- Playing Wong Fei-hung in Tsui Hark’s Once Upon a Time in China films was the making of Jet Li Lianjie as an action film star
- Soon after filming them, Li played another real-life Cantonese martial arts hero, Fong Sai-yuk. He talked about how he approached two contrasting roles
Hong Kong New Wave director Tsui Hark's updated interpretation of real-life Cantonese hero Wong Fei-hung in his Once Upon a Time in China films made a star of China-born martial artist Jet Li Lianjie, and started a trend for films set in a historical China with postmodern characteristics.
While Wong was one of Li's most memorable characters, he isn't the only real-life Cantonese martial arts hero the action star has portrayed on screen. He also played the role of Fong Sai-yuk in two eponymous films in 1993.
Fong Sai Yuk and Fong Sai Yuk II were both directed by Corey Yuen Kwai, and featured acting legend Josephine Siao Fong-fong " a veteran of numerous swordfighting films of the 1960s " and former Miss Hong Kong Michelle Reis, who was then at the peak of her popularity.
Similar in looks to the Once Upon a Time in China films, the frantically entertaining costume kung fu movies were more comic in tone than Tsui's works. But they still featured elaborate and expertly choreographed action sequences, co-choreographed by director Yuen.
Fong Sai-yuk (or Fang Shiyu) the martial artist is thought to have existed sometime in China's Qing dynasty. Legend has it that his mother, a martial arts expert called Miu Tsui-fa, whose lineage extended back to the Shaolin Temple through her father, bathed the baby Sai-yuk in an elixir of Chinese herbs which gave him "copper skin and metal bone".
Fong is known mainly for killing a tough opponent called Tiger Lu, a fighter who was known for humiliating Cantonese martial arts practitioners. He killed him when he was just 15 years old with his "Black Tiger Steals Heart" kick. Tiger Lu and Fong's mother, Miu Tsui-fa, appear in the Fong Sai Yuk films, whose storylines are inventions.
Fong Sai-yuk is one of my idols, so I put a lot of effort into making it a good performanceJet Li Lianjie
The legendary martial artist had been portrayed on film before, by the charismatic Alexander Fu Sheng, who played Fong as a confident youngster in Chang Cheh's Shaolin series, and by Hsiao Ho in Lau Kar-leung's Disciples of the 36th Chamber. The latter film portrayed Fong as a cheeky and mischievous youth, and Li followed that example.
The Fong Sai Yuk films also marked Li's foray into production with his own film company, Eastern Production. Li pulled out of the Once Upon a Time in China series to found Eastern Production " it was rumoured that Li had asked for too much money to continue appearing as Wong Fei-hung.
Li's manager Jimmy Choi Chin-ming was shot dead by triads in his Tsim Sha Tsui office in 1992, the year before Fong Sai Yuk was produced. But when interviewed the following year ahead of the cinematic launch of Fong Sai Yuk, Li said: "My company is on track and stable and no one is going to give me trouble or bother me."
Li gave the following interview to this writer at the premiere of Fong Sai-yuk II in 1993. The actor did not go on to make a Fong Sai Yuk III.
Q: You're well-known for portraying Wong Fei-hung. What made you decide to take on the role of another Cantonese martial arts hero, Fong Sai-yuk?
A: As an actor, I don't want to become typecast. I don't want to be known for just playing one character, or for only playing one type of role. That's why I decided to attempt Fong Sai-yuk " it gives me the chance to do something different. Fong Sai-yuk is definitely a very different kind of character to Wong Fei-hung.
In what way are the two heroes different?
Wong Fei-hung is a very righteous person " he is someone that you would respect. But Fong Sai-yuk is very mischievous. Audiences seem to like both characters, even though they are very different.
Fong Sai-yuk is said to have existed in real life. Does that influence the way that you portray him? Yes, the fact that he really existed did influence me. But even so, when you are playing someone real like that, it comes down to how you perceive them, what your view of the real-life person is. Plus you have to take into account what the scriptwriter and the director think of the character, too.
Are you similar to Fong Sai-yuk in any way?
I'm not sure if I am like him at all, but you do have to like the characters that you play. Fong Sai-yuk is one of my idols, so I put a lot of effort into making it a good performance.
The scene where you are trying to save Siao Fong-fong from dying on the rope at the end of Fong Sai Yuk II is very intricate.Yes, that was a very difficult scene to put together. It took a lot of time to prepare it. But it is always worth taking the time to do something special. There are a lot of action films being made in Hong Kong these days, and a lot of them are costume dramas. So you have to work really hard to do something different, to do something innovative.
What do you think is special about Fong Sai-yuk's style in the films?
He is very quick and he gets straight to the point " he hits someone hard and they fall down. That's one way that he differs from Wong Fei-hung. It's a bit like the way Bruce Lee used to fight.
How do you feel about performing kung fu in front of the cameras?
As I trained in wushu, I am used to performing. I am always looking for different ways to present my wushu skills in front of the cameras.
Was there a script for the Fong Sai Yuk films or was it "flying paper" " that is, you made it up as you went along? There were scripts for both of them, but the scripts were very loosely written. When we shot the scenes, things changed a lot, and even more changes happened in the editing room. Actually, everything about Fong Sai Yuk was a group effort " the directing, the stunts, everything. We discussed everything between us before we made the shot.
Will there be a Fong Sai Yuk III ?
When I was making part one, I already had part two in mind. But whether we do a part three or not depends on how it performs in all our different markets.
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 genre.
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