Shooting of The Heroes of Heaven and Earth
has officially begun on July 19th. Co-produced by
Columbia Asia, Huayi Bros. Taihe and Xi'an Film
Studios Group, tells a story during China's Tang
Dynasty more than a thousand years ago. Boarder
army captain Li Zai disobeyed the order of
executing Turkish prisoners of war and became a
wanted man. Japanese diplomatic student Raisei,
downgraded to a policeman for his repeated plea
for going home, was sent to the west to capture Li
Zai. No one was defeated after a brutal fight and
they had agreed on a second meet. Meanwhile a
caravan carrying sacred bone of the Buddha, leader
of a group of bandits An who secretly planed to
rob the caravan, and the general's daughter Wen
Zhu who was rescued by Li Zai one time, all bumped
into their battle. Hidden behind An, there is
someone even more deadly …
Captain Li Zi will be played by Jiang Wen who caught his fame for
playing the lead in Zhang Yimou's directing debut Red Sorghum;
Japanese actor Kiichi Nakai will take the role of Raisei; China's
hottest actress (sorry, not Zhang Ziyi) Zhao Wei will play the
general's daughter Wen Zhu; and Wang Xueqi will be the head bandit.
Director He Ping is well-known for making western
films in Chinese style and co-produced
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. His previous
works include The Swordsman in Double-Flag Town (Shuang
Qi Zhen Dao Ke), Red Firecracker, Green
Firecracker (Pao Da Shuang Deng) and Sun Valley (Ri
Guang Xia Gu). Cinematographer will be Zhao Fei,
the man behind the camera for Raise the Red
Lantern, Sweet and Lowdown, The Emperor and the
Assassin, Small Time Crooks and the upcoming The
Curse of the Jade Scorpion.
He Ping said, "this film is not about heroes, is
about heroes inside people's heart. The heroes in
the film have strength modern day people don't
have." According to him, this will not be a
martial art film. The story will be more
historical than
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and fight
will be more Crouching Tiger than Gladiator.
Art Director Teng Jie has revealed some of works.
Turkish army: legend has told that a mother wolf
had saved the life of the Turks' ancestor. Wolf
head is on their flags and weapons. Clothing is in
blue, black, purple or gold in order to show the
brutal, mysterious and deadly nature of them. Tang
(Chinese) army: colors are all very warm with
curved left from Han Dynasty hundred years ago and
using red flags. The western bandits: the
trademark, which can be seen on their knives,
shields, clothing and horse accessories, is a
woman's head. Everything will be in Arabic style.
Columbia has invested millions to the film and
intents to release it worldwide using Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon' model. Shooting will
complete in December and post-production will be
done in April next year. The film will be
premiered on next year's Cannes Film Festival in
May.
Director
He Ping