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Young Ip Man?

Drunken Monk

By Drunken Monk
in Modern Martial Arts Cinema 1986-Present

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Drunken Monk

Drunken Monk

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Following his appearance as Liu Bei in Light-transcending Pandora's Box, Jeffrey Lau's parody on Red Cliff, Yuen Biao is joining Young Ip Man, produced by Sin Kwok Lam, directed by Herman Yau, this November, while the prolific Jeffrey Lau would start filming another work around the same time.

Yuen Biao would be playing Ip Man's senior Ng Chung Suk, responsible for further training Ip Man after their master Chan Wah Shun passed away.

Young Ip Man, which traces Yip Man's life between age of 11 to 28, also stars To Yu Hang, possibly as Yip Man, Fan Siu Wong, who has recently been training Wing Chun daily under Sin Kwok Lam, and Huang Yi as Yip Man's girlfriend.

As such, owing to schedule conflicts, Yuen Biao could only make a cameo in the ongoing production Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 3. The role he'd be playing is still undergoing negotiation.

Meanwhile, Tony Leung, who is back to Wing Chun training, still feels some pain when exerting him arm as it takes 3 months before his fractured arm would fully recover. Producer Ng See Yuen says The Great Master by Wong Kar Wai and apparently with Yuen Wo Ping as the martial arts choreographer, which, coincidentally, is about Yip Man's life after his migration to Hong Kong and his relations with other sects, has to begin filming in November - come what may. But who knows it'd be pushed back yet again. Ng See Yuen is forbidding Wong Kar Wai, who's facing tremendous pressure, from altering the script on the set, "The script must be finalised first, can't let him keep changing the script as he shoots the film."

Hadn't heard of this one before. Does anyone know much else about it?

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Drunken Monk

Drunken Monk

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so this doesnt have anything to do with Donnie Yens Ip man?

As far as I can tell, no. It's going to be a completely unrelated film.

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peringaten

peringaten

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This is related to Donnie's Ip Man. Sin Kwok Lam is a wealthy banker who loves martial arts. This has spilled over into him taking that appreciation so far as producing Young Ip Man, off the back of his being executive producer on Donnie's Ip Man movies. He is a practitioner of wing chun whose love of the art is a major factor in the creation of these movies. To Yu Hang, aka Dennis To, who has a good role in the next Donnie Ip film as well as having had a brief appearance in the first, is a student of SKL in real life, also studying hung kuen under him. Sin Kwok Lam is a student of Lau Kar Leung: http://www.laukarleung.com/id4.html in hung kuen, which is one reason we'll see hung kuen promoted in the second Ip Man movie with Sammo...

I'm currently studying hung kuen in London under another of Sin Kwok Lam's students (SKL has 3 main students to whom he teaches Lau hung gar inc To Yu Hang), Sifu Leo Au Yeung:

who worked as wing chun advisor on the first Ip Man movie - he also studied wing chun under Ip Chun, working as an English translator for him in HK.

My sifu will be travelling out to China at the very end of this month for pre-production work to begin at the start of November, training and working on choreo for the film, before filming officially starts a few days before the end of November.

So, same producer (come on a disciple of Lau Kar Leung), his students, Ip Chun's students, some of the same actors, some of the same choreo team, all made off the back of a love of the martial arts - should be good!

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Maz

Maz

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Ip Man the Prequel Begins Filming

Saturday, November 7. 2009

《叶问前传》 Ip Man the Prequel (tentative) has begun production in Hong Kong on November 7. Herman Yau is directing this film, produced by Sin Kwok Lam. Ip Chun serves as the film's advisor and will cameo as Yip Man's second mentor Leung Bik. Under invitation from Foshan government, 2/3 of the scenes from Ip Man the Prequel will be shot on location in Foshan, including the original village Ip Man lived in.

Ip Man the Prequel explores the growing years of Ip Man, from when he's a kid studying abroad in Hong Kong, to his return to Foshan. It gives a detailed account of Yip Man's mastering of Wing Chun - providing a blow by blow showcase of Wing Chun - and his acquaintance with his wife.

As one of the investors behind Ip Man and Ip Man the Prequel, Sin Kwok Lam failed to engage Wilson Yip, who'd rather stay focused on one project at a time. He says that as Wilson Yip has to take care of Ip Man 2's post-production, he doesn't want to be distracted, and thus they hired Herman Yau to direct the prequel. And to ride on the coattails of Ip Man's success, and push out both movies while the iron is still hot, they couldn't wait for Wilson Yip to finish Ip Man 2, "Ip Man the Prequel is set for release at end of April, while Ip Man to opens at around late June next year."

Being Yip Chun's disciple and a Wing Chun descendant, Sin Kwok Lam welcomes competition on the same theme from Wong Kar Wai, as the propagation of Yip Man's spirit is more important, "When we were producing Ip Man, Wong Kar Wai had also approached Mr Yip Chun. I feel that it's a benign competition. And Wong Kar Wai is an international director, we believe that his work wouldn't be too shabby, just that our approaches are different."

