Peter Chan: “This is the first time I conceived a film for its style”

Chinese director Peter Chan has come to present his film Wu Xia, screened at midnight last night, with actors Donnie Yen, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Jimmy Wang Yu, Tang Wei, Wai Ying Hung and Li Xiaoran, and the producer Jojo Hui in attendance.

Peter Chan on the film:

“The Wu Xia is a Chinese martial arts film genre that we have known for a long time, for 30 or 40 years; I grew up with it and it is a genre that is constantly renewing itself. With this film, we wanted to keep this tradition going.”

“In this film, we wanted to show what the impact of a hit, or a sword could be on the body. This is the first time that I conceived a film for its style, rather than for its content. I had never done that before.”

Donnie Yen talks about the director and the actor Jimmy Wang Yu:

“I am a fan of Peter Chan and it was a privilege to work with him on set and to learn so much. It was also a pleasure to act with Jimmy. During the film shoot, he would tell me funny stories about his experiences filming in the ‘70s.”

Jimmy Wang Yu, with a bit of humour, about the film and his role:

“Wu Xia is like a sports car, it’s a film that has a powerful engine with Peter Chan as the engineer. Me, I’m just a spare part, but a good one and I make sure that this car wins all the races in the world.”