Movie Adaptation of Chinese Classics, "The Romance of Three Kingdom"
The pre-production of John Woo’s first Chinese-language film in more than a decade, "The Battle of the Red Cliff” have commenced although it is still unclear whether Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung Chiu Wai have accepted the starring role of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang respectively.
Earlier this year, Andy Lau had accepted the role of Zhou Yu and Ken Watanabe had also accepted the role of Cao Cao.
"The War of the Red Cliff" took place in China around 1,700 years ago, when the land was divided into three kingdom namely: Wei, Shu and Wu belonging to Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan respectively.
Cao Cao had consolidated the power of the Kingdom of Wei in the north and sought to extend it beyond the Yangtze river. Along his path are fortress belonging to Shu.
Earlier this year, Andy Lau had accepted the role of Zhou Yu and Ken Watanabe had also accepted the role of Cao Cao.
"The War of the Red Cliff" took place in China around 1,700 years ago, when the land was divided into three kingdom namely: Wei, Shu and Wu belonging to Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan respectively.
Cao Cao had consolidated the power of the Kingdom of Wei in the north and sought to extend it beyond the Yangtze river. Along his path are fortress belonging to Shu.
His troops, all from the northern plains, were not accustomed to naval warfare. Nevertheless, he took his army of 200,000 men to launch his attack on the Kingdom of Shu, whose king, Liu Bei, called upon the King of Wu, Sun Quan for assistance. Thus, the showdown between the huge naval forces of Cao Cao and the outnumbered combined armies of Liu Bei and Sun Quan ensued.
There were many interesting war strategy recorded during this standoff. The most notable of all could be that from Zhuge Liang, Military Advisor (also the most intelligent man of Chinese’s history) of King Liu Bei.
In urgent need of 100,000 arrows to repel the invaders, Zhuge Liang instructed twenty naval junks, with soldiers beating war drums behind high stacked of straw and scarecrows, to feign an advance on the Wei encampment on a dark, foggy night. The Wei’s commanders responded by discharging their arrow into the indistinct hulks on the junks. By dawn, each junk was bristled with thousands of arrows, more than enough for the army's requirements.
In another incident, Cao Cao was persuaded by a spy (sent by Zhuge Liang) in his camp to secure all his boats together. The method was thought to be able to stabilize the boats so that Wei’s soldiers, who were not capable of seas battle, would not feel nausea during any forthcoming attack. The armies of Wu and Shu, however, launched arrows of fire on the boats. Coupled with the favorable wind direction, as calculated by Zhuge Liang, the great conflagration brought about the defeat of Cao Cao.
Red Cliff itself is said to have been forever scorched red by the flames of this day-long battle. In a victory celebration, General Zhou Yu of Wu, flourishing his writing brush, jubilantly inscribed the gigantic characters 'Red Cliff (Chi Bi) on the cliff face, which still can be seen to this day.
There were many interesting war strategy recorded during this standoff. The most notable of all could be that from Zhuge Liang, Military Advisor (also the most intelligent man of Chinese’s history) of King Liu Bei.
In urgent need of 100,000 arrows to repel the invaders, Zhuge Liang instructed twenty naval junks, with soldiers beating war drums behind high stacked of straw and scarecrows, to feign an advance on the Wei encampment on a dark, foggy night. The Wei’s commanders responded by discharging their arrow into the indistinct hulks on the junks. By dawn, each junk was bristled with thousands of arrows, more than enough for the army's requirements.
In another incident, Cao Cao was persuaded by a spy (sent by Zhuge Liang) in his camp to secure all his boats together. The method was thought to be able to stabilize the boats so that Wei’s soldiers, who were not capable of seas battle, would not feel nausea during any forthcoming attack. The armies of Wu and Shu, however, launched arrows of fire on the boats. Coupled with the favorable wind direction, as calculated by Zhuge Liang, the great conflagration brought about the defeat of Cao Cao.
Red Cliff itself is said to have been forever scorched red by the flames of this day-long battle. In a victory celebration, General Zhou Yu of Wu, flourishing his writing brush, jubilantly inscribed the gigantic characters 'Red Cliff (Chi Bi) on the cliff face, which still can be seen to this day.
The Battle of the Red Cliff is a highly popular chapter in the Chinese classics "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Some 600 years after its publication, the book is still widely read in China and even in the West.
If the movie adaptation were completed as planned, "The Battle of the Red Cliff" would become the most expensive film in mainland Chinese cinema history, with a budget of about $36 million. (The current record holder is Zhang Yimou's $30 million "Hero".)
The movie is slated to be released in late 2008.
Anyway, the storyline and choice of casts to this movie is simply fabulous! But I could not imagine John Woo's typical slow-mo style and pigeons been employed in the Chinese Classics. May be a disaster. I hope not!
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