Woo took a long leap to bring ‘Red Cliff’ to life
Director John Woo isn’t known for telling war stories, though fans of his movies, who include Nicolas Cage and Tom Cruise, might argue that the Woo hero is a soldier of the shadows, avenging the causes and crimes of other men. His one World War II effort, “Windtalkers,’’ was a mixed bag; he’s best known for highly contemporary, highly stylized tales of gamblers, gangsters, and spies, from “The Killer’’ (made in Hong Kong) to “Mission Impossible II’’ (made in Hollywood).
Yet Woo’s new film, “Red Cliff,’’ leaps far into his native country’s past - to the fourth century, during China’s Three Kingdoms period. Co-written by the director, the screenplay is based upon historical accounts and “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,’’ considered to be one of China’s four great classical novels. The project was originally set to star Asia’s global superstars, Chow Yun-Fat and Jet Li, but financing fell through in the late 1990s.
Ultimately it was made on a budget of $80 million, with Tony Leung in the lead role. Released in two parts, it was an Asian blockbuster; the US release, which opened Wednesday, is far trimmer at 2 1/2 hours.
The appetite for multiple retellings of “Red Cliff’’ courses through Chinese history, says Wilt Idema, a professor of East Asian studies at Harvard University. “This was the climactic moment in the most popular saga of China’s past - a story of heroes, cunning, passion, greatness, and a desire for glory meeting its end,’’ he says.
Woo talked about the story’s pull and its complicated road to the screen during a recent interview:
Q. Blood oaths, brotherhood, vengeance - these themes thrill your fans, and you, it seems. What’s different about “Red Cliff’’?
A. The women’s roles. New and strong. I am pleased that women tell me that they admire these characters, the whole movie - as much as men. To relate to modern audiences . . . you have to show characters that are very smart, brave, and independent. This film is about teamwork, and you see how the female makes more of a contribution for her country, for the action of life overall.
Q. Over your 20-year career, you and your production partners pushed to tell this story. How would you have made this film in 1989? Why now?
A. I needed to make these figures more human, less like superheroes. To the Chinese, who know it by heart, they see icons, legends, gods almost. Yet these were real people in history, too. And emotions, human qualities, bravery, intelligence, do not change through history.
Q. Financial backing and logistical support came from the People’s Republic. Did this hinder or affect the script? How did this differ from working in Hong Kong and the US?
A. Not so many meetings with producers or a long development time. Just do the movie as you want. We got great support from the army, 750 soldiers on the set almost every day. They have helped with movies before, but not like this. We spent a few months training them on weapons, fighting styles. We trained horsemen to protect the horses in the action scenes. We had many people working who were doing a movie for the first time and there were dangers, always, to those at work.
Q. Your original leading man Chow Yun-Fat quit, just as cameras started to roll, and Tony Leung, stepped in. What happened?
A. I am still not sure why or what it was, but he is still my friend. Maybe it was the contract being unfinished. When I was in trouble, right at start of film, Tony Leung called me, he heard I was in some kind of frustration with the film, and said he would like to work with me again. And like the character, the hero, he is a role model, a leader - and a musician. I wanted to have a scene where the characters - like two jazz musicians - are jamming to each other, using music to communicate.
Q. Why has this saga - these characters - meant so much to you and others?
A. In some of the Asian countries, now, the economic situation, I began to see, to read, how young people today are becoming so frustrated, feeling depression. I felt so sad about it - that young people are feeling lonely, hopeless, seeing no future for themselves in the world, no attention, no encouragement. So maybe I wanted to make a movie for them, that showed them hope and encouragement. The movie is all about the weak overcoming the big obstacle: The small army can defeat a larger and more powerful enemy.
Q. Put another rumor to rest: I hear you’re a fantastic dancer.
A. Oh! You heard this? Yeah. Well, when I was younger. But not anymore. I don’t have a good leg right now. I learned it from the church. When I was in high school, an American teacher taught us folk and ballroom. I was pretty good at cha-cha, waltz, and tango - I taught the other students, which was fun. I love musicals, I saw all of them in the cinema as a young teenager.
Q. Watching American musical movies, did you imagine being Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire?
A. A little bit of Fred Astaire. He’s so elegant. He always smiled like an angel. Gene Kelly, such big energy, I think it would be too hard to imitate him. I couldn’t jump that high.
