I found this interesting clip on the Chinese video site Tudou.com that shows a behind the scenes look at the making of the latest Jin Yong (Louis Cha) remake - Legend Of The Condor Heroes starring Hu Ge and Ariel Lin Yi Chen.
Although the 15-minute clip is in Chinese with no English subtitles, it is still a really interesting video clip that is worth watching as it shows how incredibly difficult it is to make a gongfu drama serial in China and the sacrifices that the actors have to go through while filming.
The first half shows mostly some scenes from the drama and the actors talking about their roles but the most interesting parts are in the second half of the video - there are scenes of the actors strapped to wire harnesses rehersing their gongfu sequences, having their wigs and shoes fall off while somersaulting in mid-air (quite funny actually ;-P), cycling like crazy to build up their physical stamina, and filming in scorching hot summer temperatures outdoor.
Wow... after watching this, I have even more respect for the actors who act in such dramas and the whole process of making a martial arts period drama...
The link to the video clip: here
Till next time :-)
Technorati tags: Legend Of The Condor Heroes, Condor Heroes, LOCH, period dramas, costume dramas, gongfu dramas, drama serial, Chinese drama series, Hu Ge, Ariel Lin.
A Behind The Scenes Look At The Making Of A Chinese Gongfu Drama Series
Endless Remakes of Louis Cha's Novels ... Sigh...
When I found out that there will be another remake of the swordfighting novel Legend Of The Condor Heroes (LOCH) by Louis Cha or Jin Yong, I shook my head in disbelief. Why? Because the novel was adapted into a 40+ episode mainland drama serial starring Li Ya Peng and Zhou Xun (of Perhaps Love fame) in 2003, just 4 years ago! And it was also made into drama serials in 1994 (with Athena Chu and Julian Cheung), in 1982 (with Barbara Yung and Felix Wong) and a long time ago in 1976 (with Michelle Yim in the title role of Wong Yung or Huang Rong).
A total of 5 times if I include the current remake which stars mainland actor Hu Ge as Guo Jing and Taiwanese sweetie pie Ariel Lin as Huang Rong, and this is not counting the movie and anime adaptations :-P
In fact, not only LOCH, practically all of Jin Yong's novels have been remade numerous times.
Actually I cannot understand why the directors and TV stations keep remaking the same novels time and time again, don't they understand the law of diminishing returns? I know a good story is hard to come by but I am not sure if viewers like to watch the same story over and over again...
Anyway, here are pics of the the latest incarnation of the main characters of LOCH, the super smart Huang Rong (Ariel Lin) and the dumb but upright Guo Jing (Hu Ge).
[pictures from spcnet forum: http://www.spcnet.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=15272&page=1&pp=20]
Tags: Chinese drama serial, swordfighting drama series, condor heroes, LOCH, gongfu drama, Jin Yong, Louis Cha, Wuxia.
