Jade Warrior Brings Kalevala to China

Young directors make genre-films that are sold around the world on DVD

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By Jussi Ahlroth
     
      "Do you love me?" asks Tommi Eronen on the big screen. Nothing new here – a Finnish man whining about his love again. But this time we are in ancient China, the actress is Zhang Jingchu, and the couple has just had a dance-like fantasy duel.
      The film is called Jade Warrior. It is an ambitious combination of themes from the Finnish national Kalevala and Chinese mythology, and tells the story in the style of Wuxia – Chinese warrior films.
     
A new generation of filmmakers who have grown up in the 80’s and 90’s with VHS videos and comic books is emerging along with Jade Warrior. They are not afraid to make a genre film, be it fantasy, horror, science fiction, or Wuxia.
      Director Antti-Jussi "AJ" Annila was studying filmmaking at the Tampere Polytechnic at the turn of the millennium, and became acquainted with the cameraman, editor, costume designer, and sound technician of Jade Warrior there. Now the years-long project of the former kung-fu short film crew is ready and the full-length feature is about to premiere.
     

The group responsible  for
the Sci-fi parody Star Wreck, led by Samuli Torssonen, can be included in the same generation. They have been successful as well. The script for their next film will be written by Finlandia-prize winner Johanna Sinisalo. This is a significant improvement to shooting homemade films in someone’s living room.
      It is not too much of a stretch of the imagination to include Lordi – the genre-conscious project of one man and his friends that made an international breakthrough.
      "These new-generation artists are emerging with increasing frequency, and not just in Finland. Technology has improved, and genre-specific projects are more natural to young people", analyses producer Tero Kaukomaa of Blind Spot Pictures.
      It has not been easy, however.
      "Genre-specific ideas are disgustingly new in Finland", Annila laments. "It is very hard to gain approval for a film like this – you need a group of supporters that believe in your idea."
     
Advances in computer technology make the job easier. Special effects of reasonable quality have become quite affordable. Although the budget for Jade Warrior, EUR 2,5 million, is high for a Finnish film, it is miniscule by international standards.
      Technology has improved on the consumer end as well. The international DVD markets already comprise a large portion of the money earned by films. This favours genre-specific films, since they are specifically popular on the DVD market.
      "Although the dialogue in Jade Warrior is in Finnish and Chinese, it has a clear DVD market, much larger than that for traditional Finnish drama", Kaukomaa admits. Jade Warrior has already been sold to over 30 countries.
      Blind Spot Pictures intends to answer the call of the market, and is making more genre-specific movies. The outline for AJ Annila’s next film is already on the table. It is also a genre-specific film, and it does not combine Finland with Wuxia, but no further details have been revealed.
     
Annila knows his field. He discussed the principles of a good action movie in his diploma thesis at Tampere Polytechnic. Annila describes the balance in action sequences: "Combat sequences take the story forward in a good action film. They are the culmination of something essential. They still need a certain flamboyance, and they need to be complete entities in themselves."
      After seeing enough poor action movies, you know how to do it wrong.
      "I have seen lots of action scenes that become pointless after two minutes. When a fight scene has served its purpose, it needs to end."
     
After learning the principles of a specific genre, it is possible to take a sidestep and make a genre-specific film that is more appealing to a larger audience, for example a Finnish Wuxia film. Combining Finnish filmmaking and Wuxia was not such an acrobatic leap after all.
      "I think that Wuxia does not differ much from Finnish melodrama. It is introverted, feelings seethe on the inside and are not vividly expressed."
      Jade Warrior opens in cinemas on October 13th.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 6.10.2006

More on this subject:
 Was the Sampo in Tibet?
 What is Wuxia?

JUSSI AHLROTH / Helsingin Sanomat
jussi.ahlroth@hs.fi