''Blood Brothers'' () is a 2007
Chinese film
The cinema of China is one of three distinct historical threads of Chinese-language cinema together with the cinema of Hong Kong and the cinema of Taiwan.
Cinema was introduced in China in 1896 and the first Chinese film, '' Dingjun Mountain'' ...
directed by
Alexi Tan Alexi is a given name that is a variant or nickname of Alexander or Alexandra. Notable people with the name include:
Men
*Alexi Laiho (1979–2020), full name Markku Uula Aleksi Laiho, Finnish singer, composer, and guitarist of the death metal ba ...
and starring
Daniel Wu
Daniel Ng Neh-Tsu (, born September 30, 1974) is an American actor, director and producer based in Hong Kong. He is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese language film industry. Since his film debut in 1998, he has ...
,
Shu Qi
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Sun Honglei
Sun Honglei (; born 16 August 1970) is a Chinese actor.
Early life
Sun was born in Harbin, Heilongjiang, on 16 August 1970. Sun developed an interest in acting and performances at a young age. He often skipped school to learn breakdancing on the ...
,
Liu Ye and
Tony Yang
Tony Yang (; born 30 August 1982) is a Taiwanese actor who rose to prominence for his debut film role in ''Formula 17'' (2004), for which he won the Golden Horse Award for Best New Performer. He is also known for his roles in the Taiwanese box ...
.
Plot
The film deals with three friends who move from the countryside to 1930s
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
to work with the
criminal underworld
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
. In Shanghai, the friends become involved in a dangerous love triangle.
Cast
*
Daniel Wu
Daniel Ng Neh-Tsu (, born September 30, 1974) is an American actor, director and producer based in Hong Kong. He is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese language film industry. Since his film debut in 1998, he has ...
as Fung
*
Liu Ye as Kang
*
Tony Yang
Tony Yang (; born 30 August 1982) is a Taiwanese actor who rose to prominence for his debut film role in ''Formula 17'' (2004), for which he won the Golden Horse Award for Best New Performer. He is also known for his roles in the Taiwanese box ...
as Xiao Hu
*
Shu Qi
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as Lulu
*
Chang Chen
Chang Chen (born 14 October 1976) is a Taiwanese actor. He was born in Taipei, Taiwan. His father Chang Kuo-chu and his brother Hans Chang are also actors.
Career
Chang started his film career at a very young age. He was then selected by a Ta ...
as Mark
*
Li Xiaolu
Li Xiaolu (, born 30 September 1982), also known as Jacqueline Li, is a Chinese actress and singer. She is best known for her role in Joan Chen's directing debut '' Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl'' (1998), idol drama ''All the Misfortunes Caused ...
as Su Zhen
*
Sun Honglei
Sun Honglei (; born 16 August 1970) is a Chinese actor.
Early life
Sun was born in Harbin, Heilongjiang, on 16 August 1970. Sun developed an interest in acting and performances at a young age. He often skipped school to learn breakdancing on the ...
as Boss Hong
*Zhao Jun
*Zhang Dianlun
*Jet Li
Influences
''Blood Brothers'' is Alexi Tan's first feature film, though Tan has referred to it as "a combination of all my collaborators' work" including costume designer Tim Yip, cinematographer Michel Taburiaux, and of course producer John Woo.
[Podvin, Thomas (August 2007). "Five Questions For Alexi Tan, director of John Woo-produced gangster drama Blood Brothers", ]that's Beijing
''That's Beijing'' is a monthly English language magazine, distributed throughout Beijing, with a focus on news, current events, culture, art, music, fashion, nightlife and dining in Beijing. It is owned by Shanghai-based publishing group, Urbana ...
, p. 54.
Tan has stated that he draws upon his upbringing as an overseas Chinese, such that his vision of
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and Chinese society will at once be Chinese and at the same time "different.".
[ Tan notes that his film is an attempt to combine Eastern and Western influences, in that it is his attempt to transport the style of classic westerns, in particular those of ]Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone (; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter credited as the pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cin ...
and Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic ''The Wild Bunch'' received an Academy Award nomination and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institute ...
, into the setting of 1930s Shanghai.
Production history
The idea for ''Blood Brothers'' first began to gain traction when producers John Woo
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (; born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong filmmaker, known as a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He was a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun fu ...
and Terence Chang
Terence Chang Chia-Chen () is a Hong Kong and American film producer.
Career
Chang is one of John Woo's long time friends and favoured producers. Chang produced the 1997 action hit ''Face/Off'' and '' Mission: Impossible 2''.
