Fearless (2006 film)

Fearless

Theatrical release poster
Traditional 霍元甲
Simplified 霍元甲
Mandarin Huò Yuánjiǎ
Cantonese Fok3 Jyun4-gaap3
Directed by Ronny Yu
Produced by Ronny Yu
Jet Li
Yeung Bo-ting
William Kong
Chui Bo-chu
Han Sanping
Written by Chris Chow
Christine To
Wang Bin
Li Feng
Starring Jet Li
Dong Yong
Nakamura Shidō II
Collin Chou
Betty Sun
Music by Shigeru Umebayashi
Cinematography Poon Hang-sang
Ray Wong
Edited by Virginia Katz
Richard Learoyd
Distributed by Edko Films (Hong Kong)
China Film Group (China)
UIP (Europe)
Rogue Pictures (US)
Release dates
  • 26 January 2006
Running time

105 minutes

140 minutes(Director cut)
Country China[1][2]
Hong Kong[2]
Language Mandarin[2]
Japanese
English
Box office US$68,072,848

Fearless, also known as Huo Yuanjia in Chinese, and as Jet Li's Fearless in the United Kingdom and in the United States, is a 2006 Chinese-Hong Kong martial arts film directed by Ronny Yu and starring Jet Li. It is loosely based on the life of Huo Yuanjia, a Chinese martial artist who challenged foreign fighters in highly publicised events, restoring pride and nationalism to China at a time when Western imperialism and Japanese manipulation were eroding the country in the final years of the Qing Dynasty before the birth of the Republic of China. Li stated in an interview that this film is his last wushu martial arts epic, a point also made in the film's television promotions and other publicity.

Fearless was released on 26 January 2006 in Hong Kong, on 23 June 2006 in the United Kingdom, and on 22 September 2006 in the United States.[3]

Plot

The film starts with Huo Yuanjia fighting three Westerners: a British boxer, a Belgian lancer, and a Spanish fencer. Huo defeats all three of them and has a flashback before the next fight with a Japanese fighter Anno Tanaka.

Huo Yuanjia watches his father Huo Endi teaching students martial arts and wants to participate, but his father is concerned about his asthma and refuses to allow him to practice martial arts. Huo Yuanjia then sees his father in a leitai match with another martial artist named Zhao, who won the fight dishonourably by retaliating when Huo Endi held back what would have been a fatal blow. Huo Yuanjia feels humiliated by his father's defeat and vows to regain his family's honour and pride. He practices martial arts secretly behind his father's back. As the years pass, Huo Yuanjia defeats several opponents in leitai matches and becomes one of the most famous martial artists in Tianjin. However, as he becomes increasingly successful and popular, he also becomes more arrogant and ruthless towards his opponents. His late father, however, advocated the practice of showing mercy and not doing any serious physical harm to opponents.

Huo Yuanjia (left, in black, seated) challenges Qin Lei (right, in white, standing).

When a rival martial arts master named Qin Lei injures one of his followers, Huo feels insulted and confronts Qin at the latter's birthday party. The confrontation escalates into a fight between Huo and Qin, in which Huo emerges as the victor by killing Qin with a fatal blow to the chest. However, Qin's godson seeks vengeance on Huo and kills Huo's mother and daughter in retaliation. Guided by fury, Huo goes to Qin's house, where Qin's godson admits to the murders before killing himself. Later, Huo learns that it was his follower who had insulted and provoked Qin earlier, which prompted his beating.

Overwhelmed with grief and shame, Huo flees Tianjin and wanders aimlessly for many months. A dishevelled, greying wanderer, he nearly drowns in a river, but is saved by Granny Sun and her blind granddaughter Yueci. They bring him back to their village and Huo, guided by their simple acts of kindness, begins to learn the value of compassion and mercy.

In 1907, Huo returns to Tianjin and sees the changes that have taken place in his absence. He apologises to the family of Qin and reconciles with his childhood best friend, the businessman Nong Jinsun, whom he had offended earlier. He challenges the American wrestler, Hercules O'Brien, who had been making headlines by defeating Chinese martial artists and calling the Chinese "weak men of the East". During their match, Huo saves O'Brien from being impaled on some nails on the side of the ring (which had become exposed during the fight) and he wins the appreciation of O'Brien, who names Huo the victor. Huo's fame begins to spread with successive challenges with other foreign fighters. In 1909, with funding from Nong Jinsun, he founds Chin Woo Athletic Association in Shanghai.

