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Tony Leung - Star of The Great Magician talks to Time Out

 
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yitian



Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Posts: 413
Location: United States

PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2012 8:46 pm    Post subject: Tony Leung - Star of The Great Magician talks to Time Out

http://www.timeoutbeijing.com/features/Books__Film/14172/Tony-Leung.html

Hong Kong’s film industry isn’t exactly wanting for credible leading men, but few can say that they’ve garnered praise as high – or as consistently – as that of Tony Leung. The Hong Kong-born actor snaps up awards like lesser men collect stamps and can boast a fanbase that includes Robert De Niro and Brad Pitt.

Leung has also done what so few actors of his generation have managed to do: he escaped the guns and martial arts ghetto of the Hong Kong film industry and transformed himself – via arty hits such as Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution and Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love – into the go-to guy for quiet, sensitive lead roles. But this month the 49-year-old star is bringing his career full circle with new flick The Great Magician, a period thriller that reunites him with the director who made it all happen in the first place.

Set in 1930s Beijing, it tells the story of a talented stage magician, Zhang Xian, who must use all his guile to save his lover from a warlord. It is the 75th film in the Leung canon, but marks an even more significant anniverary in the actor’s career: 24 years since he first teamed up with director Derek Yee (One Nite in Mongkok).

In 1987, the pair came together to make the tense, socially aware crime thriller People’s Hero. Although the film garnered critical praise for Yee and the first award of many for Leung, the pair didn’t exactly bond.

‘I didn’t personally know him that well,’ Leung muses. ‘Actually, you know what? I don’t think I know anyone in the movie industry very well. Back when we worked on People’s Hero we were both a lot newer to filmmaking; he was new to directing and I was new to acting. He had a very short temper and he was a straightforward guy. But I think it’s a good thing – it says something about the person. He was so straightforward that you never had to guess what he was thinking.’

The conveyor belt of films coming out of Hong Kong is notorious – Leung does about three a year. But the ’80s was when the movie machine really cranked into gear, as the actor recalls.

‘Back in those days, films in Hong Kong were made very fast – perhaps too fast sometimes – and I would see Yee working on scripts while we took a break. I remember that once, after I’d finished work for the day, I asked him if he wanted to go for a drink, but he was still too busy writing. There was almost no time for us to have a proper chat. Thinking about it now, it’s almost like we were in school, you know, doing homework all day long.’

The pair parted company, and while Yee went on to more critical success with the likes of cancer drama C’est la Vie, Mon Chéri, it looked for a time like Leung would take the action movie route. Flicks such as Bullet in the Head (the poster for which features two blazing guns, a pair of attack helicopters, an exploding village and a steroidal Leung) and John Woo’s celebrated blood-and-bullets ballet Hard Boiled swiftly followed.

But after Hard Boiled, Leung turned to more thoughtful roles, such as a lovelorn policeman in 1994’s Chungking Express and a gay man in an abusive relationship in 1997’s Happy Together, both from celebrated auteur Wong Kar-wai. ‘It wasn’t intentional,’ says Leung on giving up his guns, ‘but we already had Jackie Chan and Jet Li; there was no point replicating them. I always prefer to try new things.’

The move made Leung’s career. He proved a perfect muse for Wong Kar-wai, with 2000’s hit In the Mood for Love winning him ‘Best Actor’ at that year’s Cannes Film Festival. The pair have worked together on six films in total, with a new one, The Grandmasters, currently undergoing (a very prolonged) post-production.

And while the wait for that film grinds on, Leung has returned to his roots with Yee’s The Great Magician. The movie’s plot, which sounds uncannily similar to 2006 Hollywood effort The Illusionist, has already sparked online criticism, but Leung is quick to stamp on any accusations of plagiarism (‘They are two completely different films’). He is equally swift to laud the source material: ‘Yee showed me the novel, which was written by Zhang Haifan, and I felt it was a very exciting story,’ he enthuses. ‘It’s a tale about revenge, and those stories are timeless.’

But the added bonus for Leung was in reconnecting with his old colleague. ‘Working with Yee again allowed me to rediscover him, and I got to know him better this time around. He’s more mature now – he’s able to keep his cool these days – and his films are more mature, too. Now he looks like a big director.’

The ‘big director’ had a big job, of course, in recreating 1930s Beijing – not least because the city’s face has changed immeasurably since then – but, for Leung, the period was more of an opportunity than a great struggle. ‘I don’t know much about 1930s Beijing, but troubled times always appeal to me more as they can be quite romantic and deplorably beautiful. Things can change by the second and you never know what’s going to happen. Maybe I think this because I’ve read too many novels, and most of the good ones took place during wartime.’

