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Ent.ifeng formally announced the release date of Man of Tai Chi today and also released two more movie stills.The translation was extracted with the google translator and smoothed over. No copyright infringement is intended.
Liu Yan reports that the release of Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut Man of Tai Chi starring Chen Hu, Karen Mok, Simon Yam, Ye Qing and Yu Hai has been set for July 5. Two more stills featuring Chen Hu have also been released. One of the stills if of the calm tai chi practitioner and one is of the oppressive back boxing competitor. The film focuses on the back and forth between the good and eveil forces bringing a unique charm to the Chen Hu’s role. It is reported that Keanu’s film Man of Tai Chi is to honor his promise to his brother Chen Hu that he (Chen Hu) will star in the film and that his master Yuen Woo-ping will create the film’s “Dark Tai Hi’ choreography.
In addition to being his directorial debut, Man of Tai Chi was also Keanu’s Reeves steeping stone into the Asian film market. Yet for this project, director Keanu Reeves did not hire a well-known big audience drawing martial arts superstar, but instead his former teacher. Chen Hu is the best martial arts instructor in Hollywood and the fact that Keanu has moved him from behind the scenes to into the forefront further indicates that this a film that was made for his Brother.
It is reported that Keanu’s acquaintance with Chen Hu can be traced back 15 years ago to when they were filming The Matrix. The duo then started to have aspirations of writing a script and making a movie together. The process of writing the script to filming Man of Tai Chi took them five years. Keanu said in an interview: “Man of Tai Chi was made for Chen Hu and was a commitment between him and his brother and represents his Chen Hu’s life experiences. If there was no Chen Hu then there would be no film.”
Keanu Reeves has stressed during his recent trip to Beijing for interviews that the Man of Tai Chi story is one of demons that reflects the the cultural essence of deliberate restrainst in Tai Chi. Chen Hu who plays the ‘Tai Chi son’ became involved in the underground black boxing organization under the evil influence of Keanu’s character. In the latest stills, you can see the two sides of the ‘Tai Chi son’ the good and the dark.
The article is here.
Photos are in the gallery.