Blood Brothers (2007 film)

Infobox Film
name = Blood Brothers


image_size =
caption = "Blood Brothers" poster
director = Alexi Tan
producer = John Woo
Terence Chang
writer = Alexi Tan
Jiang Dan
Tony Chan
starring = Daniel Wu
Liu Ye
Shu Qi
Tony Yang
Chang Chen
Lulu Li
music = Daniel Belardinelli
cinematography = Michel Taburiaux
editing = Chen Long
distributor = Taiwan::
CMC Entertainment China:
Sil-Metropole Organisation Ltd. Worldwide outside Asia:
Fortissimo Films
released = China:
August 16, 2007
Taiwan:
August 17, 2007
Hong Kong:
August 23, 2007
runtime = 95 min.
country = Taiwan
China
Hong Kong
language = Mandarin
budget = HKD 47,000,000 (estimated)
website = http://www.bloodbrothersthemovie.com/
amg_id = 1:387893
imdb_id = 0897287

"Blood Brothers" (zh-cpl|c=天堂口|p=Tiān táng kǒu|l=Gate of Heaven) is a 2007 Chinese film directed by Alexi Tan and starring Daniel Wu, Shu Qi, Liu Ye and Tony Yang.

It was co-produced by the Taiwanese production company CMC Entertainment, the Chinese government-owned Sil-Metropole Organisation Ltd., Terence Chang's Lion Rock Productions and Hong Kong film director John Woo, [cite web | title = Fortissimo bonds with "Blood Brothers"| publisher = Variety | url = http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117958478.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 | date= 2007-02-01 | accessdate=2007-08-02] and is Woo's first time as producer of another director's film. The film was shot entirely in the People's Republic of China.

"Blood Brothers" is Tan's directorial debut and deals with three friends who move from the countryside to 1930s Shanghai to work with the criminal underworld. In Shanghai, the friends become involved in a dangerous love triangle.

"Blood Brothers" was selected to close the 64th Venice Film Festival on September 8, 2007. [cite web | title = "Blood Brothers" to close Venice Film Festival| publisher = Xinhua | url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-07/09/content_6347995.htm | date= 2007-07-09 | accessdate=2007-08-02]

The film should not be confused with "The Warlords", a 2007 China/Hong Kong film starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau and Jet Li, that was at one point also called "Blood Brothers".

Cast

*Daniel Wu as Fung
*Liu Ye as Kang
*Tony Yang as Xiao Hu
*Shu Qi as Lulu
*Chang Chen as Mark
*Lulu Li as Su Zhen
*Sun Honglei as Boss Hong

Influences

"Blood Brothers" is Alexi Tan's first feature film, though Tan has referred to it as "a combination of all my collaborators' work" including costume designer Tim Yip, cinematographer Michel Taburiaux, and of course producer John Woo.Podvin, Thomas (August 2007). "Five Questions For Alexi Tan, director of John Woo-produced gangster drama Blood Brothers", that's Beijing, p. 54.]

Tan has stated that he draws upon his upbringing as an overseas Chinese, such that his vision of China and Chinese society will at once be Chinese and at the same time "different.". Tan notes that his film is an attempt to combine Eastern and Western influences, in that it is his attempt to transport the style of classic westerns, in particular those of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah, into the setting of 1930s Shanghai.cite web | title = The Birth of a Vision | publisher = Official site | url = http://www.bloodbrothersthemovie.com | date= | accessdate=2007-08-02]

Production history

The idea for "Blood Brothers" first began to gain traction when producers John Woo and Terence Chang watched Tan's "Double Blade", a short film starring Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou, and contacted Tan expressing interest in producing a feature-length film with the young director. [cite web | title = Alexi Tan, Making the Cut | publisher = Theme Magazine | url = http://www.thememagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=131&Itemid=109| author=Maglioro, Joe |date= Spring 2007 | accessdate=2007-08-03] Up to this point, Tan had worked primarily as a fashion photographer.

Once Woo and Chang were on board, however, Tan was able to seriously develop his concept for the film. Given Tan's overseas upbringing and lack of Mandarin speaking and writing ability (he was born in Manila and studied in London), the screenplay was originally written in English. As such, Tan collaborated with native Chinese writer, Jiang Dan to translate his film into natural sounding Chinese.cite web | title = Screenplay | publisher = Official site | url = http://www.bloodbrothersthemovie.com | date= | accessdate=2007-08-02] Despite Tan's initial concerns that Jiang Dan would not understand the Leone or Peckinpah influences, he later felt that her contributions to the story helped flesh out the film's romantic elements and in particular expanded upon the feminine perspectives of Shu Qi's and Lulu Li's characters.

Shooting of the film took place entirely within China: primarily in Shanghai, and the outlying town of Zhujiajiao. The main set of the "Paradise Club" (the titular club in the Chinese title), was built in the Shanghai Film and TV Studio under the direction of Production Designer Alfred Yau. [cite web | title = The Look of the Film: Design, Photography, and Lighting | publisher = Official site | url = http://www.bloodbrothersthemovie.com | date= | accessdate=2007-08-03]

Fight choreography, in particular the film's many gun battles, was done by Hong Kong veteran action director Philip Kwok, who was also involved in the action choreography for John Woo's 1992 Hong Kong film "Hard Boiled".

Notes

External links

* [http://www.bloodbrothersthemovie.com/ Official site]
*imdb title|id=0897287|title=Blood Brothers
*amg title|id=1:387893|title=Blood Brothers
* [http://www.dianying.com/en/title/ttk2006 "Blood Brothers"] at the Chinese Movie Database
* [http://www.cinemasie.com/fr/fiche/oeuvre/bloodbrothers2007film/ "Blood Brothers"] at Cinemasie
* [http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/movie.asp?id=9465 "Blood Brothers"] at Hong Kong Cinemagic