Following the box- ...
watched Tan's ''Double Blade'', a music video starring Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou
Jay Chou ( zh, t=周杰倫, s=周杰伦, poj=Chiu Kia̍t-lûn, p=Zhōu Jiélún, first=t, w=Chou Chieh-lun; born January 18, 1979) is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter, record producer, rapper, actor, and television personality. Dubbed the " King ...
, and contacted Tan expressing interest in producing a feature-length film with the young director. Up to this point, Tan had worked primarily as a fashion photographer. It was co-produced by the Taiwanese production company
A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...
CMC Entertainment CMC may refer to:
Education Bangladesh
* Chittagong Medical College or Chittagong Medical College Hospital, a public medical college in Chittagong
* Comilla Medical College, a public medical college in Comilla
India
* Government Medical C ...
, the mainland Chinese Sil-Metropole Organisation Sil-Metropole Organisation Ltd. (), is a Hong Kong production company involved in the co-production and distribution of films made throughout Hong Kong and China.
Background History
After World War II, Shanghai filmmakers moved to Hong Kong and ...
, Terence Chang
Terence Chang Chia-Chen () is a Hong Kong and American film producer.
Career
Chang is one of John Woo's long time friends and favoured producers. Chang produced the 1997 action hit ''Face/Off'' and '' Mission: Impossible 2''.
Following the box- ...
's Lion Rock Productions
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (; born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong filmmaker, known as a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He was a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun fu ...
and Hong Kong film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
John Woo
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (; born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong filmmaker, known as a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He was a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun fu ...
, and is Woo's first time as producer of another director's film.
Once Woo and Chang were on board, however, Tan was able to seriously develop his concept for the film. Given Tan's overseas upbringing and lack of Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
speaking and writing ability (he was born in Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
and studied in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
), the screenplay
''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993.
Background
After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...
was originally written in English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
. As such, Tan collaborated with native Chinese writer, Jiang Dan to translate his film into natural sounding Chinese. Despite Tan's initial concerns that Jiang Dan would not understand the Leone or Peckinpah influences, he later felt that her contributions to the story helped flesh out the film's romantic elements and in particular expanded upon the feminine perspectives of Shu Qi's and Lulu Li's characters.[
Shooting of the film took place entirely within China: primarily in Shanghai, and the outlying town of ]Zhujiajiao
Zhujiajiao (; Shanghainese: ''Chukakoq'') is an ancient town located in the Qingpu District of Shanghai. The population of Zhujiajiao is 60,000.
Zhujiajiao is a water town on the outskirts of Shanghai, and was established about 1,700 years ago. ...
. The main set of the "Paradise Club" (the titular club in the Chinese title), was built in the Shanghai Film and TV Studio under the direction of Production Designer Alfred Yau.
Fight choreography
Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet p ...
, in particular the film's many gun battles, was done by Hong Kong veteran action director Philip Kwok
Philip Kwok (; also known as Kuo Chui, Kwok Chui, Kwok Chun-Fung; born 21 October 1951) is a Hong Kong-based Taiwanese actor, martial artist, and stuntman. He rose to fame as a member of the Venom Mob, an ensemble of highly-talented martial ...
, who was also involved in the action choreography for John Woo's 1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
Hong Kong film
The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, British Hong Kong, Hong Kong had a gr ...
'' Hard Boiled''.
Release
''Blood Brothers'' was selected to close the 64th Venice International Film Festival
The 64th annual Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, opened on 29 August 2007, with Joe Wright's ''Atonement'' and closed 8 September 2007. Host of the event was Italian actress Ambra Angiolini. The Golden Lion for Lifetime ...
on September 8, 2007.
The film should not be confused with ''The Warlords
''The Warlords'' (), previously known as ''The Blood Brothers'', is a 2007 epic action war drama film directed by Peter Chan and starring Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Xu Jinglei. The film was released on 13 December 2007 simultaneo ...
'', a 2007 Hong Kong film
The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, British Hong Kong, Hong Kong had a gr ...
/Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
starring Jet Li
Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, Chinese martial arts, martial artist, and retired wushu (sport), Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singapo ...
, Andy Lau
Andy Lau Tak-wah (; born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maint ...
and Takeshi Kaneshiro
is a Japanese-Taiwanese actor and singer. Beginning his career as a pop idol, he has since moved his focus towards the film industry, where he achieved both commercial success and critical acclaim. He has worked with directors throughout East A ...
, that was at one point also called ''Blood Brothers''.
Notes
External links
*
*
''Blood Brothers''
at the Chinese Movie Database
''Blood Brothers''
at Cinemasie
''Blood Brothers''
at Hong Kong Cinemagic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blood Brothers (2007 Film)
2007 films
Taiwanese action films
Triad films
2000s Mandarin-language films
Films set in Shanghai
Films set in the 1930s
Chinese action films
2007 action films
2000s Hong Kong films