the cameras very difficult. It’s quite easy, in fact. But creating and choreographing a scene is difficult to do, and that takes a lot of thought.”
Interview with Richard James Havis, SCMP, 1993
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On audience expectations
“When it comes to action films, it’s very difficult, as the audience comes expecting something new. In this film [Fong Sai Yuk] we have kung fu fighting taking place on people’s heads. But thinking of the story is easy, and with different actors and actresses you will create different chemical reactions.
For example, in Fong Sai Yuk the audience will automatically be interested because of Josephine Siao Fong-fong, as we have never acted together before.”
Hong Kong TV and Entertainment Times, 1993
On whether he wants to direct
“I am quite happy performing in front of the cameras, and I plan to stay in front of them for the foreseeable future.”
Interview with Richard James Havis, SCMP, 1993
Jet Li’s star turn in Once Upon a Time in China
On making period films
“I am mainly skilled in martial arts, but for a modern role you need guns, and that’s not what I am good at.”
Hong Kong TV and Entertainment Times, 1993
On the Xing Yi and Baguazhang fighting styles used in The One
“Some kinds of action movies, the actors, if they practise a few months they can do it. Use technology to help, use cables, practise with a good teacher. But this kind of martial art, Xing Yi and Baguazhang, you really need to learn, a few years, maybe 10 years, then you can control your body.
Not just making your arm move straight forward, you really need your whole body, from inside to outside. Everything is working together. Xing Yi is a fist-based martial art known for explosive punches. [Baguazhang is related to tai chi and Xing Yi, and involves a circular form of combat strategy.]
Kung Fu magazine, 2001
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On the action scenes in American films
“In Hong Kong, audiences like to watch the action sequences for five minutes. They like to study the movements and the style. In American culture, as with boxing, they like to see who wins. If one guy can knock someone out in 30 seconds, that’s great with them.”
On acting in Zhang Yimou’s Hero in 2002
“Hero is my dream movie. When I read the script, I cried twice. In my 22-year career of making movies, this is the first script that made me weep. It is an incredible story and an important question about what we call a hero.”
From the production notes for Hero.
On the importance of a good story
“l always think that martial arts, for an action movie, is not the most important point. The most important point is the story. And the character. When you like the character and the story, you use martial art to bring out the character.”
Kung Fu magazine, 2001
On Fist of Legend , his 1994 remake of Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury
“I poured my energy into it. Not only did I produce it, but I was very involved in the script, the fight scenes, the story, the philosophy. I had high hopes for the movie. I really pushed myself creatively.”
On whether he got into real fights like Bruce Lee
“I myself have never been in a fight in real life, nor do I wish to be in one. When someone comes up to me, threatens me, wants to challenge me – I do whatever is possible to avoid conflict. Because it is never worth it. I never say to myself, I’m the best fighter in the world.”
On his career
“Maybe there are times when I will get bored, but I will never give it up. It’s a lifetime career.”
Hong Kong TV and Entertainment Times, 1993
In this regular feature series on the best of Hong Kong martial arts cinema, we examine the legacy of classic films, re-evaluate the careers of its greatest stars, and revisit some of the lesser-known aspects of the beloved genre.