The members of the foreign chamber of commerce fear that Huo's victories might fan anti-foreign sentiments among the Chinese people and thus become a disadvantage to them. They propose a match between Huo and four foreign champions. Huo takes up the challenge, even though it is an unfair one. Before the matches, Huo meets the Japanese champion Tanaka for tea and strikes up a friendship with him.

On 14 September 1910, Huo - after quickly defeating european challengers - faces Tanaka in a titanic battle. In the first round, they fight with their weapons of choice. Huo uses a three-section staff while Tanaka uses a katana. The first round is a draw, although during the fight fighters accidentally exchanged weapons - at this point while Huo was able to handle a sword proficiently, Tanaka - unfamiliar with exotic weapon of his opponent - was clearly at a disadvantage. Honorably - Huo exchanged weapon with Tanaka. Before the next round, Huo unknowingly drinks from a poisoned cup of tea. The poisoning is the work of the members of the foreign chamber of commerce, who are in attendance and wish to assure their victory. In the second round involving unarmed combat, Huo suddenly has difficulty breathing and begins to lose his strength. He collapses and starts coughing-up blood, the result of arsenic poisoning. Tanaka and Huo's supporters immediately demand that the match be halted and postponed, but Huo replies that he wishes to continue, since he is going to die in any event. Huo is dominated by Tanaka but he does manage to deliver a blow to Tanaka's chest, similar to the one he used on Qin, but this time holds back what might have been a killing blow. He then collapses, and Tanaka - being aware of what happened - declares Huo the victor as Huo dies. The final scene shows Huo's spirit practising Wushu on the field as Yueci observes him with a tearful smile. Huo turns to her and smiles in return lovingly, indicating a lovers' reconciliation.

Cast

  • Jet Li as Huo Yuanjia. Lu Yuhao played the younger Huo Yuanjia.
  • Dong Yong as Nong Jinsun, a businessman and childhood friend of Huo Yuanjia. Zhu Qilong played the younger Nong Jinsun.
  • Nakamura Shidō II as Anno Tanaka, a Japanese champion.
  • Collin Chou as Huo Endi, Huo Yuanjia's father.
  • Betty Sun as Yueci, a village girl who took care of Huo Yuanjia when he was in a state of depression. She is called Moon in the US release.
  • Nathan Jones as Hercules O'Brien, the American wrestler.
  • Paw Hee-ching as Huo Yuanjia's mother
  • Mike Leeder as Randall, the match referee.
  • Ian Powers as Dante, the bellboy.
  • Anthony De Longis as Anthony Garcia, the Spanish fencer.
  • Brandon Rhea as Colonel Han Herzon, the Belgian lancer.
  • Jean-Claude Leuyer as Peter Smith, the British boxer.
  • Somluck Kamsing as Beicha, the Thai boxer. He appears only in the director's cut.
  • Masato Harada as Mr. Mita, the Japanese diplomat.
  • John T. Benn as the American businessman
  • Philippe Millieret as the French businessman
  • John Paisley as the British businessman
  • Michelle Yeoh as Ms. Yang, the narrator of Huo Yuanjia's story in the opening scene. She appears only in the director's cut.
  • Hu Xiaoling as Huo Yuanjia's daughter. She is known as Jade in the US release.
  • Chen Zhihui as Qin Lei, a rival martial arts master who was killed by Huo Yuanjia. He is known as Master Chin in the US release.
  • He Sirong as Qin's wife
  • Ma Yin as Qin's daughter
  • Ting Leung as Laifu, the Huo family servant.
  • Qu Yun as Granny Sun, Yueci's grandmother. She is known as Grandma in the US release.
  • Ma Zhongxuan as Zhao Jian, Huo Yuanjia's childhood rival. Shang Yapeng played the younger Zhao Jian.
  • Jacky Heung as Qin's godson, who kills Huo Yuanjia's family to avenge his godfather.
  • Zhao Zhonggang as Zhao Zhiqiang, Zhao Jian's father who defeated Huo Endi in a match at the start of the film.
  • Zheng Shiming as Xia Xiang
  • Chen Fusheng as Xu Dashan
  • Wang Qi as Gui
  • He Jun as Bang, the town idiot
  • Liu Licheng as Qiang
  • Qian Yi as the referee at Huo and O'Brien's match
  • Sun Yueqiu as accountant
  • Yi Shixiong as Liu Zhensheng, Huo Yuanjia's student.
  • Ma Jing, Wei Binghua, Zhao Tieying, Xu Yonghai and Song Shuo as Huo Yuanjia's students

