Bodyguards and Assassins - Chinese movie

1905, City of Victoria (British Colony of Hong Kong)

In the distance of thirteen blocks, the one man who holds a nation's fate must survive relentless attempts on his life with only eight bodyguards to protect him. Against hundreds of assassins, these men must put their courage to the test in order to protect the hopes of millions in this perilous night even if it means fighting to the death...

An exiled revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen is about to arrive in Hong Kong to meet with other revolutionary leaders and plot the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty.

Prior to his arrival, an elite army of assassins have been dispatched by the Qing Court to ensure that Dr. Sun does not leave the British Colony alive, Men with lethal weapons are posted everywhere thirteen blocks along the way from the pier where Dr. Sun is about to land.

Getting wind of the assassination attempt, a newspaper editor and a local tycoon who secretly support the revolution take it upon themselves to protect Dr. Sun at all cost. They recruit a motley group of ordinary men and women who actually posses extraordinary fighting skills to escort Dr. Sun the moment he arrives at the pier.

Over the course of five hours within a single day, their friendships, convictions and abilities are sorely tested as they fight selflessly to protect a man they barely know. Although they are ultimately slaughtered one after another by the ruthless assassins, these bodyguards have together fulfilled their mission by saving Dr. Sun's life. They never consider themselves revolutionaries or even heroes, but the gruesome sacrifices of their anonymous lives have irrevocably changed the course of world history.

The PolicemanEric Tsang as Smith
The HeirWang Po-Chieh as Li ChongguangThe FugitiveSimon Yam as former general Fang Tian

The ConcubineFan Bingbing as YueruThe FianceeZhou Yun as A'ChunThe LoverMichelle Reis as Liu Yubai's lover

Sun Yat-sen (12 November 1866 - 12 March 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader. Sun played an instrumental role in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty in October 1911, the last imperial dynasty of China. He was the first provisional president when the Republic of China (ROC) was founded in 1912 and later co-founded the Kuomintang (KMT) where he served as its first leader. Sun was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, and remains unique among 20th-century Chinese politicians for being widely revered amongst the people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Sun's chief legacy resides in his developing a political philosophy known as the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy, and people's livelihood.

read more at Wikipedia

• Though the movie centres around the real-life figure of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, all events in it are fictitious.


• The film budget in $23 millions mostly gone to build a scale replica of Hong Kong's Central District circa 1906.


• 10 years of tumultuous movie production history included rainstorms, labor disputes, suicide, and two spells of depression.


• A 10-minute action showstopper between Donnie Yen and Cung Le that begins with free-running and ends with an intense round of MMA-style fighting ended up being a re-shoot where Yen, who worked without additional pay, took charge of the choreography and called back Cung Le after both actors agreed that the original sequence wasn't good enough. For a week, the two feverishly worked with a team of 17 stuntmen to accomplish what originally took much longer to set up.


• The make-up team behind "The Pirates of the Caribeean" trilogy was invited to work with actor, Zhang Hanyu, who plays Sun Yat-sen in the film.


• Bodyguards has been a massive hit in China since its release on December 18 passing the $40 million mark as of January 3. It has also performed well in Hong Kong and Taiwan, earning roughly $2 million in each territory.

Teddy Chen has been involved in the business of making movies in Hong Kong for almost two decades. His early career involved various domains, including assistant director, production manager, acting, and as well as scriptwriting. Chen directed his first movie in 1993, and achieved critical and commercial success by the time of his third movie, TWENTY SOMETHING. Chen followed this up with an action flick, DOWNTOWN TORPEDOES in 1997, and proved himself a natural at the genre.

His following movies, PURPLE STORM (1999) and Jackie Chan's THE ACCIDENTAL SPY (2001) were very well-received, and confirmed Chen's reputation as an action movie director. In 2000, Chen also co-founded Applause Pictures together with director Peter Chan Ho-Sun and distributor Allan Fung, to focus on making quality pan-Asian films.

Teddy Chan about the movie:

• The ideas came out in 1999 and some investors get involded in the project. But in this ten years period, I had some problems making this movie, especially because of the SARS. It happened in a village in China, next to the set of the movie in 2003. Everybody was afraid of course, so we had to stop. After the SARS in 2004, one of my main investors passed away, and I didn't have enough money to carry on. So, I stopped again...until now. My producer Mr Peter Chan Ho-sun and I, discussed about this project for the first time in 1999. We had to work together on it, but something happened and I left. It didn't work out. Ten years later, he came back. We discussed about it 2008, and he said "OK, let's do it again", because he though it was the right time to do it.
  
  read rest of interview at Twitch

• At the 29th Annual Hong Kong Film Award which will take place this year on April 18 Bodyguards ans Assassins recived received 19 nominations, breaking Protege and Red Cliff's 15 nomination records.
  
  The movie was nominated for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Wang Xueqi). It had two nominations in Best Supporting Actor (Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Nicholas Tse), Best Supporting Actress (Li Yuchun, Fan Bingbing) and Best New Performer categories. Chris Li Yuchun also received Best New Performer and her movie theme song "Ashes" was nominated for Best Original Film Song. The rest of nomination includes Best Cinematography (Arthur Wong), Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Custume Make Up Design, Best Action Choreography, Best Sound Design, Best Visual Effects and Original Film Score.


• At 4th Asian Film Awards the film was nominated for Best Film, Best Actor (Wang Xueqi), Best Newcomer (Li Yuchun), Best Supporting Actor (Nicholas Tse), Best Production Designer and Best Costume Designer


• At 16th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Bodyguards and Assassins won Film of Merit Prize and Best Actor (Wang Xueqi).

• BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS boasts lavish production values, bringing a much-needed authenticity to the proceedings that director Chen effectively capitalizes on to build atmosphere, tension and an intricate web of characters.
  Twitch, by James Marsh



• Teddy Chan's highly-anticipated Bodyguards and Assassins is flawed, but well-calculated commercial entertainment with impeccable production values.
  LoveHKfilm, by Kevin Ma



• a satisfying mix of politics, personal sacrifice and death-or-glory combat centered on an imagined assassination attempt on Chinese revolutionary hero Sun Yat-sen
  Variety, by RICHARD KUIPERS



• An impressive ensemble piece with remarkable production values
  movieXclusive.com, by John Li



• An ambitious blockbuster that successfully yokes together two entities -- patriotic drama and dynamic martial arts spree
  The Hollywood Reporter, by Maggie Lee



• Chan's attempt to strike a balance between action and drama doesn't flourish, making the film a merely adequate choice of entertainment for the holiday season.
  Taipei Times, by Ho Yi