After playing the Toronto International Film Festival, Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut Man of Tai Chi made its way to Fantastic Fest. Along with presenting the film, Reeves debated Fantastic Fest founder Tim League, and the film’s star Tiger Chen fought League in the ring. Chen plays a character named Tiger Chen, who enters an underground fighting ring run by Donaka Mark (Reeves). Reeves met Chen when Chen was part of the stunt team on the Matrix sequels. We met up with Chen in Toronto, and after the film plays Fantastic Fest it will be is available on VOD Sept 27, before a theatrical run in November.
Exclusive Interview: Keanu Reeves describes how he directed his first action movie, Man of Tai Chi.
CraveOnline: Is Tai Chi your preferred martial art?
Tiger Chen: Yes. I started training my Tai Chi when I was 18, 19 years old but it’s not my original style. I started training when I was eight years old but it was something else. I studied external martial arts for 10 years and then began to start training in Tai Chi.
The movie acts like using Tai Chi for fighting is new, but there have been other movies about fighting with Tai Chi, right?
Like Tai Chi Master? Yes, but there’s only a few. Most Chinese choreographers and directors don’t want to touch Tai Chi.
Why not?
Because it is hard to show it, because it is slow and it’s higher philosophy. When you go fast, it looks the same so it’s hard to show people how you use Tai Chi against people so most people want to do some external martial art like Wing Chun. Shaolin, Wing Chun, those are more fun to watch. Tai Chi was more internal, high philosophy where you can talk to people and where you can write it down in a book, but it’s hard to show it.
In the movie I could totally see the difference between Tai Chi and the other styles. How hard was it to choreograph Tai Chi for this movie?
The style I trained, Chen style, which is half soft and half hard, it’s half and half so to have some powerful moves, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. In the choreography, we tried to use mostly the hard style because it’s kind of hard to choreograph. Even the soft style, when you’re really fighting, would become fast. It can’t be that slow. It’s only slow for health, to get your Chi out or get internal power, but when you’re fighting you can’t be that slow. It has to go fast.
So when we were choreographing with Yuen Woo-ping, the action director, we wanted to make Tai Chi look like real fighting, real Tai Chi fighting which is hard, very hard. It had never been done before. In Tai Chi Master they did some of it, but this is a modern movie which is harder. In Tai Chi Master it was ancient time so people believe it. Today, not many people believe it, even Chinese. They don’t believe it.
It is a very classic Kung Fu story where the battle is as much within yourself as it is against Donaka. Did you enjoy exploring that story in modern day?
Yes, I think in today’s China, I think everybody faces the same situation. It’s not only in martial arts. You face it in your job, you face money issues because China is a lot about money today. So there’s a lot of temptation and you can follow or you can hang on. It’s like in the movie, Donaka is a temptation for Tiger. We want to show martial arts guys how to face that kind of problem in his own heart. I think it’s in terms that Chinese people will recognize in real life. It’s not only for martial arts, it’s for Chinese people’s life today?
Did you ever imagine being the star of movies?
Yes, I did. I started training martial arts because I watched a Jet Li movie, Shaolin Temple when I was seven years old. I got interested in martial arts and began training because of the movie, with my goal to be the guy like Jet Li or Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee, those idols.
Was working as a stuntman a path to be the star of movies?
Otherwise there is no chance. I’m good at Kung Fu but nobody wants to use me to be an actor, so let’s get in the business first. Let’s work on something I’m good at, get into the circle and know people, know how to shoot a movie. Learning, watching. When the time is right, I’ll do what I want.
