True Legend (2010)
True Legend is a 2010 martial arts film directed by Yuen Woo-ping in his first film as directed since 1996. The film stars Vincent Zhao, Zhou Xun, Jay Chou, Michelle Yeoh, Andy On, David Carradine (in his final film role before his death), Guo Xiaodong, Feng Xiaogang, Cung Le, Gordon Liu, Bryan Leung and Jacky Heung. The film has been shown in both 2D and 3D, and was promoted as the first Chinese 3D film. It was a rather large financial loss for producer Bill Kong, making only RMB 46.5 million (US$6.82 million) against an estimated budget of US$20 million. It was released in the U.S. on May 13, 2011 by the distribution company Indomina, where it grossed US$62,200 during its run. This was one of Carradine’s final performances and it was released posthumously.
Plot.
Su Can is a general who leads a military force to save a prince from a large fortress of enemies in the mountains. In return, the prince promises that the Emperor will make him governor of Hubei. Su’s step brother Yuan is envious of Su, but Su loves him and asks the prince to make Yuan governor instead. Su wants to leave the military and lead a life pursuing the perfection of wushu, eventually in the hopes of starting his school and teaching his skills. Su gives his great prestigious sword to a comrade Ma, then tells Yuan of his plans. Yuan expresses that he is always in Su’s shadow but accepts the governorship. Early next morning, Su leaves on a horse. Five years later, Su and his wife Ying (Yuan’s sister) have a child, Feng. Su’s father informs them that Yuan is returning from the military to be a governor.RELATED:
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He warns Su that Yuan may not have come back simply to reconcile with family but to seek revenge. This is because years ago, Su’s father killed Yuan’s father when the latter went too far in learning an evil martial arts technique called the Five Venom Fists. Su’s father then took Yuan in, but he harbours concern that Yuan is still vengeful. Su is naive and assures his father that everything will be alright.
When Yuan returns, a homecoming party is held. Yuan greets his sister Ying, Feng, and Su’s father. Su’s father knows what is impending and asks Yuan to take his revenge on him alone, sparing Su and his family. Using his mastery of the Five Venom Fists, Yuan kills Su’s father and decapitates him. He expresses his desire to be with his sister (Ying) and her son Feng as a family.
When Su hears the news of his father’s murder, he rushes to the scene of his father’s death and is attacked by the Iron Twins. He chases them to a rapid where Yuan is offering Su’s father’s head to his real father’s shrine as a symbol of revenge taken. A battle ensues between Yuan and Su. Yuan has a dark armour sewn into his body, making him partially invulnerable to blades. Using his Five Venom Fists, Yuan deals a deadly poisonous blow to Su who is defeated. Feng begs for Su’s life and Yuan spares him but throws him into the rapids. Ying jumps into the rapid to save Su and Yuan is heartbroken at the loss of his beloved sister. He takes Feng in as his only family.
Ying awakes in forest area and tries to bring her husband to civilization and safety.
They are found by a herb researcher and wine maker, Sister Yu, who treats Su’s wounds. Su comes to consciousness but is broken to find his right arm severely weakened with all tendons torn. At first, he is desperate and turns to drinking, but with Ying’s support, he focuses on training in order to save Feng. He meets Wu Shu God and an old sage and asks to be their disciple. At a sacred site, he trains with the Wu Shu God for years, always trying to defeat him but never able to. Later, by checking Su’s pulse, Dr. Du reveals to Ying that Su is going mad and that there is probably no Wu Shu god or Old Sage since she is the only one living in the area.
Production.
When Yuen Woo Ping was given the script by producer Bill Kong. Bill Kong reportedly recommended Vincent Zhao for the role of Beggar Su. Saying that Zhao has been doing television dramas in recent years and should act more in movies. Yuen Woo Ping after looking through some of Zhao’s old works decided to choose him for the lead role. In order to prepare for the role Zhao had to lose up to nine kilograms’ worth of weight as he explains “Beggar Su can’t be too plump.” Zhao also had to take up to 2 months’ worth of break dancing classes due to the fact Yuen wanted to have a more rhythmic and modern form of the drunken fist. Yuen originally wanted actor Feng Xiaogang to play the role of Old Sage but due to schedule conflicts Feng had to turn the role down and was given the chance to direct his own scene in the movie where he appears as a Pickpocket in which he teaches Little Feng portrayed by young actor, Suen Hanwen to pickpocket.RELATED:
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Despite this Yuen and the producers thought that the scene wasn’t needed in the movie and thus the scene was deleted in the final cut of the film instead.
True Legend began shooting in the mountain region in a suburb of Beijing on August 28, 2008 that was quite low-key. Filming wrapped up in late January, 2009. The set of the scene in which Su Can saves the Imperial Prince / General broke an all-time record for the largest set ever built inside a Chinese filming studio. The filming period of this film took five months to complete. While still in pre-production, Yuen Woo Ping and some of his workers took more than four months to scout for possible filming locations. They finally chose Yellow Mountain, Hukou Waterfall of the Yellow River and the traditional Anhui hui-style residences. Yuen Woo Ping preferred to shoot their original structure rather than building it in sound stages, which may look fake.
