| THE SECRET SHOOTING OF LUC BESSON | |
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When Luc Besson is shooting, it is particularly difficult to get close to the studios, or even to obtain the slightest piece of information. So let us not speak about the photos, that are impossible to get otherwise we are soon exposed to a trial from the director-producer… But Karate Bushido investigated and managed to get some information about this "secret shooting". First of all, the story of the movie. Briefly, it is about a Chinese policeman, played by Jet Li, who comes in Paris to investigate and who happens to be charged with murder by a French policeman played by Tcheky Karyo. That is the framework of the script, which will be the pretext of numerous fights in the pure tradition of martial arts which has become immortal thanks to Bruce Lee himself. To find all Jet Li's potential opponents, Luc Besson has been searching everywhere. It is very simple : castings have been held all over Europe and actors -or stuntmen- have been coming from England, Holland or Germany. In France, lots of martial arts champions such as Pascal Gentil, Mickaël Million or Hoang Nghi, have been marching past Corey Yuen's sharp eyes, Corey Yuen being in charge of the coordination of all fights. Even women answered yes to the producer's call. Luc Besson wanted indeed to incorporate a new scene (3 women fighting against Jet Li) to his movie, before retracting… Besides Didier Bédard who is present in a few scenes, Hoang Nghi managed to extricate himself, and happens to be concerned with the major scenes of the movie. Among them, the final scene : on the first floor of a police station, Jet Li fights against twenty policemen armed with sticks and led by Hoang Nghi. It's quite in the manner of the famous Way of the Dragon, which takes place in the backyard of a restaurant and in which Bruce Lee fights against successive opponents sent there by an unscrupulous enemy. Thus the policemen attack Jet Li by groups of four or five. The scene ends with a confrontation between Jet Li and three opponents. It is at least what we could manage to learn since none of the interviewed actors wished to tell about the shooting. Luc Besson, who adapted his fight scenes according to the casting, would as well have changed his projects several times during the shooting. But only one thing is sure : the martial arts lovers won't be disappointed by Kiss of the Dragon (temporary title), which involves Jet Li against his opponents in lots of Paris' locations. Some scenes were for example shot on a boat navigating on the Seine. With 175 millions francs of budget, the result is being expected with much impatience, even if we probably won't see the movie before Summer 2001. S.D. S.D. KARATE BUSHIDO - January 2001
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