Yip Man will be portrayed by To Yu Hang, who is a Wing Chun practitioner and the youngest person in the history of Hong Kong to clinch World Wushu Championships gold medal. He was the martial arts advisor on Ip Man and made an appearance as Fan Siu Wong's underling. He plays Sammo Hung's disciple in Ip Man 2, gaining plenty of advices from him. Sin Kwok Lam says that there is paucity of younger martial arts stars in the industry, and we should give more chances to the newcomers, in order to groom them.

Betty Huang Yi is playing Yip Man's girlfriend Zhang Yong Cheng, one who speaks her mind and dares openly to show her emotions, be they love or hate, in a more conservative era. Huang Yi indicates that girls should have character, if Zhang Yong Cheng was too weak, she couldn't have been together with Yip Man.

Huang Yi has to train in Wing Chun too. She says that she has an accord with Sin Kwok Lam, "I promised to train hard in Wing Chun, Mr Sin guaranteed to cast me in another film, and let me play Wing Chun's founder Yan Yong Chun."

Sin Kwok Lam explains that he's planning to produce a film revolving around Yan Yong Chun, and also hopes to bring a few other Wing Chun masters onto the silver screen.

Fan Siu Wong's affinity with Ip Man franchise can be traced to Ip Man whereby he played a northern kungfu master Jin Shan Zhao. In Ip Man 2, his character was retained and scenes increased. And in Ip Man the Prequel, Fan Siu Wong shed 8 pounds in a month for the role, "I'm no longer the villain, not the crude fighter from the north. I'm Yip Man's first senior, a refined person. Look, I have even shaved my beard."

Yuen Biao, one of the first kungfu stars to be doing Wing Chun onscreen, is playing 2nd senior Ng Chung Sok, one who's behind mentoring Ip Man most of the time. Yuen Biao is currently planning Seven Little Fortunes film franchise and TV series, slated for production next year.

Xu Jiao and Rose Chan will respectively play the young and grown-up Mei Hui, the junior with whom Yip Man grew up in company. Lam Suet plays the village chief who has two daughters, one of whom is Huang Yi.

http://wu-jing.org/happenings/archives/731...ns-Filming.html

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lillippa328

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it sounds so awsome!!!

That new TV series and stuff Biao is talking bout, any info on that? Is that about him and Jackie and sammo, ect...?

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And thus, Ip Man, The Legend, is Born

Link with pictures: http://www.wu-jing.org/happenings/archives/767-And-thus,-Ip-Man,-The-Legend,-is-Born.html#extended

It had long been the wish of Sin Kwok Lam, a longtime martial arts practitioner and shrewd businessman and capitalist who is a major player in Hong Kong financial sector and has even published a controversial book on big corporations swallowing up small firms last year, to bring the account of his grandmaster Yip Man to screen, but he couldn't find any filmmakers willing enough to take the risk as Yip Man was little known.

Once, Sin Kwok Lam was flying to Mainland with producer Raymond Wong, and he took the opportunity to propose the idea to him and even analysed the market for him, saying that there were millions of Wing Chun disciples worldwide, and as long the the majority of them supported this film, he would at very least not incur any losses. So, in a month, Wilson Yip was appointed the director and Donnie Yen was cast as the lead actor for this project, while Sin Kwok Lam was responsible for coaching Donnie Yen Wing Chun, as well as steering the direction of the martial arts sequences by giving Sammo Hung advices and Wing Chun demonstrations.

However, Wong Kar Wai, who had consultancy contract with Yip Chun was outraged over the matter, believing it was a copyrights violation. So, Wong Kar Wai's representative met with Yip Chun and Sin Kwok Lam, and the astute and experienced businessman Sin Kwok Lam remained adamant and was quick to point out, "A person's life is not copyrighted. Besides, if you keep dragging your heels over it, should master Yip Chun not be in the best of health, when would he ever have the chance to see Grand Master on the silver-screen?"

They eventually came to a truce and each would work individually on his own films, and promised not disparage each other. Following the success of Ip Man film, Sin Kwok Lam took the opportunity to push for the sequel and prequel to be made.

Sin Kwok Lam, who studied Wing Chun under Yip Chun for 7 years, states that the number of people learning Wing Chun has doubled since the release of Ip Man, "As a Wing Chun practitioner, I hope there would be more films on Wing Chun, so that more people would understand Wing Chun, and more people would learn Wing Chun, this would help propagate Wing Chun. While I no longer teach Wing Chun, my disciples can teach, I believe there would be even more people learning it."

Perhaps, the biggest sensation of The Legend is Born - Ip Man is the appearance of Yip Man's eldest son Yip Chun, as Yip Man's 2nd mentor Leung Bik, in his one and only film. During the set visit, the production was shooting the final scene in which the geriatric Leung Bik, propped by Zhang Yong Cheng (Betty Huang Yi), observes Yip Man (To Yu Hang), who has now become a master in his own right, teaching disciples, who are at the wooden dummies. And it takes seasoned Wing Chun practitioners to be able to train comfortably with a wooden dummy, as your arms and legs would get hurt easily if you don't have a good grasp of Wing Chun movements, much less a big group moving in unison.

