(Credits to: www.wu-jing.org)
March 07, 2005
The Seven Swords: Tsui Hark Strikes Back After Lying Low for Three Years
"When creating a wuxia world, it's of paramount importance to bring out the personality of each of the characters. Like other weapons, sword is a device that shows human philosophies. The Seven Swords actually represent seven states of being: wisdom, unity, sacrifice, animal instinct, assault, protection and camaraderie." says Tsui Hark. In order to achieve these goals, Tsui Hark studied reference materials on ancient weapons before coming up with a blueprint for The Seven Swords. Then, he consulted Liu Chia Liang on aspects of practicality prior to finalization.
On March
4, Tsui
Hark
held a
mini-press
conference
for The
Seven
Swords,
during
which he
showed
the most
important
tools
for the
movie -
a
negative
print of
The
Seven
Swords
per se.
Throughout
the
interview,
Tsui
Hark
remained
philosophical,
though
his
voice
was
somewhat
pensive,
yet
there is
no
denying
that
through
his
talk,
one
could
feel a
feverish
passion
for
wuxia in
his
heart of
hearts.
Could
you give
an
introduction
to the
distinctive
features
of The
Seven
Swords?
Among
The
Seven
Swords,
Gallivanting
Dragon
is the
strongest.
However,
this is
also its
fatal
weakness,
for the
person
who uses
this
sword
tends to
get
carried
away.
Green
Dehydration,
though
coarse
in
nature
and less
glamorous,
is the
only
sword
that
could
counter
it.
Never
Enquiring
is the
spiritual
leader,
it's the
longest,
and
shows
the
attitude
of Fu
Qing
Zhu:
Never
probe
the past
but seek
to live
without
regrets.
Star-Rivalry
are
short,
twin
swords,
with a
ball-bearing
at the
end of
the
hilt,
both the
blade
and the
ball-bearing
may be
used for
offense.
There
are no
set
techniques
or forms
when
wielding
Heavenly
Cascade,
rather
one
fights
according
to one's
will.
God
Relinquishing
is
serrated,
heavy
and
powerful.
Sun and
Moon,
being
mother-child
swords,
show how
the
mother
and
child
are
connected
by their
hearts,
and also
bear the
most
complex
permutations.
Which
swords
were
most
difficult
to
shoot?
Star-Rivalry
and
Heavenly
Cascade.
Since
Star-Rivalry
can
attack
with
both
ball-bearing
and the
blade,
the
actor
often
ended up
hitting
himself.
We had
to think
of
safety
measures
and also
the
effect.
It
wasn't
easy to
master.
While
Heavenly
Cascade
discards
all
techniques,
we
cannot
simply
let its
moves go
haywire,
the
choreography
was an
uphill
task. In
addition,
fight
scenes
involving
Green
Dehydration
and
Gallivanting
Dragon
were not
particularly
easy for
both are
vastly
destructive
and thus
call for
scenes
of epic
proportion.
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