39th IFFI – 2008 - Warlords

39th International Film Festival of India commences today at Panjim, Goa with the screening of the Period Chinese Film, ‘Warlords’, set in the year 1850s portraying Taiping rebellion against the Qing Dynasty. The synopsis of the film and a short brief about the Director of the film are as follows:
WARLORDS - Hong Kong - 2007, 35 mm, Colour, 127 mins, Mandarin Chinese
Director: Peter Ho-Sun Chan

Screenplay: Xu Lan, Chun Tin Nam, Aubrey Lam, Huang Jian Xin, Jojo Hui,

He Jiping, Guo Jun Li, James Yuen

Cinematography: Arthur Wong

Editor: Wenders Li

Music: Chan Kwong Wing, Peter Kam, Chatchai Pongprapaphan

Cast: Jet Li (Gen Pang), Andy Lau (Zhao Er-Hu),

Takeshi Kaneshiro (Jiang Wu-Yang), Xu Jinglei (Lian)

Festivals & Awards

London, San Francisco

In the year 1850, the suffering of the 430 million Chinese people under the corrupt rule of the Qing dynasty set the stage for the Taiping Rebellion. During the chaos of the decade long civil war, 50 million people died from either hunger or battle. In the fall of 1870, General Pang stands high atop the city walls fully attired in governor's robes. Peering down upon the site of his inauguration, he is filled with dreams and ambition. Pang has taken a path of no return; had he chosen differently, he might have been one of the heroes to later overthrow the corrupt Qing imperial regime and establish a new China. He could have changed the course of history……But two bandits and a woman have changed the course of his life - helping him achieve his goal, but ultimately causing his demise. The two bandits are his sworn blood brothers: Zhao Er-Hu and Jiang Wu-Yang. The woman who comes between them is Zhao's wife Lian. Peter Chan has been quoted as saying that the film, mounted on an epic scale and marked by spectacular battle scenes and great visuals, was influenced by the late Chang Cheh's 1973 film The Blood Brothers, but also that it was not a remake.

Peter Ho-Sun Chan co-founded the United Filmmakers Organization (UFO) in Hong Kong in the early 1990s, and produced a solid track record of box office and critical hits. Chan has made an indelible mark on both sides of the Pacific with his Hong Kong comedy-dramas Alan and Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye; Tom, Dick & Harry and He's a Women, She's a Man. His commercially and critically acclaimed Comrades: Almost a Love Story was named one of the Ten Best Movies of 1997 by Time Magazine and swept a record-breaking nine Hong Kong Film Awards. In 1998, he was voted one of

the Top Ten Helmers to watch by Variety. Chan also directed the romantic comedy The ve Letter for Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks SKG in 1999. Chan furthered his vision or international collaborations by establishing his own company, Applause Pictures Ltd, in year 2000. The films produced include: Jan Dara (Thailand-Hong Kong), One Fine ring ay (Japan-Korea-Hong Kong), The Eye (Singapore-Thailand-Hong Kong), Three Thailand-Korea-Hong Kong), Golden Chicken and its sequel Golden Chicken 2, The Eye 2 (Thailand-Singapore-Hong Kong), Three…Extremes (Japan-Korea-Hong Kong), The Eye Infinity and McDull, The Alumni (Hong Kong-China). In 2005, Chan widened his range by embarking on Hong Kong-China co-productions. Perhaps Love, his first collaboration with film professionals on the Mainland, became one of the best-selling Chinese films in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan that year, picking up 29 honors at nine awards ceremonies. It was also selected as Hong Kong's entry to the 78th Annual Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. In 2007, Chan produced Derek Yee's Protégé and directed The Warlords. The two films took the top two spots as the highest grossing co-productions of the year both in Hong Kong and China.