A Tribute to Action Choreographers
This rare HKIFF book (released in April 2006) contains interviews with the following stunt coordinators: Han Ying-Chieh, Tong Kai, Lau Kar-Leung, Yuen Woo-Ping, Sammo Hung, Ching Siu-Tung, Stephen Tung Wai, Tony Leung Siu-Hung, Chin Tsi-Ang, Yeung Ching-Ching and Fung Hak-On. Below is a “best of” compilation.
Han Ying-Chieh’s interview was taken from a 1981 HKIFF book called A Study of the Hong Kong Swordplay Film (1945 – 1980), which was published during the 5th Hong Kong International Film Festival. Han Ying-Chieh described working at the Shaw Brothers film studio in the early 60s: “There was no such job as the martial arts instructor when I first started working there. I was hired as the snake head to lead a group of martial artists. My salary was $800 a month, while the others received $35 per day for colour films, and $25 for black and white productions. It was not until Venture of the Lady Musketeer that I acted as martial arts choreographer.”
Tong Kai talked about working with Lau Kar-Leung for Shaw Brothers director Chang Cheh: “We took care of the action but Chang Cheh sometimes did the choreography himself. Lau likes to use more hardcore martial arts action in his choreography. I prefer to use weapons because they offer the versatility and novelty I like, while he prefers versatility in kicks and punches. That’s about it.”
Lau Kar-Leung explains the origin of two films: “Chang Cheh and I had a fall out in Taiwan. Mona Fong of Shaw Bros. asked me to come back to Hong Kong to direct. The first movie was The Spiritual Boxer. On the tenth day of the shoot, Run Run Shaw came to me to say - Good work, carry on. The original idea was to start on the second film after the midnight screening of The Spiritual Boxer. But halfway through The Spiritual Boxer, they already wanted me to start a new project. So I came up with Challenge of the Masters.”
Yuen Woo-Ping talks about how producer/director Ng See-Yuen worked with him: “It was mostly him who conceptualised the scenes. He determined how and how much the actors combatted, and I choreographed the movements. Like in The Secret Rivals, one of the protagonists specialises in the fist, and the other one the leg. He had a pretty good idea of what looks good in a combat, whereas I touched it up with more difficult and flashy moves. We both knew what each other wanted in an action scene.”
Sammo Hung once had an idea to do a sequel to Warriors Two (released a few days before 1979): “I was considering a story between Wong Fei-Hung and Cashier. In reality, Wong Fei-Hung was killed by Cashier; the two of them had a fight and Wong was kicked into the soy sauce tank and lost. Later he died at home out of frustration. It is an interesting story but will not work. Wong is an idol and all of Hong Kong’s audience will hiss at this. I put this on hold and made The Prodigal Son instead.”
Ching Siu-Tung talks about the atmopsheric finale of Duel to the Death (1983): “Did you think that there was real fog under the cliff in the film’s climacic duel scene? Actually, I brought in thirty cans of carbon dioxide. The crew arrived at the foot of the cliff and sprayed them all at the same time. It cost over $100 a can, so we only had one or two chances.”
Stephen Tung Wai explains why Tsui Hark replaced him with Ching on Peking Opera Blues (1986): “He asked me to make Sally Yeh look like a trained fighter - I said only if I was given time. In a scene where she has to save Wu Ma, I was the one who set everything and Sally was worried. So I had to convince her that it was safe because the cable could withstand two tonnes. Tsui was yelling to get the shot done, saying that just a few close-ups were needed and that a stunt double would then perform the jump. I said to him - It was you who wanted her to look good during the fighting, and you are shooting it like a show on TV. I’m not sure whether the scene was edited out in the final version or not but, later on, Tsui would usually ask me to help out for one or two weeks, and it was a month on Seven Swords.”
Tony Leung Siu-Hung became the vice president of the Hong Kong Action and Stuntmen Guild in 1993 and became the president in 2005 - the year before this book was published. He talks about the irony of ironies: “When we shot The Three Swordsmen, Brigitte Lin didn’t want to do wiring and insisted on a stunt double. But it was a POV shot of her that required that she come charging down after killing someone. So I explained to her that two wires we used could sustain two thousand pounds, an elephant, and said how it would look so much more spectacular doing it in one take. She thought about it for a few days and agreed.”
Chin Tsi-Ang (Sammo’s grandmother) talked about being the first female fight choreographer: “The director wouldn’t know the first thing about it. He’d leave it to you and you’d fight however you want. The director gave you an outline and you had to take it from there. I would work it out with those from some martial arts clubs. We have our own different styles, but it’s easier to choreograph with someone who has some training in martial arts.”
Yeung Ching-Ching talks about turning down the chance to be a fight choreographer for a Western production: “There was one. But you can’t communicate without knowing English, it’s impossible. I actually got quite a few offers, acting offers.”
Fung Hak-On talks about how his directorial career never really took off: “Golden Harvest’s production head, Louis Sit, said he wanted to make me a director. Lau Tin-Chi, Louis Sit, Edward Tang and a few others spoke with me, and asked me what I wanted to make. I said I wanted to do some really flashy Kung Fu. I detailed every single move and technique about skirt-bottom kicks and millstone fists. How could I have known that they would use what I said to write two scripts? One they gave to Jackie Chan, The Young Master. The other they gave to Sammo Hung, Knockabout.”