Production

Alternate versions

The film was originally approximately 140 minutes long, but to fit market demand, it was cut to 105 minutes, and scenes by Michelle Yeoh and a fight between Jet Li and a Thai boxer, portrayed by Somluck Kamsing, were removed. A special release of the film in Thailand in March 2006 reinserted the scenes with Somluck (but not Michelle Yeoh), making its new running time approximately 110 minutes. In January 2007, Ronny Yu's original 140-minute director's cut was given an official DVD release in Hong Kong, featuring the full Michelle Yeoh subplot as well as the fight with Somluck Kamsing.

Within the Somluck Kamsing scene, there are two different endings. In the director's cut, the fight ends after Huo Yuanjia stops the Thai boxer from falling head first. In an alternate scene, the Thai boxer continues to fight after this and Huo appears to kill him with the exterminating blow, only to see that he had resisted, in which the boxer realises this and ends the fight.

Director's cut

Universal released the full 140-minute director's cut on DVD in North America in July 2008.[4] The released DVD, however, contained 2 discs and has been reported to errantly contain both the existing US theatrical version and the existing unrated version and not the actual director's cut on either of the discs. However, many people were able to get replacement copies that had the director's cut after sending a complaint on their website.

On December 2008, Universal released the Blu-ray version of the film, which contains the three versions (Theatrical, Unrated, and Director's Cut) in a single disc.

There are many differences between the theatrical and director's cut.

Other names

Reception

The film holds a rating of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus being, "Fearless is a brilliantly choreographed, beautifully filmed endcap to Li's quarter-decade of epic martial arts glory."[6] Empire gave two stars out of five with a verdict stating, "Despite impressive, CG-light action sequences and an absorbing story which certainly stands another re-telling, director Ronny Yu barely elevates this above the level of a direct-to-video fightfest. Hero or Crouching Tiger it ain't."[7]

Fearless opened in Hong Kong on 26 January 2006. The film played to blockbuster business, eventually grossed an exceptional HK$30,201,600 by the end of its run.[8]

On 22 September 2006, Fearless was released in 1,806 North American cinemas under the title Jet Li's Fearless. In its opening weekend, it placed 2nd at the box office to the sequel to Jackass, grossing US$10,590,244 (US$5,863 per screen). It was Jet Li's seventh film in a row to open to over US$10 million.[9] The film went on to gross US$24,633,730 by the end of its North American run—making it the sixth highest-grossing non-English language foreign film in the United States to date[10]—and its total worldwide gross US$68,072,848.[11][12]

Controversy

The descendants of Huo Yuanjia were so upset by how their ancestor was portrayed in Fearless, as well as by the historical inaccuracies in the film, that they launched a lawsuit against Jet Li and the film's producers and distributors in March 2006. Huo Shoujin, an 81-year-old grandson of Huo Yuanjia, stated he was unhappy that the movie showed Huo Yuanjia causing "trouble", which led to the deaths of his mother and daughter.[13] Huo Shoujin also denounced the filmmakers for depicting his grandfather as a violent fighter.[14] In December 2006, a court in Beijing dismissed the case, saying Fearless was an exaggerated and fictitious portrait of Huo Yuanjia but it "contained no defamatory or libelous depictions".[15]

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was composed by Shigeru Umebayashi.

The Taiwanese singer Jay Chou wrote and sang the theme song to this movie, also named "Huo Yuanjia". In the song, Chou sings in a falsetto voice for a few segments.

Awards and nominations

See also

References

External links