Tuesday December 11, 2007
Kind bandit
There were memorable moments for Andy Lau on the set of The Warlords.
Stories by SETO KIT YAN
ANDY Lau Tak Wah, who plays honourable and compassionate bandit leader Zhao Er Hu, lost his voice a few times during the filming of The Warlords mainly due to the hollering.
“All the promotional material features my real voice, although most of what you hear in the movie is a voiceover by someone whose voice closely resembles mine.
“I was the only one who actually spent a great deal of my time and energy on this film, studying the script with director Chan, unlike the others (Takeshi and Li) who had to fly in and out of Beijing due to their other filming obligations.
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From left: Andy Lau, Jet Li and Takeshi Kaneshiro in a scene from The Warlords. |
The Hong Kong star’s most memorable scenes in the movie featured him horseback riding.
“When we began filming, I didn’t even know how to ride a horse. But, (action director) Ching Siu Tung kept asking me to do battle on horseback. After filming so many horseback-riding scenes, I’ve become almost an expert.”
Another scene in the movie, which he felt very strongly about featured hundreds of soldiers just lying there motionless.
“The men were there all day amidst the dust and dirt. My heart went out to all those people. I felt that scene could have been computer generated.”
One particular scene saw Zhao crying while his wife was shelling kuaci (melon seeds) and the director called for 14 retakes. In the end, Chan used the very first take.
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Andy Lau: ‘I can say that Er Hu’s character is very close to mine, personality-wise. Not only does he value friendship, he has complete trust in it.’ |
“The crew couldn’t find proper padding for me to use, action director Ching was not around and director Chan was fuming. In the end, they just wrapped me up in black fabric, while we filmed the excruciating scene.
“I can say that Er Hu’s character is very close to mine, personality-wise. For me, friendship is exceedingly important. Not only does he value friendship, he has complete trust in it.”
Although Zhao’s wife Lian and his sworn elder brother Pang unwittingly fall in love and eventually have an affair, he is blissfully ignorant.
“He never has any thoughts that the people he deeply loves have betrayed him. If he knew of their affair, he would have killed them for sure.”
Lau had a few parting words. “I don’t believe there are real heroes, although I believe in heroic deeds. In this world, there are too few men like Zhao Er Hu. I hope that in future, all those I meet will be like him.”
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