So what’s the story with Zhang Xian, Leung’s titular magician? ‘Besides being quite dedicated to magic, I think he is also a very calm and smart guy. He’s able to hold his peace when confronted with dramatic changes.’

Not unlike Leung himself, then, who can be rather inscrutable at times. Rumour has it that he has finally signed up to do his first Hollywood film – so often a dead-end for Hong Kong’s actors (and directors, lest we forget Wong Kar-wai flop My Blueberry Nights), who wind up typecast and underused. ‘No comment’ comes the response – well, every magician must have his secrets.

Hollywood or no, the offers are still flooding in for Leung, and should Wong Kar-wai ever finish The Grandmasters (again, he refuses to pass comment), the actor’s name will likely grace more shiny statuettes in the future. For now, though, all eyes are on Yee and Leung, and we reckon the duo might well repeat the magic of their 1987 success. Now, wouldn’t that be a trick worth seeing?

The Great Magician goes on general release on Thursday 12 January.
James Wilkinson
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Safran



Joined: 22 Mar 2006
Posts: 1322
Location: Austria

PostPosted: Tue Jan 03, 2012 12:55 am    Post subject:

Thank you yitian - for this interesting current article Smile
I especially like Tony´s (typical) down-to-earth comments, referring his work and cooperation with Derek Yee.

But isn´t it boring and annoying for Tony (and the substantial Pan-Asian filmindustry also), that "Hollywood" is an aaaaalways repeated topic of journalists - again and again ???. Rolling Eyes ......(as if it still would be the one and only, ultimative "Movie-Mekka" ! )

Sorry for my frankly speaking, guys - this is my personal view only evil
Helga
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Jamaica



Joined: 27 Mar 2011
Posts: 419
Location: Lexington, KY United States

PostPosted: Tue Jan 03, 2012 3:10 am    Post subject:

Thanks Yitian, for the article. It's nice to read something new.

I agree, Safran, that Hollywood isn't the end-all-be-all of movies, as far as the quality of films are concerned, (some of America's best films are indies), but considering the calibre of Tony's ability, and Hollywood's mark on the global film industry, Tony getting a Hollywood role is a great compliment and a well-deserving one. If not for Hollywood, I doubt nearly as many Americans, (anyway), would be familiar with Javier Bardem, or Gerard Depardieu, Gael Garcia Bernal, etc.

I don't think we have to worry about Tony taking a Hollywood role just for the sake of doing so. If he takes one, it'll be because he sees value in it. I, for one, would like to see him do a film in the West, (if not Hollywood specifically). His style of acting would be well-engaged in a Western film, with it's emphasis on emotional truth, and character motivation.... and blah, blah, blah.... John Lone had really interesting comments about the difference between acting in traditional Chinese theatre, and Method acting. I don't know, it's all theory to me, but I do think Western film would challenge Tony in a way Eastern films usually don't, with the exception of Kar-Wai and Ang Lee (and they have a lot of Western influences...)
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emma-Y



Joined: 24 Dec 2011
Posts: 23

PostPosted: Tue Jan 03, 2012 3:33 am    Post subject:

THANK U FOR SHARING THIS ARTICLE~~

I AM WAITING HIS FOLLOWING MOVIES.

IN MY VIEW, HIS EACH MOVIE IS A NEW START.

"HOLLYWOOD FILM" MAY BE AS A PART OF HIS SUCCESSES.

I ENJOY TO SEE EACH MAGICAL MOMENT!
Very Happy
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ciao......
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In The Mood For Leung



Joined: 13 Jan 2010
Posts: 237
Location: State of Nirvana, USA

PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:54 am    Post subject:

I would have to agree with Helga.
I'd like to see TL keep doing arthouse and elegant Chinese films directed by the great Chinese directors.
If ever there is "Hollywood" in TL's career - it should be Hollywood coming to his territory/terms - no stereotype and supporting roles please, thank you. They can come and make their Hollywood movie in China.
I would like to see TL in an international political intrigue thriller.
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Jamaica



Joined: 27 Mar 2011
Posts: 419
Location: Lexington, KY United States

PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 2:48 am    Post subject:

I'd sure like to see him do the (private?) detective picture, that Lawrence Block was supposed to write for him.
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