(Photo provided to China Daily)
Hot on the heels of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, which was released less than two weeks ago, the biopic Ip Man 3 has grabbed the headlines as it prepares its release on Friday. Both the films and star Donnie Yen.
China's martial arts movies－the most influential when it comes to grabbing Western eyeballs－have always had an icon for every era.
Donnie Yen, following in the footsteps of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, is the latest to ascend the peak.
Now, following Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, which was released on Feb 19, the biopic Ip Man 3 has grabbed the headlines as it prepares its release on the Chinese mainland on Friday.
Both the movies starring Yen are about China's martial arts world: a somewhat romanticized existence of daredevil warriors and their legends.
The difference between the two films is that while the former is the adaptation of a novel, the latter, featuring a Wing Chun School master－the title role－is partly based on reality.
"I love every character that I've played," says Yen in an interview with China Daily.
In the last 24 years, the 53-year-old kung fu giant has acted in nearly 60 films and directed action scenes in more than 35 titles. He has a reputation not only in China, but also in Hollywood.
The new Star Wars film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, took on Yen as the first Chinese actor to play a protagonist's role.
But restricted by non-disclosure agreements, Yen, a fan of the sci-fi franchise, says he cannot reveal more details. However, a 2016 list of films scheduled to be released by Walt Disney, the producer, says Rogue One, starring mainland actor Jiang Wen, will be released in North America in late December.
Although Yen has played many kung fu heroes in his long career, his performance in Ip Man 3 is widely regarded by critics as his most classical role on the big screen.
"Ip Man subverts the audiences' stereotyped impression of an action hero," says Yen.
"He is suave, self-restrained, and pretty respectful of his wife, which makes him a more acceptable hero for present-day audiences," he says.(China was still a pretty chauvinistic society back in Ip's day.)
Interestingly, Yen says he found the role of Ip Man "closely resembling" himself in real life.
For instance, Yen's wife is taller than him. And the director Wilson Yip selected model-actress Xiong Dailin, who is also taller than Yen, to play his wife in the movie.