Reportedly, Yip Chun would have some action scenes, and the producer Sin Kwok Lam is singing his mentor's praises, saying how great he is. Yip Chun shakes his head, "Really tedious, very happy to have finished it. I won't involve myself as an actor in any films anymore."

In The Legend is Born: Ip Man, To Yu Hang, Huang Yi, Fan Siu Wong and Rose Chan share complicated relationships. Fan Siu Wong, as Yip Man's senior Tian Ci, is in love with junior Rose Chan while she likes Yip Man, who in turn falls for Huang Yi later. Asked about how he feels about this, Yip Chun says, "I only know that my part in the film is real, for it's the same as the version I heard when young. I'm not clear about other parts. My father didn't tell me, neither did I ask about his relationships. How was I supposed to be asking about my parents about their romances? But my mother came from an official's family, they were very rich, and had high social status, while my father was from a big family too, he didn't have any title, and peoples at that time were very particular about status and there was quite a gap between their social standings. How did they get married, I have no idea. I'm curious myself how things would turn out it the movie."

Hoping that The Legend is Born: Ip Man would become an instructional video for Wing Chun, Sin Kwok Lam hires mostly martial arts-trained actors for the film, and minimises the use of special effects. The film might not have A-list stars, but director Herman Yau is undaunted, "We may lack the celebrity factor, but we have real martial arts stars like Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao to ensure realism in the martial arts sequences. Moreover, we have master Yip Chun backing us up, so this film is still highly watchable."

The film will not only showcase fisticuffs but also Wing Chun weapon play like 6 1/2 staff and Ba Zhan Dao. Each take would last up to 15 seconds, with at least 10 to 20 moves exchanged. The film will see Wing Chun being used to counter various martial arts like Brazilian Jujitsu, Karate, Chin Na, etc.

As a newcomer playing the title role, To Yu Hang, who has six years of training in Wing Chun, introduces himself, "I was the Wing Chun consultant for Ip Man, and played Sammo Hung's disciple in Ip Man 2, and have a fierce fight with Huang Xiao Ming. We'll be doing mostly long takes in this film, and we have more romantic plotline in The Legend is Born: Ip Man.

"I'm on pretty good terms with Donnie Yen and he taught me how to grasp the character. Big brother Sammo Hung is playing my master, and he has been taking care of me, he got me a movie Sugata Sanshiro, and hope that I would act without too much exaggeration. Rather, I should convey the feelings of one with passion for and persistence in wushu from the bottommost of my the heart."

Huang Yi, who sacrifices two hours of sleep to study Wing Chun under Sin Kwok Lam and To Yu Hang, reveals that she often bullies To Yu Hang on the set. Huang Yi would try to provoke him, but he remains unaffected and courteous, "If you do not know him well, you won't be able to tell he is a martial arts practitioner. He is introverted and taciturn, and has a mild temperament. He is really like Yip Man himself, very poised, cultured."

Yuen Biao plays Ng Chung Sok, Yip Man's senior who coached him Wing Chun. He says that due to the level of realism of the film, injuries are common occurrences on the set, such as the demand for each hit to be heard. Yuen Biao, who has most exchanges with Fan Siu Wong and Sammo Hung, who plays their master Money Changer Wah, hurt his rib so badly that he had to return to Hong Kong to recuperate, while both Fan Siu Wong and To Yu Hang have had their shares of bruises, especially in the arms and legs during their Wing Chun duel, as a result of the degree of contact. And earlier on, Fan Siu Wong got slashed on the head by Bernice Liu's katana on the first day she arrived, requiring three stitches.

Yuen Biao says that To Yu Hang is more experienced in Wing Chun compared to Donnie Yen, but his acting skills still need polishing. Yuen Biao adds that the script for Seven Little Fortunes movie, that he has been working on for some time, has been completed and it should begin production in the middle of the year.

Fan Siu Wong, who spent a month shedding 8 pounds to portray a more genial image in the film, says that the production is near completion, and they have finished the final showdown, involving Fan Siu Wong, Yuen Biao, Bernice Liu, who plays a Japanese master, and later To Yu Hang, which took them 9 days to shoot. Fan Siu Wong would soon be facing Bernice Liu again when she challenges their school.

The Legend is Born: Ip Man, which traces the early parts of Yip Man's life, dealing with his training under Chan Wah Shun, Ng Chung Sok and Leung Bik, as well as his romances and resistances against foreigners, is wrapping up at end of January for May Day release. Southern Metropolis Weekly, Guangzhou Daily, CRI, Sohu, Sina

________

Uggs

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gorhama

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Great news Sammo and Yuen Biao together again.........I love the sound of that!!

I also like that they are making contact with the fight scenes. I hope no one else got hurt but that shows a real commitment to making the action scenes look...well real!! :tongue:

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Phoenix

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Great news Sammo and Yuen Biao together again.........I love the sound of that!!

I also like that they are making contact with the fight scenes. I hope no one else got hurt but that shows a real commitment to making the action scenes look...well real!! :tongue:

That's exactly what I thought when I read through this thread-Sammo and Biao on a film together again.

This film should hopefully be good, looking forwards to it.

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